Aztec mythology Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were a culture living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. According to legend ...

, Huēhuehcoyōtl () (from ''huēhueh'' "very old" (literally, "old old") and ''coyōtl'' "coyote" in

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

) is the

auspicious Auspicious is a word derived from Latin originally pertaining to the taking of 'Augury, auspices' by an augur of ancient Rome. It may refer to: * Luck, the phenomenon and belief that defines the experience of improbable positive or negative events ...

Pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

god of music, dance, mischief, and song. He is the patron of uninhibited sexuality and rules over the day sign in the Aztec calendar named cuetzpallin (lizard) and the fourth

trecena A trecena (From Spanish: trece) is a 13-day period used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican calendars. The 260-day Mayan calendar (the '' tonalpohualli'') was divided into 20 trecenas. Trecena is derived from the Spanish chroniclers and translates to ...

Xochitl ("flower" in Nahuatl).

History

Stories derived from the

Codex Telleriano-Remensis The ''Codex Telleriano-Remensis'', produced in sixteenth-century New Spain, Mexico on European paper, is one of the finest surviving examples of Aztec manuscript painting. It holds the earliest written evidence of earthquakes in Americas, the Ame ...

characterized Huehuecóyotl as a benign prankster, whose tricks were often played on other gods or even humans, but tended to backfire and cause more trouble for himself than for the intended victims. A great party-giver, he also was alleged to create wars among humans to relieve his boredom. He was a part of the

Tezcatlipoca Tezcatlipoca ( ) or Tezcatl Ipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. He is associated with a variety of concepts, including the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, and conflict. He was considered one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omec ...

(Smoky Mirror) family of the

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...

gods and inherited their

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

powers. Those who had indications of evil fates from other gods would sometimes appeal to Huehuecóyotl to mitigate or reverse their fates. Huehuecóyotl shares many characteristics with the

trickster In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherw ...

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

of the North American tribes, including storytelling and choral singing. He is also the god of deception.

References

External links

*
Karl Young, The Continuum of Life in Codex Borbonicus
{{Aztec mythology Arts gods Aztec gods Animal gods Love and lust gods Mythological canines Shapeshifting Trickster gods LGBTQ themes in mythology Coyotes in religion Music and singing gods Dance gods