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 Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 3 HistoricityNot a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being 1 Origins
Origin of the NameNahuatl for Cloud Serpent, from mixtli (cloud) and coatl (serpent). 1 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. 4 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 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. Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Patron Of
Quecholli is dedicated to the deer hunt and arrow-making in Mixcoatl's honor
Source The Aztecs (Smith, 3rd edition)Michael E. Smith
Sources
1. The Aztecs (Smith, 3rd edition)
Michael E. Smith, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012Mixcoatl as patron of the hunt and the Quecholli veintenaView the Source 2. Religions of Mesoamerica, 2nd edition
David Carrasco, Waveland Press, 2013Mixcoatl, Toltec-Chichimec roots
3. An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya
Mary Miller and Karl Taube, Thames and Hudson
4. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain
Bernardino de Sahagun; translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble, School of American Research and University of Utah Press, 1950General account of the Chichimec-descended hunting deity Mixcoatl within Aztec religionView the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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