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Tlalocan - the place of Tlaloc (Nahuatl name for the traditional Mesoamerican God of Rain, Lightning and Water, his name possibly meaning "born from the earth") - is one of the afterlife destinations in traditional Nahua cosmology, described as a place of unending springtime, with an abundance of green foliage and plants, also one of the thirteen upper worlds and the source of rain, ruled by Tlaloc and his consort, Chalchiuhtlicue ("she of the jade skirt"), goddess of water and the oceans.

Tlalocan is the location to where the Teyolia (one out of three vital energies of the body according to traditional Nahua cosmology. The Teyolia is located in the Yollotl, "heart", it's the source of feelings and emotions. Other vital energies are the Tonalli, present in the brain and given by the couple of creative deities, and the Ihyiotl, breath, present in the liver. The Ihyiotl remains on earth after a person's death) of those who died drowning, in floods or struck by lightning go after death.

Yet acording to traditional Nahua cosmology, the current era is the Fifth Sun Era, ruled by Tonatiuh, the current sun, but four previous eras have passed, ruled by different gods, and which inhabitants ended or were transformed alongside the earth. Tlaloc was once the ruler of the Third Sun Era, Quiahuitl Tonatiuh ("Sun of Rain"), which ended with a rain of fire - and the people turned into birds to survive. Tlaloc is a god associated with the weather and sky phenonema in general, not only water. One of his epithets is Xoxouhqui "The Green One". His second wife, Chalchiuhtlicue, was the ruler of the fourth Sun Era, Atl Tonatiuh "Water Sun" which ended with an epic flood - the people turned into fish or sea mammals to survive.

Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue have a son, Tecciztecatl, who sacrificed himself in a pyre after Nanahuatzin during the dawn of the Fifth Sun Era. Nanahuatzin became Tonatiuh, the Sun, whereas Tecciztecatl became the moon.

Tlaloc is assisted by the four Tlaloque (plural of Tlaloc): Nappatecuhtli, Opochtli, Yauhqueme and Tomiyauhtecuhtli, each associated with a cardinal direction, four beings with a similar iconography as their master, who are said to open the clouds to make rain. He also has a sister named Huixtocihuatl, goddess of salt. In the Tonalpohualli (Nahuatl version of the divinatory 260 days cycle Mesoamerican calendar), Tlaloc rules over the day Mazatl ("Deer"), the days numbered Chicuei (8) and the group of thirteen days starting in a Ce Quiahuitl ("1 Rain"). He's also the ninth and last Yohualtecuhtli ("Lord of Night", deities which preside over the hours of the night or are associated with certain regions of the underworld).

As a deity associated with rain and thus vital to agriculture, Tlaloc is the most celebrated deity in the Xiuhpohualli (Nahua version of the 360+5 days cycle Mesoamerican calendar), celebrated in the Cempoalilhuitl (months composed of 20 days, a total of 18 in total) of Tozoztontli ("Vigil", held in April), Etzalcualiztli ("Feast of Beans", held in June), Teotleco (held in October), Tepeihuitl ("Feast of the Mountains" held in October / November - chosen children were sacrificed in the mountain named after the god, their tears were believed to bring rain), Atemoztli ("Water Descends / Festival of Rain" held in December / January) and Atlcahualo ("Ceasing of the Rains" held in February / March).

In the time of the Mexica (a.k.a Aztecs), half of the Huey Teocalli ("Great House of the gods / Temple", the central temple at Tenochtitlán, capital of the In Excan Tlahtoloyan / "Aztec Empire", nowadays Mexico City) was dedicated to him, and anothed half to Huitzilopochtli, god of war and patron of the Mexica.

Tlaloc's physical features, such as a mask with goggle eyes and jaguar fangs, are widespread in different traditions across Mesoamerica, and demonstrate a shared iconography for ancient rain deities in distinct cultures. The rain god was known as Chaac among the ancient Maya; Dzahui among the Ñuù Dzahui (who revered the rain god over other, calling themselves as "people of the rain". Later known as Mixteca "cloud people" by the Nahua); Cocijo among the Be'ena'a (a.k.a Zapotecs), Aktzin among the Totonaca; Junkil-Aab among the Te'Inik (a.k.a Huastecs); Tiripeme Curicaueri among the Purépecha; Muye among the Hñahñù (Otomis); Menzabak among the Hach Winik (a Maya people later a.k.a Lacandones) & Quiateot (Quihauit "Rain" + Teot "God") among the Nicarao, a Nahuat speaking people.

The red background and the design of the double helix like tree of life is inspired by mural paintings from Teotihuacan, murals that also portray what some interpret as Tonacatepetl ("mount of sustenance") from where Quetzalcoatl, as an ant, brought maize from inside out when the Tlaloque opened the mountain with thunder. This maize would feed the first people from the Fifth Sun Era, starting with Cipactonal and Oxomoco, the first ancestors in Nahua cosmology.

Mixed media illustration (ink drawing on paper from 2015 + digital painting in 2022)

Fully animated version minted (and sold) on the Tezos Blockchain

Description

Tlalocan - the place of Tlaloc (Nahuatl name for the traditional Mesoamerican God of Rain, Lightning and Water, his name possibly meaning "born from the earth") - is one of the afterlife destinations in traditional Nahua cosmology, described as a place of unending springtime, with an abundance of green foliage and plants, also one of the thirteen upper worlds and the source of rain, ruled by Tlaloc and his consort, Chalchiuhtlicue ("she of the jade skirt"), goddess of water and the oceans.

Tlalocan is the location to where the Teyolia (one out of three vital energies of the body according to traditional Nahua cosmology. The Teyolia is located in the Yollotl, "heart", it's the source of feelings and emotions. Other vital energies are the Tonalli, present in the brain and given by the couple of creative deities, and the Ihyiotl, breath, present in the liver. The Ihyiotl remains on earth after a person's death) of those who died drowning, in floods or struck by lightning go after death.

Yet acording to traditional Nahua cosmology, the current era is the Fifth Sun Era, ruled by Tonatiuh, the current sun, but four previous eras have passed, ruled by different gods, and which inhabitants ended or were transformed alongside the earth. Tlaloc was once the ruler of the Third Sun Era, Quiahuitl Tonatiuh ("Sun of Rain"), which ended with a rain of fire - and the people turned into birds to survive. Tlaloc is a god associated with the weather and sky phenonema in general, not only water. One of his epithets is Xoxouhqui "The Green One". His second wife, Chalchiuhtlicue, was the ruler of the fourth Sun Era, Atl Tonatiuh "Water Sun" which ended with an epic flood - the people turned into fish or sea mammals to survive.

Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue have a son, Tecciztecatl, who sacrificed himself in a pyre after Nanahuatzin during the dawn of the Fifth Sun Era. Nanahuatzin became Tonatiuh, the Sun, whereas Tecciztecatl became the moon.

Tlaloc is assisted by the four Tlaloque (plural of Tlaloc): Nappatecuhtli, Opochtli, Yauhqueme and Tomiyauhtecuhtli, each associated with a cardinal direction, four beings with a similar iconography as their master, who are said to open the clouds to make rain. He also has a sister named Huixtocihuatl, goddess of salt. In the Tonalpohualli (Nahuatl version of the divinatory 260 days cycle Mesoamerican calendar), Tlaloc rules over the day Mazatl ("Deer"), the days numbered Chicuei (8) and the group of thirteen days starting in a Ce Quiahuitl ("1 Rain"). He's also the ninth and last Yohualtecuhtli ("Lord of Night", deities which preside over the hours of the night or are associated with certain regions of the underworld).

As a deity associated with rain and thus vital to agriculture, Tlaloc is the most celebrated deity in the Xiuhpohualli (Nahua version of the 360+5 days cycle Mesoamerican calendar), celebrated in the Cempoalilhuitl (months composed of 20 days, a total of 18 in total) of Tozoztontli ("Vigil", held in April), Etzalcualiztli ("Feast of Beans", held in June), Teotleco (held in October), Tepeihuitl ("Feast of the Mountains" held in October / November - chosen children were sacrificed in the mountain named after the god, their tears were believed to bring rain), Atemoztli ("Water Descends / Festival of Rain" held in December / January) and Atlcahualo ("Ceasing of the Rains" held in February / March).

In the time of the Mexica (a.k.a Aztecs), half of the Huey Teocalli ("Great House of the gods / Temple", the central temple at Tenochtitlán, capital of the In Excan Tlahtoloyan / "Aztec Empire", nowadays Mexico City) was dedicated to him, and anothed half to Huitzilopochtli, god of war and patron of the Mexica.

Tlaloc's physical features, such as a mask with goggle eyes and jaguar fangs, are widespread in different traditions across Mesoamerica, and demonstrate a shared iconography for ancient rain deities in distinct cultures. The rain god was known as Chaac among the ancient Maya; Dzahui among the Ñuù Dzahui (who revered the rain god over other, calling themselves as "people of the rain". Later known as Mixteca "cloud people" by the Nahua); Cocijo among the Be'ena'a (a.k.a Zapotecs), Aktzin among the Totonaca; Junkil-Aab among the Te'Inik (a.k.a Huastecs); Tiripeme Curicaueri among the Purépecha; Muye among the Hñahñù (Otomis); Menzabak among the Hach Winik (a Maya people later a.k.a Lacandones) & Quiateot (Quihauit "Rain" + Teot "God") among the Nicarao, a Nahuat speaking people.

The red background and the design of the double helix like tree of life is inspired by mural paintings from Teotihuacan, murals that also portray what some interpret as Tonacatepetl ("mount of sustenance") from where Quetzalcoatl, as an ant, brought maize from inside out when the Tlaloque opened the mountain with thunder. This maize would feed the first people from the Fifth Sun Era, starting with Cipactonal and Oxomoco, the first ancestors in Nahua cosmology.

Mixed media illustration (ink drawing on paper from 2015 + digital painting in 2022)

Fully animated version minted (and sold) on the Tezos Blockchain