Ehecatl (Nahuatl: meaning "Wind") was an Aztec god of the air and winds, especially those which brought rains.
The Aztecs thought he was born from flint on the day 9 Wind, which was his other name. They also named the 2nd day in the Aztec calendar after him.
Myths & Legends[]
Regarded as a manifestation of the great feathered serpent god Quetzalcoatl, he was sometimes known as Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl, in which guise he helped create humanity in the Aztec creation myth and gave the gift of the maguey plant. He was also associated with the cardinal directions, colours, and several calendar dates.
Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl was also one of the four sky-bearing deities, specifically in the west side. Ehecatl was regarded as the patron of merchants and was associated with spider monkeys, perhaps because of their great speed.
Creation Myth[]
Ehecatl features in the Aztec Creation mythology, first, as the 2nd sun of the cosmos Nahui Ehecatl, and then during the creation of the present world with the 5th and final sun. According to one version of the myth, Quetzalcoatl took on the guise of Ehecatl and descended into the Underworld where he stole the bones of the inhabitants of the former worlds in order to create humans in this one. Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the Underworld, was none too happy about people popping into his realm whenever they felt like it and so would only let Ehecatl go free if he could somehow get music from a conch shell. Ehecatl cleverly had worms bore holes in it and bees buzz inside it to produce a tremendous sound, thus ensuring his liberty.
Ehecatl also helped in the movement of the 5th sun and moon. These had been created when the twin brothers Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl had thrown themselves into a sacrificial fire. The problem, though, was that neither celestial body could move and so Ehecatl, in one version at least, was called upon to blow them into their respective orbits.
The Maguey Plant[]
Ehecatl is sometimes credited with giving the important maguey plant (Agave americana) to humanity. Ehecatl persuaded Mayahuel, a beautiful young goddess, to descend from the heavens and become his lover. Down on earth, the two embraced as a pair of intertwining trees but their raptures were soon rudely interrupted by Tzitzmitl, the 'grandmother' goddess, who was Mayahuel's guardian. The elderly goddess split the tree in two and fed the pieces to her demon followers, the Tzitzimime. Ehecatl, being a more powerful god, was unharmed in this episode, and so he gathered what pieces of Mayahuel he could find and planted them in a field. These remains then grew into the maguey plant.
Two other gifts to humanity besides pulque which are often credited to Ehecatl are music and maize.
Temples[]
The Mesoamerican temples dedicated to Ehecatl and other wind gods are distinctively circular, compared to the usual square pyramids, and had conical roofs, which may reflect a desire for aerdynamics (and thereby welcome the winds). The doorways are usually formed as the jaws of a giant snake. This may well be in imitation of the caves Mesoamerican peoples considered entrances to the Underworld where the winds were thought to originate from.