THE LEGEND OF THE FIVE SUNS OF THE NAHUAS - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The l eyenda Suns also known as the myth of the five suns is a story created by the Nahuatl culture where the origin of the Earth and man explained. Therefore, this legend allows us to know a series of Nahua conceptions and ideas about the birth of the Universe and its evolution.

In this sense, this myth allows us to distinguish how the Nahuas perceived life. In the same way, it exposes how this culture arose. It is a narrative that not only questions the beginning of the world, but the destiny of people.

Tezcatlipoca blanco or Quetzalcoaltl is one of the most influential deities within the myth of the five suns. Source: pixabay.com

In addition, within this story appear the divinities worshiped by this civilization, where each of them develops a specific role. It is important to add that those who speak Nahuatl or some of its variants (tlajtol, nauta, maseual, mexcatl…) are called Nahua peoples.

From an ethnohistorical point of view, this is the name given to the groups of this language that participated in various stages of Mesoamerican evolution. The Nahuas developed their own cultural elements. Especially, they stood out in the construction of infrastructures that would later constitute the region of the central highlands.

In this way, in the opinion of several researchers and supported by various inferences, it is considered that at least an important portion of the Teotihuacán inhabitants were people who spoke Nahual.

The Nahuas believed that there were 5 great eras, which were represented by the creation of a sun. In each of these periods humans lived on earth until a cataclysm of apocalyptic proportions destroyed them.

Nahuatl thought

When studying Nahuatl thought about the origin and destiny of the world (cosmological ideas), the researchers affirm that the first formulation of these ideas was carried out based on metaphors and with the garb of myth, as well as those of the peoples cults like the Greeks.

Among the Nahuas, the concept of truth is closely linked with the sense of belonging. For this reason, some researchers affirm that the fragility of the material world led Mesoamerican men to give their search a metaphysical orientation in the plane of the topan, which means what is above us.

The Calendar Stone of the Aztecs

There are several versions of the creation myth, but the masterful story is presented in the central section of The Aztec Calendar Stone, where the Nahuas related the concepts of time and space with a symmetrical and complex iconography.

The symbolism that can be perceived in this calendar belongs to the most coherent account of the five creations, called The Five Suns. In this way, the various suns correspond to the life span of humanity.

The Five Suns: five periods

The beggining

The myth begins with the concept of nothingness, then the existence of an eternal god called Ometecuhtli is indicated, which would be a single principle or a single reality. His dual nature was made up of a generative nucleus and the universal support of life.

The cited sources give Ometecuhtli the name of lord and lady of duality: Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl. It is a genderless entity. Because of this, he is known as an ambivalent and dynamic deity. This duality allowed Ometecuhtli to generate four children:

- Red Tezcatlipoca.

- Tezcatlipoca black.

- Tezcatlipoca blanco or Quetzalcoaltl, known as the feathered serpent.

- Blue Tezcatlipoca or Huitzilopochtli.

These children of the supreme dual principle make up the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. In this way Ometecuhtli is granted the quality of creating different forces that fight each other with the aim of causing the evolution of the cosmos during the cosmic ages, which precede the advent of the fifth sun.

The history of the Universe

The children of Ometecuhtli set the history of the universe in motion. Red Tezcatlipoca is the east, while black Tezcatlipoca is the north and is linked to the night; Quetzalcóatl or white Tezcatlipoca is the west, the region of fertility and life; finally, blue Tezcatlipoca is the south, the state that is to the left of the sun.

The interaction between the gods is violent. Her struggle is the history of the Universe, the alternation of her triumphs and creations. Thanks to them, space and time entered the world as dynamic factors that intertwined and repudiated to govern cosmic events.

According to the descriptions, these four gods create the fire, the sun, the region of the dead, the place of the waters and the crops, the sky, the earth and the days.

Thus, the four brothers decided to create a work that would venerate and dignify them as gods. In this way, the first couple emerged: man (Huehuecoyotl) and woman (Macehualtin). In addition, they were ordered to have children who would honor them as divinities.

The first sun

With the creation of man the work was complete, but there was darkness in Tlatipac. In that region it was never daytime since there was no sunlight.

That is why black Tezcatlipoca turned into a sun. From that day on, the era was called Ocelotonatiuh. It was the beginning of the initial era - of the new world - where giant beings were created that lived on earth and ate acorns.

During that first period the balance of forces reigned between the gods. However, the deities were hell-bent on outdoing their peers. As a consequence, they tried to identify with the Sun to dominate the destiny of the world and of people.

In this way the conflict between the forces and the elements of nature developed. Those struggles were those that caused the different ages of the world, presided over by each one of the suns. The Nahuas conceived the cosmic dispute as a confrontation between good and evil.

During that period Quetzalcóatl and Black Tezcatlipoca faced each other. The primitive individuals that inhabited that era were eaten by jaguars. This stage was called Jaguar, referring to the devastation and the end.

The second sun

The second sun was established by Quetzalcoatl and was called the wind sun. It represented the divine and creative air that had repeatedly given the breath of life to man. He allowed the crops to grow in abundance and the beings who lived during this period were happy.

However, in the eternal struggle between the gods, Tezcatlipoca the jaguar ascended to the heavens and knocked down Quetzalcóatl -his brother- with one blow. In his fall, Quetzalcoatl caused a gigantic gale that destroyed everything. Many did not survive and others, walking hunched over to cling to what they had, turned into monkeys and took refuge in a forest.

The third sun

The third era was called the sun of fire and was created by Tezcatlipoca. During that time, men indulged in unhealthy pleasures. Disappointed by so much injustice, Quetzalcoatl ordered Xiuhtecuhtli (god of fire) to eliminate humanity.

This is how fire began to rain from the sky and the frightened men begged the divinities to turn them into birds to flee; but only a couple survived who took refuge in a cave.

The Calendar Stone of the Aztecs. Source: pixabay.com

The fourth sun

In the fourth era, called the water sun, a flood caused by Tezcatlipoca flooded the face of the earth, transforming mortals into fish. It rained so much that in the end the heavens lost their balance and collapsed over the Tlaltipac.

The gods decided to repair their mistake, as they were ashamed for having transformed humanity. For this reason, the four brothers created these individuals: Atemoc, Itzacoatl, Itzmaliza and Tenoch.

These men emerged from the four cardinal points and instantly became trees. Together the gods and trees raised the heavens and placed the stars. In the end, each tree was transformed into a bird. In this way a new reality emanated, even though there were no people on earth.

Quetzalcóatl and the creation of the new humanity

Quetzalcoatl. Source;

Before creating the fifth sun, Quetzalcoatl traveled to the Mictlan - or region of the dead - to obtain ancient human bones for the purpose of designing other beings. There he got an ant to reveal the secret place where the corn was. It is worth emphasizing that Quetzalcóatl stood out among the other deities for being the benefactor of humanity.

After obtaining the human remains, the ant gave Quetzalcóatl the corn. The goal was for him to grow the seed to be food for people in the fifth age. Quetzalcóatl symbolized among the Nahuas the desire for metaphysical explanation, wisdom and the search for the afterlife.

The fifth Sun

The creation of the fifth era took place in Teotihuacan, where the god Nanahuatzin threw himself into the stake and became light; But this sun didn't move To give him strength, the other gods sacrificed themselves and offered their blood. This is how the wind blew, the star moved and continued on its way.

Therefore, it can be stated that the fifth sun arose from the union of the 4 elements through movement. It is an allegory of power. The gods or cosmic forces again reach a certain harmony. Nanahuatzin represents the hidden root of Aztec mysticism, since due to sacrifice there is the sun and life. It is through death that existence is preserved.

The history of the cosmos as seen by the Nahuas

For the Nahua, the cosmos emanated thanks to the 4 suns. These stars represent vitality, since they provide man with water, wind and fire. According to his worldview, Quetzalcóatl is the one who communicates people with the star king.

The history of the universe begins in the four directions of the world. This legend explains that the opposite elements cannot be separated because together they balance the world.

References

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2. González, A. (2017) Miguel León-Portilla: Nahuatl philosophy studied in its sources 1956-2006 and the interpretation of the myth. Retrieved on November 18, 2019 from: ucol.mx
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4. Ortiz E. (2016) Creation Myths: The Five Suns. Retrieved on November 19, 2019 from masdemx.com
5. (SA) (nd) Mexican myths and legends. Huehuecóyotl, the Old Coyote. Retrieved on November 20 from: mitos-mexicanos.com
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