Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The jaguar's formidable size, reputation as a predator, and its evolved capacities to survive in the jungle made it an animal to be revered. The Olmec and the Maya witnessed this animal's habits, adopting the jaguar as an authoritative and martial symbol, and incorporated the animal into their mythology.
The jaguar was an animal sacred to Tezcatlipoca. Aztec obsidian mirror. Tezcatlipoca (Classical Nahuatl: Tēzcatlīpohca [teːs̻kat͡ɬiːˈpoʔkaˀ]) or Tezcatl Ipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion.
In Aztec mythology, Tepēyōllōtl (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈtepeːˈjoːlːoːt͡ɬ]; "heart of the mountains"; also Tepeyollotli) was the god of darkened caves, earthquakes, echoes and jaguars. He is the god of the Eighth Hour of the Night, and is depicted as a jaguar leaping towards the Sun.
The jaguar motif was used due to the belief the jaguar represented Tezcatlipoca. Aztecs also wore this dress at war because they believed the animal's strengths would be given to them during battles. [4] Jaguar warriors were used at the battlefront in military campaigns. They were also used to capture prisoners for sacrifice to the Aztec gods. [2]
Quilaztli, aztec patron of midwives. Quilaztli is also known as Cōhuācihuātl (serpent woman), Cuāuhcihuātl (eagle woman) or Ocēlōcihuātl (jaguar woman), Pāpalōcihuātl (butterfly woman), Cihuāyāōtl (warrior woman), and Tzitzimīncihuātl (devil woman). These are individual honorary classes for women.
Less clearly classifiable as deities are jaguar protectors (perhaps ancestors) and jaguar transformers. The Water Lily Jaguar (so called because of the water lily on its head) is both a giant jaguar protector, looming large above the king (e.g., Tikal wooden lintel 3, temple I), and a transformer often shown amidst flames.
In current culture, the eagle warrior is a representation of the Aztec culture, and therefore the Mexican tradition. Some companies use the eagle warrior as a symbol that denotes strength, aggressiveness, competitiveness, and remembrance of the ancient cultures of Mexico. Aeroméxico's logo, for instance, shows a cuāuhtli.
Ixchel or Ix Chel [a] is the 16th-century name of the aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine in ancient Maya culture. She corresponds to Toci, an Aztec earth goddess inhabiting the sweatbath. She is related to another Aztec goddess invoked at birth, viz. Cihuacoatl (or Ilamatecuhtli). [1]