| Tlaloc was the Aztec rain
god His name means He Who Makes
Things Sprout.
Tlaloc was the eighth ruler of the days and the
ninth lord of the nights.
Tlaloc was pictured as a man wearing a net of
clouds, a crown of heron feathers, foam sandals and carrying rattles to make thunder.
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Tlaloc lived in a place the Aztecs called
Tlalocan. He lived there with his companion, Chalchiuhtlicue (She Who Wears a Jade
Skirt), also called Matlalcueye (She Who Wears a Green Skirt), the goddess of freshwater
lakes and streams. Tlalocan was also the place where all people who had drowned 'lived'.
Part of The Teocalli (Great Temple) at Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was dedicated to
Tlaloc, and was painted in white and blue.
Tlaloc was greatly feared.
He could send out the rain or provoke drought
and hunger.
He hurled
lightning upon the earth and unleashed the devastating hurricanes.
It was believed that he could send down to the
earth different kinds of rain which would help crops grow or destroy them.
Certain illnesses, such as dropsy, leprosy, and
rheumatism, were said to be caused by Tlaloc. |
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