Tezcatlipoca, Enemy of both Sides

 

Tezcatlipoca

 

Quetzalcoatl

Tezcatlipoca

 

It being the Beginning of what we like to think of as a New Year, I figured I’d present some images of the Lord of the first Age, Tezcatlipoca, including some in his red Guise, some in his black Guise, some in his Guise as Ocelotl (the Sun,) some of him battling his brother, Quetzalcoatl (Lord of the second Age,) some of this same rival Deity, separately, and some of their successor, Huitzilopochtli.  Having had the rare pleasure of impersonating Tezcatlipoca in a Video, and doing so without suffering the old Consequences that were demanded of Ixiptla during the heyday of Tenochtitlan, I consequently feel a special affinity for this God who gave his left Foot that we may walk the Earth.

 

Tezcatlipoca in the Guise of Ocelotl versus Quetzalcoatl

 

Red Tezcatlipoca with Foot missing

 

Quetzalcoatl

 

Black Tezcatlipoca with Foot missing

 

Sacrificial Obsidian Knife Mask

 

Black Tezcatlipoca

 

Tezcatlipoca

 

Tezcatlipoca as Ocelotl

Tezcatlipoca versus Quetzalcoatl

 

 Myo Han Oo as an Ixiptla

 

Tezcatlipoca

 

Dale Wittig as Tezcatlipoca

 

Mask worn by a Dancer impersonating Tezcatlipoca

 

an Offering to Tezcatlipoca

 

Tezcatlipoca with a Foot missing

Ne Oo preparing a Pig's Heart for cooking

 

Tezcatlipoca

 

Noah Lank as Huitzilopochtli

 

Tezcatlipoca with a Foot missing

 

In one of the Nahuatl accounts of creation, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, together, create the world. Before their labor there was only the sea and the crocodile, Cipactli.  To attract her, Tezcatlipoca used his foot as bait, and Cipactli ate it.  The two gods then captured her, and made the land from her living body.  After that, they created the people, and these creatures had to offer sacrifices to comfort Cipactli for her sufferings.  Therefore, Tezcatlipoca is depicted with a missing foot, which is a sign that even a god of creation must sacrifice.

 

Huitzilopochtli