Tlaloc

The Giver and Withholder of Rain

Tlaloc is the ancient Aztec god of rain, water, and earthly fertility — a deity worshipped across Mesoamerica long before the Aztecs rose. Life-giving yet dangerous, he sends the rains that swell the maize but also hurls lightning, floods, and drought. He is shown with distinctive goggle-rimmed eyes and jaguar fangs, ruling Tlalocan, a lush paradise where those who died by water dwell.

His name derives from Nahuatl roots tied to tlalli, "earth," interpreted as "He Who Makes Things Sprout" or "the Embodiment of the Earth." His small helper spirits, the Tlaloque, scatter rain from mountaintop jars across the land.

Tlaloc shared the great Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan with the war-sun Huitzilopochtli, the two together representing the twin necessities of water and warfare. The Maya knew an equivalent rain god as Chaac.

Tlaloc's cult is one of the oldest and most widespread in Mesoamerica, with goggle-eyed rain-god imagery documented at Teotihuacan more than a thousand years before the Aztecs built Tenochtitlan — a continuity noted in Tlaloc's entry at Wikipedia and confirmed by archaeological finds across central Mexico. At the Templo Mayor, offerings excavated from his shrine include jade beads, shells, and the remains of children, who according to Sahagún's Florentine Codex were sacrificed to Tlaloc in a ritual meant to invite the rains — their tears believed to sympathetically summon rainfall.

Tlaloc ruled Tlalocan, one of the few genuinely pleasant Aztec afterlives, reserved for those who died by drowning, lightning strike, or certain water-linked diseases; codex depictions show it as a lush garden of unending abundance, a striking contrast to the trials awaiting most souls in Mictlantecuhtli's Mictlan. He governed alongside his consort Chalchiuhtlicue, "She of the Jade Skirt," goddess of lakes, streams, and childbirth, and commanded the Tlaloque, small rain spirits who broke water jars atop the mountains to release storms — the thunder that Aztecs attributed to jars shattering in their hands.

Symbols & Associations

• Goggle eyes and fangs: a distinctive mask-like face found on Tlaloc imagery for well over a thousand years across Mesoamerica.
• Water jar: the vessel he and the Tlaloque break to release rain and thunder.
• Chalchiuhtlicue: his consort, goddess of lakes, rivers, and childbirth.
• Tlaloque: a company of small rain spirits who serve as his helpers on the mountaintops.
• Tlalocan: the lush watery paradise he rules, reserved for those who died by water or lightning.

Common Questions