Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

320 TonacacihuatlTonacacihuatl (our flesh lady)Primordial deity. Aztec (classical Mesoamerican)[Mexico]. In the most widely accepted Aztec cosmogony,this is the self-created, eternal, femaleprinciple who combines with TONACATECUHTLIto create all life, transferring souls from heaven tothe mortal womb. It exists in the highest, thirteenthheaven and once engendered the sun godTEZCATLIPOCA, from whom all other deities inthe pantheon stemmed. One of the group classedas the Omeotl complex. Also Omecihuatl.Tonacatecuhtli (our flesh lord)Primordial deity. Aztec (classical Mesoamerican)[Mexico]. In the most widely accepted Aztec cosmogony,this is the self-created, eternal, maleprinciple who combines with TONACACIHUATLto create all life. It exists in the highest, thirteenthheaven and once engendered the sun god TEZ-CATLIPOCA, from whom all other deities in thepantheon stemmed. Also one of the group classedas the OMETEOTL complex. According to traditionTonacatecuhtli drove four roads through thecenter of the earth after the cataclysm of thefourth world age (Atl) to disperse the flood watersof the deluge. His four sons, aided by fourunnamed beings, raised the fallen sky which theypropped up on great trees created by Tezcatlipocaand QUETZALCOATL at the four cardinal points.See also TLAHUIZCALPANTECUHTLI, EHECATL-QUETZALCOATL and MICTLANTECUHTLI.In alternative mythology Tonacatecuhtli is theruler of the sixth of the thirteen heavens known atthe time of the Spanish conquest, Ilhuicatl Yayauhcan(the blackish heaven). Also OMETECUHTLI.Ilhuicatl Huixtotlan (heaven of the salt fertilitygoddess).Tonatiuh (soaring eagle)Creator god. Aztec (classical Mesoamerican)[Mexico]. He presides over the fifth (present)world age, personified by the sun Ollin and destinedto end in a cataclysmic earthquake. He is theruler of the fourth of the thirteen heavens knownat the time of the Spanish conquest; also calledIlhuicatl Tonatiuh (the heaven of the sun). Inother texts, specifically codices Borgia, Cospi andFejervary-Mayer, he is depicted as a temple deity.ToneniliRain god. Navaho [USA]. The so-called “lord ofthe celestial waters,” he controls the rain fromthe skies as opposed to that of lakes, rivers andseas. He is said to scatter his waters to the fourcardinal points and storm clouds begin to gather.He is also the water-carrier for the other gods inthe pantheon. He wears a blue mask with a fringeof hair and a spruce collar, but is otherwise nakedsave for a scarlet loin-cloth and a leather belt withsilver ornamentation and a fox skin dangling atthe back. His attributes, in mythology only, aretwo wicker water-bottles, one blue and one black,whose strings are rainbows.TopohAstral god. Pokot and Suk [Uganda and westernKenya, East Africa]. The son of the creator godTORORUT and his consort SETA, he is god of theevening star.TonalequeGoddess. Aztec (classical Mesoamerican) [Mexico].The ruler of the fifth of the thirteen heavensknown at the time of the Spanish conquest,TorkMountain god. Pre-Christian Armenian. Of terrifyingappearance, he is the guardian deity ofmountains and their inhabitants.