Huitzilopochtli

Huitzilopochtli greets the dawn with a roar of fury and the flash of his Xiuhcoatl, banishing night from of the world and escorting the sun aloft with a train of fallen warriors at his back. Ascending skyward, Huitzilopochtli becomes the noonday sun, the light that banishes all shadow. As the sun sets, Huitzilopochtli’s warrior entourage retreats on hummingbird wings, replaced by a fearsome host of skeletal Cihuateteo, women who died in childbirth. They fight with rictus grins and clawed hands to beat back the dark until the sun is swallowed by the underworld to be reborn on the morrow. Huitzilopochtli never wavers, never tires, and certainly never retreats.

Huitzilopochtli participated in the creation of the world and later took interest in a promising young tribe from Aztlan, marking them for greatness. Leading them south, he guided them on an onerous pilgrimage to Tenochtitlan, the center of the universe, and site of their future glory. He sternly admonished them to abandon the name “Aztec,” for they should never look backward, only forward to glory. They were now “Mēxihcah,” and few test this prohibition in Huitzilopochtli’s presence.

Huitzilopochtli’s Scions are warriors, aggressive to a fault, yet relentlessly self-sacrificial in defense of their people. They are fighters, modern Eagle warriors and gang members who wear hummingbird tattoos and fight elaborate “flower wars” to capture rivals for sacrifice. Others become politicians, wealthy corporate moguls, or influential celebrities dedicated to conquering those around them through trade and commerce.