battle, or, as has been said, may have followed his promotion to the rank of sun-god, the deity of human sacrifice, the god who demanded human hearts and blood. A larger number of captives were devoted to him than to any other divinity, and as the waging of war was the only means by which so many victims might be procured, the sun would naturally become the great patron of strife.
As the sun is the great central cause of all agricultural success, so Uitzilopochtli came to be looked upon as one of the promoters of plant growth, as is witnessed by his festivals, which synchronize with the first rainfall of the year, the growth of plant life, and the end of the fruitful season, when, in the form of a paste image, the god was slain. He is thus the sun of the season of plenty, as his “brother” Tezcatlipocâ represents that of sereness