Editing Huītzilōpōchtli (section)

==Origin stories==
[[File:Blue_and_Red_Tezcatlipocas.jpg|left|thumb|Blue and Red [[Aztec creator gods|Tezcatlipocas]] in the [[Codex Fejérváry-Mayer]].]]
There are a handful of origin mythologies describing the deity's beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli's role in it. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four — his parents being the creator couple of the [[Ōmeteōtl]] ([[Tōnacātēcuhtli]] and [[Tōnacācihuātl]]) while his brothers were [[Quetzalcoatl|Quetzalcōātl]] ("Precious Serpent" or "Quetzal-Feathered Serpent"), [[Xipe Totec|Xīpe Tōtec]] ("Our Lord Flayed"), and [[Tezcatlipoca|Tezcatlipōca]] ("Smoking Mirror"). His mother and father instructed him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans, the Earth, and the Sun.<ref name="Read 2000 193">{{cite book|last=Read|first=Kay Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=193|isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 }}</ref>

Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess, [[Coatlicue]], being impregnated as she was sweeping by a ball of feathers on Mount Coatepec ("Serpent Hill"; near [[Tula (Mesoamerican site)|Tula]], [[Hidalgo (state)|Hidalgo]]).<ref>{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=216}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=193tKPdM-ykC&pg=PA584|title=The History of the Indies of New Spain |first=Fray Diego |last=Durán |author-link=Diego Durán |page=584 |orig-year=1581 |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |date=October 1994 |others=Translated by [[Doris Heyden|Heyden, Doris]] |isbn=978-0-8061-2649-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pages.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/nahuatl/ReadingCoatlicue.html |title=Readings in Classical Nahuatl: The Murders of Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui |website=[[UCSD]] |first=David K. |last=Jordan |date=January 23, 2016 |access-date=August 12, 2016}}</ref> Her other children, who were already fully grown, were the four hundred male Centzonuitznaua and the female deity [[Coyolxāuhqui|Coyolxauhqui]]. These children, angered by the manner by which their mother became impregnated, conspired to kill her.<ref name="Coe 2008 217">{{cite book|last=Coe|first=Michael D.|title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs|year=2008|publisher=Thames & Hudson|location=London|pages=217}}</ref> Huitzilopochtli burst forth from his mother's womb in full armor and fully grown, or in other versions of the story, burst forth from the womb and immediately put on his gear.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Birth of Huitzilopochtli, Patron God of the Aztecs|url=http://www.phs.poteau.k12.ok.us/williame/APAH/readings/The%20Birth%20of%20Huitzilophochtli,%20Patron%20God%20of%20the%20Aztecs.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.phs.poteau.k12.ok.us/williame/APAH/readings/The%20Birth%20of%20Huitzilophochtli,%20Patron%20God%20of%20the%20Aztecs.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|website=Porteau High School|access-date=14 May 2018}}</ref> He attacked his older brothers and sister, defending his mother by beheading his sister and casting her body from the mountain top. He also chased after his brothers, who fled from him and became scattered all over the sky.<ref name="Read 2000 193"/>

Huitzilopochtli is seen as the sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as the moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the reason why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute for Huitzilopochtli as sustenance for the Sun.<ref name="Coe 2008 217"/> If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world.