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  ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆  ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

By Teresa Carbine

The First Sun belonged to Tezcatlipoca, whose name means “Smoking Mirror.” He’s one of the most powerful and feared gods in the Aztec mythology— the god of the night sky, associated with darkness, war, kingship, and fate. His vibe is generally mysterious, dangerous, and vengeful.

He’s often pictured with a black obsidian mirror representing his ability to see and manipulate fate; his animal disguise is the jaguar, which makes perfect sense since jaguars were seen as creatures of the night and symbols of power.

Tezcatlipoca didn’t rule in peace. He had a famous (and very mythic) sibling rivalry with Quetzalcoatl (who we also have a post about!), the Feathered Serpent god. The two were cosmic opposites — Tezcatlipoca representing darkness and chaos, Quetzalcoatl symbolizing light and order.

The myth tells us that in this First Sun, the world was inhabited by giants who ate wild fruit. But Tezcatlipoca’s rule wasn’t exactly bright — literally. His sun only managed to shine halfway, casting a dim light over the world. Some say this was because he was the god of the night. Others say it was because he had lost a leg to the earth monster Cipactli, when he used it as bait to help create the world.

It also reminds us how the Aztecs viewed the universe: not as a straight line from beginning to end, but as a series of ages, each one destroyed to make way for the next. In their worldview, destruction wasn’t an ending — it was part of an eternal rhythm.