Page:Historia Verdadera del Mexico profundo.djvu/118

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Tezcatlipoca forces Chalchuiuhcueye to destroy humanity, so it starts to rain on a permanent basis until human beings are converted into fish and the heavens lost balance and fell on the Earth. This Sun was called Atonatiuh.

Then, the gods were shamed by their mistakes again met at Teotihuacan to rectify, and decided to create four men, called: Atemoc, Itzcóatl, Itzamaliza and Tenoch. The four emerged from the four cardinal points as leafy trees. They raised the 13 heavens and reconstructed the 9 Mictlán[1] levels. The gods ordered Tezcatlipoca White—Quetzalcoatl to Mictlán and plead of Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of death, to return the human beings bones that had died in the previous Sun. The Lord of death, put some tests that Quetzalcoatl was able to overcome with the help of insects and its Xólotl nagual to rescue the "divine relics", to which he gave life by bleeding his member over the bones. Food was scarce for human beings of the new Sun. So the gods decided that Tezcatlipoca White—Quetzalcoatl, now converted into an ant, found the Food Mount called in Nahuatl Tonacaltepetl and he should bring back corn and seeds, as the new human food.

The gods once again met at Teotihuacan and decided to create the Fifth Sol, as Tlatipac was in darkness. They agreed that one of them would become Sun, for which they made a large bonfire and chose Tecucciztecatl and Nanahuatzin, for them to fast for 13 days and purify their body and spirit. While the first refused sacrifice and offered jewels and precious stones, the second delivered himself with devotion to sacrifice and achieve purification.

When the gods ordered Tecucciztecatl to jump to the great fire, he found no courage and internal strength to do so. After
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  1. Mictlan was the underworld of Aztec mythology. Most people who died went to Mictlan, although other possibilities existed (Other Destinations). Mictlan was located far to the north, and consisted of nine distinct levels. The journey from the first level to the ninth was difficult and took four years, but the dead were aided by the psychopomp, Xolotl. The dead had to pass many challenges, such as crossing a mountain range where the mountains crashed into each other, a field with wind that blew flesh-scraping knives, and a river of blood with fearsome jaguars. Mictlan was ruled by a king, Mictlantecuhtli ("Lord of the Underworld") and his wife, Mictecacihuatl ("Lady of the Underworld"). Other deities in Mictlan included Cihuacoatl (who commanded Mictlan spirits called Cihuateteo), Acolmiztli, Chalmecacihuilt, Chalmecatl and Acolnahuacatl.
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