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Éhecatl

August 14, 2010

Ehecatl (Spanish: Ehécatl, Nahuatl: ehēcatl; Classical Nahuatl: Ecatl [ˈekatɬ]) is a pre-Columbian deity associated with the wind, who features in Aztec mythology and the mythologies of other cultures from the central Mexico region of Mesoamerica. He is most usually interpreted as the aspect of the Feathered Serpent deity (Quetzalcoatl in Aztec and other Nahua cultures) as a god of wind, and is therefore also known as Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl. Ehecatl also figures prominently as one of the creator gods and culture heroes in the mythical creation accounts documented for pre-Columbian central Mexican cultures.

Since the wind blows in all directions, Ehecatl was associated with all the cardinal directions. His temple was built as a cylinder in order to reduce the air resistance, and was sometimes portrayed with two protruding masks through which the wind blew.

As the fourth sun was destroyed in the Aztec creation myth (due to the gods not being satisfied with the men they had created) the gods gathered in Teotihuacan. There Nanahuatzin and Tecciztecatl jumped into a sacrificial fire and became the sun and the moon. They remained immobile until Ehecatl blew hard on them. At first only the sun moved, but once the sun started moving the moon moved also.

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  1. April 13, 2012 6:46 pm

    One of the shared basic principles of Mesoamerican religious thought was the concept of paired oppositions. The Aztecs supreme creative god was Quetzalcoatl’s father Ometeotl, the god of duality a single being who represents both male and female aspects. In Mesoamerican thought life and death were believed to exist in forceful and complementary opposition. In opposition to Quetzalcoatl, there was the cult of Tezcatlipoca? Tezcatlipoca’s attributes are that he has one foot and displays a smoking mirror upon his head, and that he represents the nocturnal jaguar, lord of the night “night wind” which is a metaphor for the night sun in the underworld. According to the Historia de los mexicanos por sus pinturas, a battle ensued between Tezcatlipoca who presided over the first sun with Quetzalcoatl the god of the second sun. Quetzalcoatl struck down (decapitation in the underworld) Tezcatlipoca turning Tezcatlipoca into a jaguar. In the next creation of the sun Tezcatlipoca ended the rule of Quetzalcoatl who presided over the second sun, and that the people of that creation were destroyed by great winds and the people who survived were turned into monkeys. This myth according to scholars is why the monkey is related to Quetzalcoatl in the guise as Ehecatl the Wind God.
    For more on this subject read “BREAKING THE MUSHROOM CODE” by Carl de Borhegyi

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