HUITZILOPOCHTLI: MEANING, MYTHOLOGY AND WORSHIP - HISTORY - 2025

Huitzilopochtli, also known as Tlacahuepan Cuexcontzi or Ilhuicatl Xoxouhqui, was the main god of the Aztecs, who associated him with the sun. When the Spanish arrived in Mesoamerica, he was the most worshiped deity in the entire Central Highlands due to the conquests made by the Mexica.

According to the mythology of this civilization Huitzilopochtli was the son of Coatlicue. She became pregnant after a feather fell from the sky and she picked it up and placed it on her chest. The other sons of the goddess interpreted this as a disgrace and tried to kill their mother. However, a newborn Huitzilopochtli defended him and killed his brothers.

Huitzilopochtli, described in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis - Source: Public Domain

Another Aztec legend in which Huitzilopochtli participated dealt with the founding of Tenochtitlan. It was this god who guided his people and indicated where the city should be founded, just where it looks like an eagle devouring a snake. It was there that the first shrine dedicated to the deity was built.

The Aztecs honored Huitzilopochtli by offering him human sacrifices. Thus, they asked the god for the rains to come, to improve the crops and to be victorious in the wars they waged.

Huitzilopochtli, the "Left Handed Hummingbird"

Huitzilopochtli was the Mexica god of the Sun and war. This deity, whose name means "blue hummingbird on the left", was represented as a blue man, with a head adorned with hummingbird feathers and fully armed.

Birth according to mythology

The Aztec god of war was the son of Coatlicue, Mother Earth. It was sweeping when a feather fell from the sky. The goddess picked it up and placed it on her chest. At that time she became pregnant with Huitzilopochtli.

Coatlicue had four hundred other children, the Centzon Huitznahua. They considered their mother's pregnancy a disgrace and encouraged by their sister, Coyolxauhqui, decided to kill her.

Birth of Huitzilopochtli and defeat of Coyolxauqui. Source: wikimedia commons, Bernadino de Sahagún / CC0

However, Huitzilopochtli was fully armed. With Xiuhcóatl, a mythical weapon whose name can be translated as “fire serpent”, he killed Coyolxauhqui and the Centzon Huitznahua. The first was beheaded and her head, thrown into the sky, became the moon.

This legend was commemorated on the last day of Pānquetzaliztli, the fifteenth day within the Nahuatl calendar.

Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca Azul

Illustration by Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli was a god originating in Tenochtitlan, with no known predecessors in other Mesoamerican civilizations. The Mexica placed him on the same level as other more recognized gods, such as Quetzalcóatl or Xipe Tótec.

Thus, Huitzilopochtli became one of the four Tezcatlipocas, specifically in the so-called Blue Tezcatlipoca, whose cardinal point was the south.

After the Aztec Empire began to expand, the Mexica had established two different mythologies about Huitzilopochtli's birth.

The first related that he was the son of the two main gods in the story of the creation of the universe: Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl. In that myth, Huitzilopochtli had been the one who set fire to the Half Sun created by Quetzalcóatl and represented the will.

The second of the mythological accounts of the birth of the god stated that he was the son of Coatlicue, as indicated above. By killing Coyolxauhqui, this legend symbolized the eternal struggle between the sun and the moon.

Both stories coexisted within the Aztec cosmogony. The Tlatoanis of Tenochtitlan sacrificed captured enemy warriors in their honor so that the Sun would shine eternally. In these ceremonies the two natives of the god were manifested: the Blue Tezcatlipoca (solar will) and the Huitzilopochtli (the solar war).

Representations

Illustration of Huitzilopochtli, one of the deities described in the Codex Borgia

Despite its importance to the Aztecs, there are no known representations of Huitzilopochtli beyond those that appear in a few codices.

In most of those images collected in the codices, the god appears with a hummingbird or with a feather helmet of this bird on his head. Likewise, he usually carries a mirror or a warrior's shield.

The god had two different aspects. The first, as "Hummingbird of the South", symbolized the warriors killed in combat. These, according to mythology, became hummingbirds to move to the paradise of the Sun in the east. There they drank honey (a symbol of blood) from flowers that represented human hearts obtained in the Florida War.

The second aspect was that of the Celestial Warrior, represented by the eagle that appeared in the Tenochtitlán hieroglyph. This corresponds to the Huitzilopochtli son of Coatlicue.

Mythical participation in the founding of Tenochtitlan

The Site of the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlan. Steve Cadman from London, UK / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

Huitzilopochtli appears in the legends that relate the mythical foundation of Tenochtitlán. Before arriving there, it seems that the Mexica lived in Aztlán, a place whose location is unknown and it is even doubted that it was real.

The god communicated to his people that they should march to new lands and guided them along the way. The Mexica wandered through various places, always looking for the sign that Huitzilopochtli had indicated would mark the place chosen to found their capital: an eagle perched on a cactus and devouring a snake.

La Tira de la Peregrinación, one of the sources that tells this story, the Mexica reached the Tollan-Xicocotitlan region. There, Huitzilopochtli ordered his people to divert the course of a river to create a lagoon.

The bounty of that land almost made the Mexica forget the message of their god. At this, Huitzilopochtli intervened again and forced them to continue on their way.

Finally, the Mexica reached the Valley of Mexico and crossed it until they settled in the territory dominated by the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco. For a time, the Mexica served as mercenaries to the Tepanecs.

In 1325, the Mexica finally saw the eagle devouring the serpent on the nopal. The place was an island near Lake Texcoco. Fulfilling the prophecy, Tenochtitlán, the capital of his future empire, rose there.

Ascent to solar god

The Mexica turned a tribal god into one of their main gods by relating it to the Sun. Traditionally, all Mesoamerican civilizations considered this star as the most important.

After defeating the lordship of Azcapotzalco, the Aztecs used their god as part of their expansion strategy.

In time, Huitzilopochtli became a solar and warrior deity, with the power to regulate the world. In this ascent in the pantheon, the Aztecs attributed to him some properties of previous gods, until placing him at the same level as Quetzalcóatl or Tezcatlipoca.

Drawing of Quetzalcoatl found in a codex. Via wikimedia commons.

Despite this, the arrival of the Spaniards caused their cult to practically disappear.

Main temple

Huitzilopochtli's main altar was located on top of the Templo Mayor, the most important ceremonial center in Tenochtitlán. In addition to this god, the temple also hosted the cult of Tlaloc, god of rain.

In that place, human sacrifices were made in honor of Huitzilopochtli. In the temple there were sculptures made with ground dough representing the god.

Other important temples dedicated to the god were the one located in Huitzilopochco, a town whose name means "where Huitzilopochtli is", and the main temple of Teopanzolco.

Worship

Person offered to Huitzilopochtli at the Toxcatl ceremony, Florentine Codex

As noted, the Aztecs offered Huitzilopochtli human sacrifices. Typically, the victims were warriors of other lords captured during the frequent wars that took place in the area.

These sacrifices were a way of feeding the god so that he would ensure the arrival of the rains, the harvests and the victories in the wars they waged. The most common was that the Aztecs ripped out the hearts of the victims, still alive, and offered them as a tribute to the Sun.

Some of these executions of prisoners of war had a less close purpose. The Nahua tradition affirmed that 4 eras had passed that ended with a great disaster. For them, they were living in the fifth creation, which should end up coinciding with a year "one movement", a date that was repeated every 52 years.

By sacrificing captive warriors, the Aztecs attempted to strengthen the god so that he could continue to appear each day for the next 52-year cycle. In this way, they tried to avoid a new disaster that would end creation.

In addition to these sacrifices, the Mexica celebrated other festivals in their honor in the months of Panquetzaliztli and Tlaxochimaco.

Demonization of Huitzilopochtli

The fall of Tenochtitlán into Spanish hands marked the beginning of the destruction of its culture and religious beliefs. Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica god of war and the Sun, did not escape the defamation process initiated by the conquerors.

The first images of the god that appeared in religious documents, colonial codices or encyclopedias were based on the religious imagery of the Middle Ages. Huitzilopochtli and the rest of the Mesoamerican deities were represented in a way similar to that of the medieval Christian demons.

That identification with demons was not limited to appearance. The Spanish also reported that the behavior of the Mesoamerican gods was just as evil as that of those demons.

The description of the friar Bernardino de Sahagún is a good example of the vision of the god that the Spaniards had: "necromancer, friend of the devils, cruel, inventor of wars and enmities and the cause of many deaths".

References

1. Mythology.info. Huitzilopochtli, Mexica god of war. Obtained from mythologia.info
2. Very interesting. Myths and legends: Huitzilopochtli, «left-handed hummingbird». Obtained from muyinteresante.com.mx
3. Original towns. Huitzilopochtli. Obtained from pueblosoriginario.com
4. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Huitzilopochtli. Retrieved from britannica.com
5. Mingren, Wu. Huitzilopochtli: The Hummingbird War God at the Forefront of the Aztec Pantheon. Retrieved from ancient-origins.net
6. Meehan, Evan. Huitzilopochtli. Retrieved from mythopedia.com
7. Cartwright, Mark. Huitzilopochtli. Retrieved from ancient.eu