MYTHS
The principal myths relating to the origin of the Moon-god have already been given in the chapter on Cosmogony.
The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A states that:
“They believed that the moon presided over human generation, and accordingly they always put it by the side of the sun. They placed on its head a sea-snail, to denote that in the same way as this marine animal creeps from its integument or shell, so man comes from his mother’s womb.”
The interpreter of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis says:
“Meztli was otherwise named Tectziztecatl; because in the same way that a snail creeps from its shell, so man proceeds from his mother’s womb. They placed the moon opposite to the sun, because its course continually crosses his; and they believed it to be the cause of human generation.”
NATURE AND STATUS
Tecciztecatl is “the Man in the Moon,” the spirit who dwells in or animates the luminary of night. He is frequently depicted as