Cosmology

Five suns

The Mexica did not count one creation. They counted five. Four worlds already ended. This one is the Fifth Sun — Nahui Ollin, Four-Movement. The count is painted on the Piedra del Sol: Tonatiuh at the center, the four dead suns in the boxes around his face. The books that keep the story are the Leyenda de los Soles, the Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas, and the Anales de Cuauhtitlan.

Piedra del Sol, Museo Nacional de Antropología — Piedra del Sol. Museo Nacional. Tonatiuh at the center. The four suns that ended sit in the boxes of Ollin.

Ollin. Movement. The sign of this age. It ends in earthquake.

Sun 1

Nahui Ocelotl — Four Jaguar

First sun. Its lord was Tezcatlipoca. The people of that world were giants — quinametzin. They did not eat maize. They ate acorns. Tezcatlipoca himself was that sun. Quetzalcoatl struck him with a club and knocked him from the sky. Tezcatlipoca sent jaguars. The jaguars ate the giants. The world ended on the day Nahui Ocelotl, Four Jaguar.

First Sun, jaguars devour the giants — Nahui Ocelotl. Jaguars eat the world. Reconstruction of the first ending.

Sun 2

Nahui Ehecatl — Four Wind

Second sun. Its lord was Quetzalcoatl as Ehecatl — Wind. The people ate piñon. A hurricane tore the world. Trees, houses, and mountains went. The people who lived became monkeys — ozomatli — and took to the trees. The world ended on the day Nahui Ehecatl, Four Wind.

Second Sun, hurricane, people become monkeys — Nahui Ehecatl. Wind ends it. The people become monkeys. Reconstruction of the second ending.

Sun 3

Nahui Quiahuitl — Four Rain

Third sun. Its lord was Tlaloc, the rain. The people ate a water-seed. Tlaloc sent tlequiyahuatl — rain of fire. The sky burned. The people who lived became birds and flew. Some tellings say Tezcatlipoca stole Tlaloc’s wife, and Tlaloc answered with fire instead of water. The world ended on the day Nahui Quiahuitl, Four Rain.

Third Sun, fire-rain, people become birds — Nahui Quiahuitl. Fire from the sky. The people become birds. Reconstruction of the third ending.

Sun 4

Nahui Atl — Four Water

Fourth sun. Its lord was Chalchiuhtlicue — Jade Skirt, the water. The people ate cencocopi, a seed. The flood came and lasted fifty-two years. Mountains disappeared under it. The people who lived became fish. The world ended on the day Nahui Atl, Four Water.

Fourth Sun, the flood, people become fish — Nahui Atl. The flood. The people become fish. Reconstruction of the fourth ending.

Sun 5

Nahui Ollin — Four Movement

This sun. Its face is Tonatiuh. Its food is maize. Its sign is Ollin — movement. The Mexica said it will end in tlalollin: earthquake.

The birth is told at Teotihuacan. The gods built a pyre. Two came forward. Tecuciztecatl was rich, dressed in jewels, and he hesitated at the heat. Nanahuatzin was poor, pimpled, dressed in paper. He ran and entered the fire. He became Tonatiuh, this sun. Tecuciztecatl followed and became the moon. The gods threw a rabbit in his face so he would shine less. Eagle and jaguar went into the fire after them. That is why those two animals are the knight houses of this age.

The sun would not move. The gods had to give their own hearts. After that, men gave hearts so the Fifth Sun would walk. That is the road of Huitzilopochtli and of the eagle knights.

Nanahuatzin entering the pyre at Teotihuacan — Teotihuacan. Nanahuatzin enters the pyre. Tecuciztecatl hangs back. The birth of this sun.

Eagle and jaguar at the pyre — Eagle and jaguar at the fire. That is why they are the two houses of Nahui Ollin.