Posted on 10/29/2022 8:07:30 AM PDT by BenLurkin
In most religions, fertility goddesses are depicted as the culture's epitome of beauty, like Aphrodite of ancient Greece or Venus of ancient Rome. The Aztecs took a different approach, however. Tlaltecuhtli was a terrible monster that was responsible for all life, but paradoxically, could only be satiated by human sacrifice.
In Aztec mythology , four worlds had existed before ours, each wiped out by a great flood .
Tlaltecuhtli was a great sea monster deity that lived in the oceans created by the fourth great flood. She was described as having the skin of a crocodile, huge sharp fangs, and gaping mouths at her elbows and knees. Tlaltecuhtli floated in the ocean crying out for flesh to devour. Sadly for her, being between rounds of creation meant there were no tasty mortals to snack on.
One day, the gods Quetzacoatl (a creator deity) and Tezcatlipoca (another major deity) came down from the heavens in the form of snakes. They soon came across Tlaltecuhtli and realized that the fifth cosmos would never prosper with such a terrible monster in existence. So the two gods decided to destroy her.
Ultimately, Quetzacoatl and Tezcatlipoca prevailed, ripping Tlaltecuhtli in two. From her upper half, the sky was formed, and her lower half became the earth.
Her eyes transformed into springs and wells. From her nose were created lesser mountains and valleys. Her shoulders became the tallest mountains, and cave and rivers were born from her mouth.
Being ripped in half, dismembered, and molded into a planet still wasn’t enough to kill Tlaltecuhtli. It only served to anger her. She demanded human blood as payment for her sacrifice. The Mesoamericans believed any strange sounds coming from the earth were Tlaltecuhtli either calling for blood or wailing in agony.
(Excerpt) Read more at ancient-origins.net ...
You know. The 'other guy'.
Bloodthirsty female deities are not all that uncommon. Kali has a beautiful, seductive aspect but is typically shown with gruesome tokens like human heads hanging from her belt. The fertility goddess Astarte from old Mesopotamia was also the war goddess.
It’s starting to sound like old Tlaltecuhtli might be getting ready to eat part of Hawaii.
“Deadlier then the male.”
The drugs they took built up over time.
Tlaltecuhtli was dual-gendered
“Tlaltecuhtli was dual-gendered”
Ancestor of Bruce Jenner?
What’s interesting is that this isn’t too far removed from the myths of ancient Europe/Asia. Often, some primordial monster— a leviathan, a giant snake, a great giant born from chaos, etc.,—will be killed by the Sky God (like Zeus) and maybe a few of his relatives and molded into planet Earth, often making humanity in the process perhaps from the monster’s blood.
Thank God for the Conquistadors. Cortes Uber alles.
Tlahēlcuāni (”she who eats tlahēlli or filthy excrescence [sin]”)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaz%C5%8Dlte%C5%8Dtl
‘’When the Himalayan peasant meets the He bear in his pride he will shout to scare the monster who will often turn aside/ But the She bear thus accosted rends the peasant tooth and nail/ For the female of the species is more deadly than the male’’.
Neither were the goddess of fertility.
She, as they were essentially the same, Rome ripped off the Greek pantheon so they could have a state religion, was the goddess of passion.
Demeter was the goddess of fertility.
If you have not read it, this is a must read, first person account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico by Bernal Diaz.
Yea, all cultures are good, right?
Wherever you see the advent of Christianity, whether in the ancient Mediterranean or Conquistadorian America, the first thing that is banned is child sacrifice and evil rituals.
Archeologists have shown that the sewer systems of ancient Rome contained many small children's bones, a testament to the practice of abandoning and starving or killing children in ancient Rome, artifacts which continue for centuries, until their sudden disappearance coinciding with the widespread establishment of Christianity in the 4th century AD.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
