Creation Story (South American, Aztec Nation)
On my travels I spent some time in Mexico, part of which was, a long time ago, the territory of the Aztec Indians. I was fortunate enough to learn the Aztec Creation Story from an Aztec Elder.
The ancient Aztecs believed that the Gods tried to create the Mother Earth four times. Each time something went wrong. On the fifth try everything worked just fine and that is the age that we are living in today. Here is how it happened.
On the first try, a God named Tezcatlipoca turned himself into the Sun. Giants lived on the Mother Earth. They ate acorns, berries and the roots of plants. The God Quetzalcoatl became very jealous that Tezcatlipoca was ruling the universe and knocked him out of the sky. Tezcatlipoca got so angry that he turned into a Jaguar and destroyed the Giants and Mother Earth.
On the second try, Quetzalcoatl took over the Heavens. He created humans, and they ate pine nuts. Tezcatlipoca got his revenge by overthrowing Quetzalcoatl and destroying Mother Earth with a hurricane. The few Humans that remained were turned into monkeys.
The third age began when Tlaloc, God of rain, became the Sun. Humans populated Mother Earth once again. The age ended when Mother Earth was destroyed by fire. The Humans that survived were turned into dogs, turkeys, birds and butterflies.
On the fourth try, the water Goddess Chalchiuhtlicue became the Sun. This time Mother Earth was destroyed by a great flood. The Humans that survived were turned into fish.
The fifth and final age occurred after the Gods held a meeting and decided that one of them had to sacrifice His or Her self to become the new Sun, by jumping into the fire. A God named Tecuciztecatl was chosen, but he was too afraid to sacrifice Himself. A Goddess named Nanahuatzin was then chosen, and she bravely jumped into the fire and became the Sun. Tecuciztecatl was so embarrassed that Nanahuatzin had done something that he could not, that he followed her into the fire. He was too late to become the Sun, and became the Moon instead.
Quetzalcoatl then created Humankind, and we are the people who live on Mother Earth today.
I work with Muskwa International Foundation Inc. which is an entity that was formed to assist the street children in the Philippines, mostly in Manila and Davao, the two largest cities in the Philippines. You can find out about their projects here Street Children and Natural Disasters.
The stories I tell here I learned from the Elders and Story tellers and I am passing them on with their blessings. These stories can be anything from 4,000 to 5,000 years old.
