Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca - "Smoking Mirror"
The most powerful and feared god of the Aztec pantheon, Tezcatlipoca was the supreme deity, lord of night, sorcery, and destiny. His obsidian mirror revealed all secrets and controlled fate. As "He Who Is at the Shoulder," he was the invisible, omnipresent force testing humanity through temptation and adversity.
Names and Meanings
Attributes and Domains
Creation Mythology
The Four Tezcatlipocas
From the primordial duality of Ometeotl came four sons, the Tezcatlipocas, each associated with a cardinal direction and color: Black Tezcatlipoca (north), White Tezcatlipoca/Quetzalcoatl (west), Blue Tezcatlipoca/ Huitzilopochtli (south), and Red Tezcatlipoca/Xipe Totec (east). These four creator gods shaped the cosmos and took turns ruling over successive world ages.
The First Sun and the Jaguar
Tezcatlipoca became the first sun, ruling over the First World. His reign lasted 676 years until Quetzalcoatl knocked him from the sky with a stone club. Falling into the primordial waters, Tezcatlipoca transformed into a jaguar and devoured all the giants who inhabited that world. Ever since, he has been associated with the jaguar - the night hunter whose spotted coat mirrors the starry sky.
The Earth Monster Cipactli
In creating the current world, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl transformed into giant serpents and tore apart the primordial sea monster Cipactli. From her body they created the earth and sky. But Cipactli remained alive and hungry - to appease her pain and sustain the world, she demanded blood. During this battle, Cipactli bit off Tezcatlipoca's foot, which is why he is often depicted with an obsidian mirror or serpent in place of his missing limb.
The Fall of Quetzalcoatl
The most famous myth involving Tezcatlipoca describes his corruption of the virtuous priest-king Quetzalcoatl of Tollan. Jealous of Quetzalcoatl's moral authority and opposed to his ban on human sacrifice, Tezcatlipoca appeared at Quetzalcoatl's court in various disguises.
First, he showed Quetzalcoatl his reflection in the obsidian smoking mirror, causing the god to see his own aging face and despair. Then he tricked Quetzalcoatl into drinking pulque until intoxicated. In his drunken state, Quetzalcoatl committed incest with his sister Quetzalpetlatl. Upon waking and realizing what he had done, Quetzalcoatl was so overcome with shame that he abdicated his throne and went into exile.
This myth demonstrates Tezcatlipoca's nature as the lord of change, temptation, and fate - he tests all beings and brings transformation through trials. No one, not even gods, can escape his influence.
Sacrifice and Rituals
As the supreme god, Tezcatlipoca received the most elaborate sacrifices. The festival of Toxcatl in the fifth month was his greatest ceremony.
The Toxcatl Festival
Each year, a young man of perfect beauty was chosen to impersonate Tezcatlipoca for one full year. He was treated as a god made flesh - given fine clothes, trained in music, and attended by servants. For the final month, he was married to four young women representing goddesses. On the day of Toxcatl, he walked alone to a small temple, breaking a clay flute on each step - symbols of the pleasures he was leaving behind. At the summit, he was sacrificed, his heart offered to the very god he had embodied.
Forms of Worship
- Human Sacrifice: Heart extraction and flaying of victims
- Offerings: Obsidian objects, jaguar pelts, blood, tobacco, rubber balls
- Divination: Priests used obsidian mirrors to see the future
- Warrior Dedication: Jaguar warriors were devoted to his service
Iconography and Symbols
Modern Significance
Tezcatlipoca represents the darker, more complex aspects of Aztec religion often overlooked in popular culture. While Quetzalcoatl receives more positive attention, Tezcatlipoca was arguably the supreme deity - the all-seeing lord of fate whose obsidian mirror technology influenced later Mesoamerican and even European magical traditions.
Modern scholarship recognizes him as a deity of transformation and change, not simply evil. He tests humanity, reveals truth through trials, and reminds us that nothing - not beauty, not power, not even the gods themselves - is permanent. His lessons about accepting fate and the impermanence of earthly pleasures resonate across cultures.
Related Across the Mythos
Tezcatlipoca embodies the Trickster archetype - using deception and transformation to test mortals and gods alike.
See parallels: Loki, Set, Coyote >As supreme deity and lord of fate, he parallels the Sky Father archetype - omnipresent ruler of gods and men.
See parallels: Zeus, Odin, Jupiter >Quetzalcoatl
Aztec Deity
Eternal rival and light counterpart