Tezcatlipoca

Cipactli devoured everything around her in the primordial waters. Each time the Four Tezcatlipocas tried to make the world, the enormous creature ate or destroyed what they had made. Quetzalcoatl, the White Tezcatlipoca, and his brother Tezcatlipoca, the Black Tezcatlipoca, watched her from above. They became frustrated and decided that Cipactli had to die. Her body would provide a foundation for the world.

Tezcatlipoca dangled one of his feet in the water as bait. Cipactli seized it and began chewing it off. While she was occupied, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl grabbed her. The two gods wrestled with the creature and ripped her apart. Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in the struggle.

They stretched and shaped Cipactli's remains into the earth and the rest of the world. One account also says that they made Tlaloc, the rain god, and the first people from her corpse. Another says that Tezcatlipoca tore off the monster's jaw and used it to make the earth. Some accounts describe Cipactli as a huge goddess who floated in the waters. Others call her a gigantic crocodile.

One account continues the story after her death. Because Tezcatlipoca had lost his foot in the fight, he became the first sun. Quetzalcoatl resented this and knocked him from the sky with a stone club. Other accounts say that Tezcatlipoca lost his foot when it became trapped in the door of the underworld. The accounts differ in Cipactli's form and in what her body produced, but connect her dismemberment with the formation of the earth.

As the gods tried to make the world, the giant crocodile Cipactli ate or destroyed their work. The gods resolved to kill her. The Black Tezcatlipoca dangled his foot in the water, and Cipactli seized it. While she chewed it off, the brothers grabbed her and tore her apart. From her body they formed the world. They also made Tlaloc, the rain god, and the first people. The four resourceful offspring of Ometeotl then quarrelled over which god would become the sun and rule the world.

Tezcatlipoca became the first sun. In one account, this sun was destroyed by tigers. Another account says that Quetzalcoatl, the White Tezcatlipoca, resented Tezcatlipoca's rule and knocked him from the sky with a stone club. Quetzalcoatl then became the second sun. The people of that age lived on nuts. After several centuries, the still angry Tezcatlipoca caused trouble by turning them into monkeys. Quetzalcoatl answered with powerful hurricanes, which blew the monkeys away and ended that age.

For the third age, Quetzalcoatl persuaded Tlaloc to become the sun. Tlaloc ruled people who ate a different food. His age ended in a rain of fire, and the people became birds. Quetzalcoatl then began the fourth age by giving the office of sun goddess to Chalchiuhtlicue, Tlaloc's second spouse. Her reign was unhappy. Tezcatlipoca denounced her and eventually knocked her out of the sky. Another account says that her age ended in a great flood, from which one man and one woman survived.

The present age is the fifth sun, ruled by Xiuhtecuhtli, the fire god. It is expected to end in earthquakes. The supplied accounts describe rival gods taking the sun and destroying each age. They do not state that Tezcatlipoca overthrew Quetzalcoatl from the second sun.

Tezcatlipoca turned against Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the ruler of the Toltecs at Tula. A struggle followed between Quetzalcoatl and his adherents, and the warrior faction devoted to Tezcatlipoca. The military orders of the Eagles, Jaguars, and Coyotes supported the Smoking Mirror rather than the more peaceable Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca defeated his rival through enchantment and humiliation.

During Quetzalcoatl's rule, Tula had flourished. He was regarded as a priest king of great purity, and his realm was described as a golden age. Cotton grew naturally in every colour. His temple palace had four radiant apartments, one for each quarter of the world. The eastern chamber was yellow with gold, the western chamber blue with turquoise and jade, the southern chamber white with pearls and shells, and the northern chamber red with bloodstones. A river ran through Tula, and each night at midnight Quetzalcoatl descended into it to bathe.

Tezcatlipoca offered the king a drink. Quetzalcoatl refused it, saying that he was ill. After being urged to taste it with the tip of his finger, he did so and was overcome by its magic. He lifted the bowl and became drunk. He then sent for his sister, Quetzalpetlatl, who lived on Mount Nonoalco. When she arrived, he gave her the bowl, and she also became drunk. That night they forgot their prayers and did not go to the bath. They fell asleep together on the floor.

In the morning, Quetzalcoatl was ashamed. He declared that the stain on his name could not be removed and that he was unfit to rule. He ordered his people to build him a dwelling deep underground, bury his bright treasures, and throw the gold and shining stones into the Precious Waters where he bathed. He then abandoned Tula and travelled eastward. His departure ended his Toltec reign and left the city to the faction that honoured Tezcatlipoca.

Tezcatlipoca offered Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl a bowl of pulque. Quetzalcoatl refused, saying that he was ill. When Tezcatlipoca urged him to taste it with his fingertip, he did so and was immediately overcome by the drink. He lifted the bowl and became drunk. The account presents the drink as the first step in the loss of the ruler's judgement.

Quetzalcoatl then sent for his sister, Quetzalpetlatl, who lived on Mount Nonoalco. She came to him, and he gave her the bowl. She also became drunk. With their reason lost, they did not pray or bathe that night. They fell asleep together on the floor. The act brought shame upon Quetzalcoatl and damaged his reputation before his people. The account does not describe a separate punishment for Quetzalpetlatl.

In the morning, Quetzalcoatl declared that he had sinned and that the stain on his name could not be removed. He said that he was unfit to rule. He ordered his people to make him a dwelling deep underground, bury his bright treasures, and throw the gold and shining stones into the Precious Waters where he bathed each night. His orders were carried out.

Quetzalcoatl then left Tula and travelled towards the east. His departure was understood as a self-imposed exile caused by shame. His disgrace contributed to the fall of Tula. Some accounts say that he sailed east and became one with the god Quetzalcoatl. A belief also held that he would one day return to Mexico and reclaim his position.

Tezcatlipoca was admitted to Quetzalcoatl's presence at Tula. He addressed him as lord and priest, then told him to look at his own flesh and know himself as others saw him. He presented a polished mirror of obsidian, the tezcatl associated with Tezcatlipoca and his all-seeing powers.

Quetzalcoatl looked into the mirror and saw his mortal face. It was unattractive, with foul sores, old wrinkles, and a loathsome appearance. He cried out in shame and surprise. He wondered how his subjects could look upon him without fear, and why they did not flee from him. He questioned how a man could remain among others while bearing such a face.

Quetzalcoatl had ruled at Tula as a priest king of great purity. He was said to have possessed speech, knowledge, and wisdom from birth, and his realm had flourished during his reign. His temple palace stood above the river that passed through the city. Each night at midnight, he descended into the river to bathe. The sight of his own face in Tezcatlipoca's mirror confronted this ruler with a form of himself that he had not faced before.

The shame caused by the mirror weakened Quetzalcoatl's authority at Tula. Tezcatlipoca's act formed part of the continuing conflict between the two figures. Tezcatlipoca was linked with darkness, the night, sorcery, and the obsidian mirror. Quetzalcoatl was associated with the plumed serpent, priesthood, wisdom, and kingship. The account presents the mirror as the means by which Tezcatlipoca exposed Quetzalcoatl's mortal and unattractive face, provoking the shame that damaged his rule.