Tláloc
Tláloc is the god of rain in Aztec religion. He was also a deity of earthly fertility and water, and worshipped as a giver of life and sustenance; many rituals and sacrifices predicated upon these aspects were held in his name. He was feared—albeit not as a malicious figure—for his power over hail, thunder, lightning, and rain. He is also associated with caves, springs, and mountains, most specifically the sacred mountain where he was believed to reside. Cerro Tláloc is very important in understanding how rituals surrounding this deity played out. Tláloc appears to be one of the oldest and most universal figures of worship in ancient Mexico.
There are many different representations of Tláloc, and there are many different offerings given to him. Tláloc is often represented through iconography of butterflies, jaguars, and serpents. The Mexican marigold, Tagetes lucida, known to the Nahua as cempohualxochitl, was another important symbol of the god, and was burned as a ritual incense in native religious ceremonies. Representations of Tláloc are distinguished by the presence of fangs, whether that be three or four of the same size, or just two, paired with the traditional bifurcated tongue. Often, but not always, Tláloc will also be carrying some sort of vessel that contains water.
Although the name Tláloc is specifically Nahuatl, worship of a storm god, associated with mountaintop shrines and with life-giving rain, is as at least as old as Teotihuacan. It was likely adopted from the Maya god Chaac, perhaps ultimately derived from an earlier Olmec precursor. Tláloc was mainly worshiped at Teotihuacan, while his big rituals were held on Cerro Tláloc. An underground Tláloc shrine has been found at Teotihuacan which shows many offerings left for this deity.
Deity iconography
In Aztec iconography, many different sculptures, and pieces of work have been mislabeled or mistaken as Tláloc. For a while, anything that was abstract and on the scarier side was labelled as Tláloc. However, in reality, Tláloc's two main identifiers are fangs, along with ringed eyes. Furthermore, his lips are a very defining feature – they are shaped like a mustache. He is most often coupled with lightning, maize, and water in visual representations and artwork. Other forms of Tláloc include a variety of elements or symbols: jaguar, serpent, owl, water lily, bifurcated tongue, quetzal, butterfly, shell, spider, eye-of-the-reptile symbol, cross Venus / symbol. The number of different symbols associated with Tláloc stem from past, widespread confusion on the deity's appearance, along with the old, widespread worship of this deity.Offerings dedicated to Tláloc in Tenochtitlan were known to include several jaguar skulls and even a complete jaguar skeleton. The Mexica held Jaguars to a very high standard, associated with the underworld, Jaguars were considered the ultimate sacrificial animal due to their value, which the Mexica decided was high.
Tláloc's impersonators often wore the distinctive mask and heron-feather headdress, usually carrying a cornstalk or a symbolic lightning bolt wand; another symbol was a ritual water jar. Along with this, Tláloc is manifested in the form of boulders at shrine-sites, and in the Valley of Mexico the primary shrine of this deity was located atop Cerro Tláloc. Cerro Tláloc was where human sacrifice was held, in the name of the water deity.
In Coatlinchan, a colossal statue weighing 168 tons was found that was thought to represent Tláloc. However, one scholar believes that the statue may not have been Tláloc at all but his sister or some other female deity. This is a classic confusion as nobody could seem to figure out what was Tláloc, and what was not. This statue was relocated to the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City in 1964.
While pre-Hispanic cultures are thought to have become extinct once the Spanish had completed the colonization of Mexico, aspects of pre-Hispanic cultures continue to influence Mexican culture. Accordingly, Tláloc has continued to be represented in Mexican culture even after the Spanish were thought to have completed evangelizing in Mexico. In fact, even as the Spanish were beginning to proselytize in Mexico, religious syncretism was occurring. Analyses of evangelization plays put on by the Spanish, in order to convert the indigenous peoples to Christianity, suggests that the Spanish might have unknowingly created connections between Christianity and indigenous religious figures, such as Tláloc. Indigenous Mexicans viewing these plays might have made connections between the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make of Isaac, to the sacrifices that were made to Tláloc and other deities. These connections may have allowed indigenous peoples to retain ideas about sacrifice even as they were being forcibly converted to Christianity. Early syncretism between indigenous religions and Christianity, also included more direct connections to Tláloc. Some churches built during the sixteenth century, such as the Santiago Tlatelolco church had stones depicting Tláloc within the interior of the church. Even as the Roman Catholic Church sought to eradicate indigenous religious traditions, depiction of Tláloc still remained within worship spaces, suggesting that Tláloc would still have been worshipped after Spanish colonization. It is clear that Tláloc would have continued to have played a role in Mexican cultures immediately after colonization.
Despite the fact that it has been half a millennium since the conquest of Mexico, Tláloc still plays a role in shaping Mexican culture. At Coatlinchan, a giant statue of Tláloc continues to play a key role in shaping local culture, even after the statue was relocated to Mexico City. In Coatlinchan, people still celebrate the statue of Tláloc, so much so that some local residents still seek to worship him, while the local municipality has also erected a reproduction of the original statue. This makes sense as Tláloc is one of the most renowned deities, who has to this day many believers and followers. Many residents of Coatlinchan, relate to the statue of Tláloc in the way that they might associate themselves with a patron saint, linking their identity as a resident of the town with the image of Tláloc. While Tláloc plays an especially important role in the lives of the people of Coatlinchan, the god also plays an important role in shaping the Mexican identity. Images of Tláloc are found throughout Mexico from Tijuana to the Yucatán, and images of the statue of Tláloc found at Coatlinchan are deployed as a symbol of the Mexican nation. Tláloc and other pre-Hispanic features are critical to creating a common Mexican identity that unites people throughout Mexico. Due to the fact that many scholars believe that Tláloc also has Mayan roots, this widespread appreciation is common in Mesoamerica. Accordingly, people throughout Mexico, and especially in Coatlinchan, refer to Tláloc in very anthropomorphized ways, referring to Tláloc as a person, as the Mexica did with many deities. Furthermore, people continue to observe superstitions about Tláloc. Despite centuries of colonial erasure, Tláloc continues to be represented in American culture.
Mesoamerican representations
Evidence suggests that Tláloc was represented in many other Mesoamerican cultures and religions. Tláloc is thought to be one of the most commonly worshipped deities at Teotihuacan and it is specifically here, in Teotihuacan, that representations of Tláloc often show him having jaguar teeth and features. This differs from the Maya version of Tláloc, as the Maya representation depicts no specific relation to jaguars. The inhabitants of Teotihuacan thought of thunder as the rumblings of the jaguar and associated thunder with Tláloc as well. It is likely that this god was given these associations because he is also known as "the provider" among the Aztecs.A chacmool excavated from the Maya site of Chichén Itzá in the Yucatán by Augustus Le Plongeon possesses imagery associated with Tláloc. This chacmool is similar to others found at the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán. The chacmool found at Chichén Itzá appears to have been used for sacrificial purposes, as the chacmool is shaped like a captive who has been bound. Likewise, two of the chacmools that have been found at Templo Mayor make clear reference to Tláloc. The first chacmool portrays Tláloc three times. Once on the vessel for collecting the blood and heart of sacrificed victims, once on the underpart of the chacmool with aquatic motifs related to Tláloc, and the actual figure of the chacmool itself is of Tláloc as the figure portrays the iconic goggle eyes and large fangs. The other chacmool was found at the Tláloc half of the double pyramid-temple complex and clearly represents Tláloc for the same reasons. In addition to the chacmools, human corpses were found in close proximity to the Tlálocan half of Templo Mayor, which were likely war captives.
These archaeological findings could explain why the Maya tended to associate their version of Tláloc, Chaac, with the bloodiness of war and sacrifice, because they adopted it from the Aztecs, who used Maya captives for sacrifice to Tláloc. Furthermore, Tláloc can be seen in many examples of Maya war imagery and war-time decoration, such as appearing on “shields, masks, and headdresses of warriors.” This evidence affirms the Maya triple connection between war-time, sacrifice, and the rain deity as they likely adopted the rain deity from the Aztecs, but blurred the line between sacrifice and captive capture, and religion.
Tláloc was also associated with the earth, and it is believed this is also a reason why sacrifices may have been made to him. Sacrifices to Tláloc were not solely a Maya phenomenon, and it is known that the Aztecs also made sacrifices to Tláloc. Just as the Maya had also worshipped their own version of Tláloc, so did the Mixtec people of Oaxaca, who were known to worship a rain god that is extremely similar to other manifestations of Tláloc.