eternal life, and that if he did not die, all persons drinking wine must die; but that the death of this Ometochtli was only like the sleep of one drunk, that he afterwards recovered and again became fresh and well.”
FESTIVALS
Allusion is made to Vetancurt’s mention of a special ceremony to Tezcatzoncatl on the preceding page.
PRIESTHOOD
Sahagun says9 that a priest called by the same name as the god was charged with the preparations for the festival of tepeilhuitl, in which four victims, one of whom bore the name of Mayauel, an octli-goddess, were slain. (See Tlaloc—Festivals.)
NATURE AND STATUS
Tezcatzoncatl appears to have been the god of intoxication par excellence, father of the other octli-gods, to whom special invocation was made when the new liquor was brewed.
TEPOXTECATL = “HE OF THE AXE”
- Area of Worship: Chichimec quarter of Amantlan, Mexico. Tepoxtlan in Cuernavaca.
- Symbol: The copper axe.
APPEARANCE AND INSIGNIA
In the Codex Magliabecchiano, Tepoxtecatl is pictured as wearing the peculiar nose-plug of the octli-gods, the motif of which reappears on his shield. He is crowned with a panache from which leaves sprout, and lunar and