Editing Xiuhcoatl (section)

==Mythology==
[[Image:Huitzilopochtli 1.jpg|thumb|right|[[Huitzilopochtli]] as depicted in the [[Codex Borbonicus]] with Xiuhcoatl held up in his right hand as a weapon]]
Xiuhcoatl was considered to be the [[nahual]], or spirit form, of the Aztec fire deity [[Xiuhtecuhtli]].<ref>Fernández 1992, 1996, pp.107, 160.</ref> It was a lightning-like weapon borne by [[Huitzilopochtli]].<ref>Read & Gonzalez 2000, pp.194, 230.</ref> With it, soon after his birth, he pierced his sister [[Coyolxauhqui]], destroying her, and also defeated the [[Centzon Huitznahua]].<ref>Read & Gonzalez 2000, pp.194, 230. Miller & Taube 1993, 2003, p.188.</ref> This incident is illustrated on a fragment of broken sculpture excavated from the [[Templo Mayor|Great Temple]] of [[Tenochtitlan]]. The fragment was originally a part of a large stone disk that depicted the fallen Coyolxauhqui with the Xiuhcoatl fire serpent penetrating her chest. This Xiuhcoatl wielded by Huitzilopochtli symbolizes the forces of darkness being driven out by the fiery rays of the sun.<ref name="miller"/>

[[Tonatiuh]], the sun god, was guided across the sky by Xiuhcoatl and was used by him as a weapon against his underworld enemies, the stars, and the moon.<ref>Matos Moctezuma & Solis Olguín 2002, p.414.</ref>