Tezcatlipoca

(Tehs-cah-TLEE-pooh-cah)

The Aztec people of ancient Mexico had intheir pantheon a vampiric god who had domain over material things and of the night called Tezcatlipoca ("Smoking Mirror"). The smoking mirror that he carried in all of his artistic represen-tations allowed him to know the thoughts and deeds of any man. He was a skilled magic user, could shape-shift, and had at his disposal an array of mysterious and unspecified powers.

Tezcatlipoca, when manifesting on earth,could usually be found at the crossroads. There he challenged men to one-on-one combat or tempted them to do evil; should they resist, he rewarded them.

Each year during the fifth month on the Azteccalendar, Toxcatl, a handsome young man was selected to represent the god on earth for the next year. The representative led a lavish life of dancing, feasting, and being worshipped as a god by eight beautiful women chosen to be his companions and four equally beautiful brides. After his year of deification ended, a ritual was performed where he climbed to the top of the temple and broke all of the flutes that he used while he rep-resented Tezcatlipoca. Then, he was sacrificed, his heart ripped from his chest while it was still beating.

Source: Aguilar-Moreno, Handbook to Life in the Aztec World, 76, 145, 146, 207; Lurker, Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, 342; Payne, History of the New World Called America, 531­37