In
Aztec mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking groups living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. Accordi ...
, Ometochtli is the collective or generic name of various individual deities and supernatural figures associated with
pulque
Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous co ...
('), an alcoholic beverage derived from the fermented sap of the ''
maguey Maguey may refer to various American plants:
* Genus ''Agave'', especially
** Species ''Agave americana'', the century plant
** Species '' Agave salmiana''
* Genus ''Furcraea'', a source of natural fiber
* Maguey flowers, an edible flower
Other use ...
'' plant. By the Late Postclassic period of
Mesoamerican chronology
Mesoamerican chronology divides the history of pre-Columbian, prehispanic Mesoamerica into several periods: the Paleo-Indian (first human habitation until 3500 BCE); the Archaic (before 2600 BCE), the Preclassic or Formative (2500 BC ...
a collection of beliefs and religious practices had arisen in the context of the manufacture and ritualistic consumption of the beverage, known as the "pulque (or octli) cult" with probable origins in a mountainous region of
central Mexico
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
. In Aztec society ''octli'' rituals formed a major component of
Aztec religion
The Aztec religion is a monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of was construed as the supreme god , as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embrace the mythological and ...
and observance, and there were numerous local deities and classes of ''sacerdotes'' ("priests") associated with it.
[Smith 2003, p.88]
"Ometochtli" is a
calendrical name in
Classical Nahuatl
Classical Nahuatl (also known simply as Aztec or Nahuatl) is any of the variants of Nahuatl spoken in the Valley of Mexico and central Mexico as a ''lingua franca'' at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. During the s ...
, with the literal meaning of "two rabbit".
See also
*
Centzon Totochtin
*
Mayahuel
Mayahuel () is the female deity associated with the maguey plant among cultures of central Mexico in the Postclassic era of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology, and in particular of the Aztec cultures. As the personification of the maguey plant, ...
*
Tepoztecatl
*
Macuil-Tochtli
*
Pulque
Pulque (; nci, metoctli), or octli, is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant. It is traditional in central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It has the color of milk, a rather viscous co ...
*
Aztec mythology
Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths of the Aztec civilization of Central Mexico. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking groups living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other Mesoamerican cultures. Accordi ...
Notes
References
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Aztec pulque gods
Alcohol deities
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