The god Tezcatlipoca was a major Aztec deity who was worshiped in east-west facing temples in many Mesoamerican city-states under the influence of the Aztecs, particularly Texcoco. He was considered the patron god of warriors. Among other things, he was also the god of the night sky and the direction north.
Owing to Aztec dualism, Tezcatlipoca was associated with both good things such a beauty and effective governance, and bad things such as death and chaos. Other Mesoamerican cultures considered Tezcatlipoca to be the supreme being and thought that all other deities were lesser manifestations of him. This reflects a pattern across several cultures including the Inca, ancient Chinese, Hindus, and others with an independent emergence of a concept of a supreme all-powerful deity.
The concept of a single all-powerful, all-knowing supreme being was surprisingly common in antiquity. Aztec Creation myths Cipactli and Aztec Creation The Four Tezcatlipoca There were actually four beings called Tezcatlipoca in Aztec mythology who were all the divine children of Ometeotl: The White Tezcatlipoca was Quetzalcoatl , the Black Tezcatlipoca was the one identified as just Tezcatlipoca , the Blue Tezcatlipoca was the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli , and the Red Tezcatlipoca was also called Xipe Totec . Ancient Gods – When Darkness Ruled the World Maya: Science Only Acknowledges Now What Ancient Sages Knew About Reality 5000 Years Ago An artist’s depiction of Tezcatlipoca.
(Mauricio Herrera.