Mixcoatl, Cloud Serpent, is the Aztec patron of the hunt, honored across the veintena of Quecholli with a communal deer hunt and the making of arrows recalling the Chichimec hunting heritage the Mexica claimed as their own ancestry. In some accounts he is also father to Quetzalcoatl, tying the hunting god to the wider Aztec creation cycle. The atlas already holds Quetzalcoatl and several of his compound and epithet forms; Mixcoatl is their own distinct figure rather than a variant name for any of them.
Facts
Function
Domain / Function Cult
Attributes and IconographyMixcoatl is shown with a black mask of paint or a band across his eyes and his body striped in red and white, carrying a bundle of arrows or the hunting bow. The Milky Way itself was read by the Mexica as his celestial path, tying the hunter god to the night sky. 2 Attributions
Mythic AssociationIn some accounts Mixcoatl is the father of Quetzalcoatl, tying the hunting god to the wider Aztec creation cycle; the atlas records him as a distinct figure rather than a variant name for Quetzalcoatl or his compound forms. 1 Origins
Origin of the NameNahuatl for Cloud Serpent, from mixtli (cloud) and coatl (serpent). 1 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 The Aztec patron of the hunt and, in some accounts, father of Quetzalcoatl, matching the reading already carried by Quetzalcoatl for the same pantheon. Attestation
HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Patron Of
Quecholli is dedicated to the deer hunt and arrow-making in Mixcoatl's honor
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