Ōmeteōtl
Template:Lang (Template:IPA) ("Two-God") is a name used to refer to the pair of Aztec deities Template:Lang and Template:Lang,<ref name="NahoaMythology">Template:Cite book</ref> also known as Template:Lang and Template:Lang.<ref name="adelaf">Template:Cite book</ref> Template:Lang translates as "two" or "dual" in Nahuatl and Template:Lang translates as "Divinity".Ometeotl was one as the first divinity, and Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl when the being became two to be able to reproduce all creation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Definition
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Multiple Nahuatl sources, notably the Florentine Codex, name the highest level of heaven Template:Lang or "place of duality" (Template:Lang specifically terms it "in Template:Lang in Template:Lang" or "the place of duality, above the nine-tiered heavens)."Template:Sfn In the Template:Lang, Franciscan priest Template:Lang translated a Nahuatl source reporting that in this layer of heaven there existed "a god named Template:Lang, which means two-gods, and one of them was a goddess."Template:Sfn The History of the Mexicans as Told by Their Paintings (Template:Lang) names the inhabitants of the uppermost heaven Template:Lang and Template:Lang (Lord and Lady of Abundance).Template:Sfn Template:Lang concurs that these are epithets of "in Template:Lang in Template:Lang", giving as another name of Template:Lang "in Template:Lang" ("the mansion of the Lord of Abundance").Template:Sfn
There is some evidence that these two gods were considered aspects of a single being, as when a singer in the Template:Lang asks where he can go given that "Template:Lang Template:Lang" ("they, God, stand double").Template:Sfn The Template:Lang reports of the two that "Template:Lang" (they were raised and had always been in the thirteenth heaven; nothing was ever known of their beginning, just their dwelling and creation, which were in the thirteenth heaven).Template:Sfn
As a result of these references, many scholars (most notably Template:Lang) interpret the rare name Template:Lang as "Dual God" or "Lord of the Duality". Template:Lang further argues that Template:Lang was the supreme creator deity of the Aztecs, and that the Aztecs envisioned this deity as a mystical entity with a dual nature.
Criticism
[edit]Other scholars however, notably Richard Haly (1992), argue that there was no Template:Lang, Template:Lang or Template:Lang among the Aztecs. Instead, he claims, the names should be interpreted using the Nahuatl root Template:Wikt-lang ("bone"), rather than Template:Wikt-lang ("two"). Haly further contends that Template:Lang was another name for Template:Lang and Template:Lang, both gods related to the creation of humans from dead bones. He argues that, of the five sources used by Template:Lang to argue in favor of the existence of a single creator god among the Aztecs, none contains a clear reference to a god of duality.
First, Template:Lang cites the Franciscan Template:Lang, who affirms in his chronicle that the "Indians wanted the divine Nature shared by two gods". In his translation of the Template:Lang Template:Lang introduces a reference to the "God of duality" where it is not explicitly found in the original text, which reads "Template:Lang".Template:Sfn Haly argues that Template:Lang erroneously unites "stands dual" with the Spanish loanword Template:Lang ("God") to invent this dual deity.<ref>Haly 1992:275</ref><ref>Payas 2004:553</ref> Another example given by Template:Lang is from the Template:Lang: "Template:Lang", literally "two-god, creator of humanity."Template:Sfn Haly, reading the interjection Template:Lang as part of a longer (and similarly unattested) Template:Lang, argues that this should rather be translated as "juicy maguey God" as the text talks about the imbibing of pulque. The Template:Lang has a representation of a god labelled Template:Lang — iconographic analysis shows the deity Template:Lang to be identical to Template:Lang.<ref>Haly 1992:277</ref><ref>Anders et al.</ref> The fifth source is the History of the Mexicans as Told by Their Paintings which Haly shows does not in fact read Template:Lang, but rather "Template:Lang, ("bone-lord") who is also called Template:Lang" and is explicitly stated to be identical to Template:Lang.
James Maffie in his book Aztec Philosophy poses the argument that Aztec religion was pantheistic, centered on the entity Teotl. As a result of the pantheism proposed by Maffie that he claims was practiced by the Aztecs, it is by definition not possible that Ometeotl can be a “God of Duality” that is separate from Teotl, which is contradictory to the way in which Leon-Portilla talks about Ometeotl as a transcendental creator god.<ref>Ometeotl, the God that Didn’t Exist, Itztli Ehecatl. http://www.calmecacanahuac.com/blog/uncategorized/ometeotl-the-god-that-didnt-exist/. 2014</ref>