AZTEC MYTHOLOGY. 



107 



and seducer of their race bore the inauspicious title of Tlaleatecolo- 

 totl, or the " Rational Owl. " The dark, nocturnal deeds of this 

 ominous bird, probably indicated its greater fitness for the typification 

 of wickedness than of wisdom, of which the Greeks had flatteringly 

 made it the symbol, as the pet of Minerva. These supreme spi- 

 ritual essences were surrounded by a numerous court of satellites 

 or lesser deities, who Were perhaps the ministerial agents by which 

 the behests of Teotl were performed. There was Huitzilopotchtli, 

 the god of war, and Teoyaomiqui, his spouse, whose tender duties 

 were confined to conducting the souls of warriors who perished in 

 defence of their homes and shrines, into the " house of the sun," 

 which was the Aztec heaven. The image in the plate, presented 

 in front and in profile, is alleged to represent this graceful fe- 

 male, though it gives no idea of her holy offices. Tetzcatlipoca 

 was the shining mirror, the god of providence, the soul of the 

 world, creator of heaven and earth, and master of all things. 

 Ometcuctli and Omecihuatl, a god and goddess presided over 

 new born children, and, reigning in Paradise, benignantly granted 

 the wishes of mortals. Cihuacohuatl, or, woman-serpent, was re- 

 garded as the mother of human beings. Tonatricli and Meztli were 

 deifications of the sun and moon. Quetzalcoatl and Tlaloc were 

 deities of the air and of water, whilst Xiuhteuctli was the god of 

 fire to w T hom the first morsel and the first draught at table were 

 always devoted by the Aztecs. Mictlanteuctli and Joalteuctli 

 were the gods of hell and night, while the generous goddess of the 

 earth and grain who was worshipped by the Totonacos as an 

 Indian Ceres, enjoyed the more euphonious title of Centeotl. Huit- 

 zilopotchtli or Mexitli, the god of war, was an especial favorite with 

 the Aztecs, for it was this divinity according to their legends who 

 had led them from the north, and protected them during their long 

 journey until they settled in the valley of Mexico. Nor did he 

 desert them during the rise and progress of their nation. Addicted 

 as they were to war, this deity was always invoked before battle 

 and was recompensed for the victories he bestowed upon his fa- 

 vorite people by bloody hecatombs of captives taken from the 

 enemies of the empire. We have already spoken of this personage 

 in the portion of this work which treats of the Spanish conquest of 

 Mexico. 



If the Mexicans had their gods, so also had they their final 

 abodes of blessedness and misery. Soldiers who were slain in 

 conflict for their country or who perished in captivity, and the 



