The gods of Mexico

by Lewis Spence

ILLUSTRATIONS

	[Nephrite Figure of a Death-god]	Frontispiece
		FACING PAGES
	[Colossal Statue of Coatlicue]	14, 15
	[Statue of Coatlicue]	16, 17
	[The Great Calendar Stone of Mexico]	38
	[Symbols of the “Suns” in Mexican Cosmogony]	40, 41
	[The Trees of the World-quarters]	58, 59
	[The Tree of the Middle-quarter]	60
	[Uitzilopochtli]	66
	[Coyolxauhqui]	67
	[The Red and Black Tezcatlipocâs]	92
	[Tezcatlipocâ in Various Forms]	93, 98
	[Altar of Skulls to Tezcatlipocâ]	99
	[Quetzalcoatl and Tlauizcalpantecutli]	118
	[Quetzalcoatl and the Death-god]	119
	[Forms of Quetzalcoatl]	120, 121
	[Tonacatecutli-Tonacaciuatl]	121
	[Forms of Tlazolteotl]	156, 157
	[Forms of Chicomecoatl]	170
	[Cinteotl]	171
	[Ciuacoatl]	180
	[Forms of Ciuacoatl]	181
	[Xochiquetzal and her Symbols]	188
	[Forms of Xochiquetzal]	189, 190
	[Stone Figures of Macuilxochitl]	196, 197
	[Forms of Macuilxochitl]	198
	[Forms of Xochipilli]	199
	[Pottery Figure of Xochipilli] [[xv]]	200
	[Forms of Xochipilli]	201
	[Forms of Xipe]	204
	[Stone Image of Xipe]	205
	[Forms of Xipe]	208
	[Itzpapalotl]	222
	[Itzpapalotl] (Stone of Aristides Martel)	223
	[Xilonen and Zapotlantenan]	223
	[Forms of Tlaloc]	236, 237, 240
	[Chalchihuitlicue]	258
	[Chalchihuitlicue and Tlauizcalpantecutli]	259
	[Chalchihuitlicue and Uixtociuatl]	260
	[Forms of the Tlaloquê]	261
	[Xiuhtecutli and Tlauizcalpantecutli]	268, 269, 272
	[Xiuhtecutli and Chantico]	276
	[Ixcoçanhqui and Chantico]	277
	[Tepoxtecatl]	292
	[Patecatl, with Octli Emblems]	293
	[The Octli-gods]	298, 299
	[Totoltecatl]	299
	[Forms of Tonatiuh]	300
	[Mexican Idea of Sacrifice to the Sun-god]	301
	[Planetary Deities]	304
	[Forms of Mixcoatl]	310, 311
	[Forms of Tlauizcalpantecutli]	320
	[Tlauizcalpantecutli and Victim]	321
	[Forms of the Underworld Deities]	328
	[Statue of an Octli-god]	329
	[Variants of the Great Gods]	336
	[Xolotl and Tlaloc]	344
	[Minor Deities]	345
	[The Lords of the Night-hours]	364

[[xvi]]

[[Contents]]

NOTE ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF MEXICAN

The pronunciation of Mexican names presents at first some little difficulty. The letter X is invariably pronounced as sh, so that Mixcoatl and Mexitli are, viva voce, Mishcoatly and Meshitlee, the final tl being pronounced as tl followed by a short y, although the natives in many parts of the country articulate it with a definite clicking sound, unapproachable by a European. The names of the more important gods are pronounced as follows:

Uitzilopochtli	= Wit-zil-o-potchtly
Tezcatlipocâ	= Tez-catly-pocā
Quetzalcoatl	= Quetzal-co-at-ly
Xipe	= Shee-pay
Chalchihuitlicue	= Chal-chĕĕ-wĕĕt-lēē-kway.

Most of the others are comparatively simple of pronunciation. The ch sound is pronounced as in Spanish, i.e. hard, as in “thatch.” [[1]]

[[Contents]]

THE GODS OF MEXICO