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 ...

, the ( or : the "Four Hundred Mimixcoa", Cloud Serpents) are the gods of the northern stars. They are sons of Camaxtle-

Mixcoatl Mixcoatl (, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity of the Otomi peopl ...

with the Earth Goddess (

Tlaltecuhtli Tlaltecuhtli (Classical Nahuatl ''Tlāltēuctli'', ) is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican deity worshipped primarily by the Mexica (Aztecs, Aztec) people. Sometimes referred to as the "earth monster," Tlaltecuhtli's dismembered body was the basis for ...

or Coatlicue), according to the Codex Ramírez, or Tonatiuh (the Fifth Sun) with

Chalchiuhtlicue Chalchiuhtlicue (from ''chālchihuitl'' "jade" and ''cuēitl'' "skirt") (also spelled Chalciuhtlicue, Chalchiuhcueye, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism. Chalch ...

, the goddess of the seas. According to the ''Manuscript of 1558'', section 6, these 400 'Cloud-Serpents' were divinely slain ransformed into starsin this wise; of their five protagonists: * ('Eagle's Twin') "hid inside a tree"; * ('Cloud Serpent') "hid within the earth"; * ('Hawk Mountain') "hid within a hill"; * ('River Lord') "hid in the water"; * their sister, , "hid in the ball-court." From this ambuscade, these 5 slew the 400.Miguel León-Portilla & Earl Shorris: ''In the Language of Kings''. Norton & Co., NY, 2001. p. 60 In Ce Tecpatl, after the Creation of the Fifth Sun in

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'', ; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...

, Camaxtle-Mixcoatl, one of the four gods, ascended to the Eighth Heaven and created four men and one woman to feed the Sun, but barely formed, they fell into the water, they returned to the sky and there was no war; frustrated by this attempt, Camaxtle struck a cane on a rock, and at the blow, 400 Chichimecs MimixcoaHistoria de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas (The History of the Mexicans as Told by Their Paintings; 1941; 216) sprouted that populated the earth before the Aztecs. Camaxtle was able to do penance on the rock, drawing blood with maguey spikes, tongue and ears, and prayed to the gods that the four men and one woman created in the eighth heaven would come down to kill the barbarians to feed to the Sun. The four men and one woman created in the Eighth Heaven are the five Mimixcoa who would later sacrifice the 400 Mimixcoa called Chichimecs or Otomies. In Ce Tecpatl, the Mimixcoa were born, their mother Iztac-

Leyenda de los Soles (Legend of the Suns; 1945; 122) went into a cave (Chicomoztoc or Tlalocan) and gave birth to five other Mimixcoa called Cuauhtlicoauh, Mixcoatl, Cuitlachcihuatl, Tlotepe and Apantecuhtli. After spending four days in the water, the five Mimixcoa were suckled by Mecitli, who, by the text, identifies with the Earth Goddess (Tlaltecuhtli or Coatlicue), and, immediately, the Sun ordered the 400 Mimixcoa; the Sun, Tonatiuh, gives them arrows and says "Here it is with what they will serve me to drink, with what they will feed, and a shield, and the precious arrows cast in quetzal feathers, in heron-rowing feathers, in feathers of zacuam, in tlauhquechol feathers, and in xiuhtototl feathers; and also, she, the Earth (Tlaltecuhtli or Coatlicue), who is your mother", but the Centzon Mimixcoa did not do their duty; instead, they get drunk on tzihuactli wine - a small maguey and have sex with women, and immediately, the Sun also orders the five who were born last, immediately gives them the maguey arrow and gives them the divine shield. The five Mimixcoa climb a mesquite tree where the 400 discover them, and they exclaim: "Who are these who are such as us?", and then the five hide in specific places: Cuauhtlicoauh takes shelter in a tree, Mixcoatl on the ground, Tlotepe in the mount, Apantecuhtli in the water, and Cuitlachcihuatl in a court of the Tlachtli ball-court. Finally, the Centzon Mimixcoa are defeated by his five younger brothers, who served the Sun, Tonatiuh, and gave him a drink. The Aztec gods of the southern stars are the , according to the Florentine Codex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centzonmimixcoa Aztec gods Stellar gods Aztec mythology and religion Mesoamerican mythology and religion