Video summary
This video introduces the foundational concepts behind an Aztec tattoo project dedicated to Mesoamerican culture, specifically focusing on two primary deities: Coatlicue and Tlaloc. The creator explains that while some viewers may be familiar with these figures as gods of rain or earth, they are more accurately understood in this context as cosmic energies rather than traditional anthropomorphic deities. At the base of the project lies Coatlicue, a monumental figure representing life, death, fertility, and the Earth itself. Her name translates to "the one with the snake skirt," referencing her dual nature where two snakes look at each other from opposite sides of the monument; she is revered as the cosmic mother who gave birth to hundreds of children, including the moon goddess Coyolxauqui and four hundred southern stars known as Losenso Wisnauwa.
The narrative delves into the mythological origin story involving Coatlicue sweeping Mount Cuatepec when a sacred quetzal feather fell onto her belly, miraculously causing pregnancy against all odds. This event led to the birth of Huitzilopochtli, often called the southern hummingbird or left-handed hummingbird, who immediately went on a war path to dismember his sister Coyolxauqui and the stars she represented before burying them underground beneath what is now Mexico City's Zócalo. Above Coatlicue sits Tlaloc, whose name derives from "tlali" meaning earth and "ochi" referring to liquor or pulque, effectively translating him as the one who fertilizes the Earth with rain. His wife, Chalchihuitlique, represents waterfalls, lakes, oceans, and rivers, acting as a celestial womb that receives seeds so they can grow on Coatlicue's body, completing an essential cycle of survival for the people.
The video connects these divine figures to specific historical artifacts and locations, such as the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City where visitors can see the Templo Mayor ruins and the dismembered monument of Coyolxauqui. The creator clarifies that what is commonly called the Aztec calendar or Sun Stone has a more precise name: the Tonal Maso, which connects the universe, the middle heaven, and the Earth with Tonatiuh at its center. Every element in this spiritual ecosystem was intentionally linked; for instance, Chalchihuitlique's role in mid-heaven fertilizes the land to provide fruit for Coatlicue, illustrating a perfect circle where nothing happens by coincidence but rather as part of an interconnected cycle of life and energy.
Ultimately, the tattoo project serves as a personal representation for the creator's client, symbolizing fatherhood and family responsibility through these ancient energies. Tlaloc brings the rain necessary for survival, while Chalchihuitlique provides the seed to be planted in Coatlicue's earth so that fruit may grow, mirroring how a father supports his partner and dependent family members with resources from outside. The creator emphasizes that this is just the first part of a deeper exploration into Mesoamerican culture, promising further details on codices like the Borgia and Boturini, as well as specific terms like tonalpohualli in a second video for those already familiar with the basics. For newcomers to the subject, the presentation aims to demystify these complex spiritual concepts by grounding them in their original meanings of cosmic energy rather than simplified religious dogma.
Read the full video transcript
Good evening. In this video I would
like to share with you the meaning of
this project that you see here. If you
love culture, this is the video you
have to see, as I'm going to
separate it into two parts. Part one, which is going to
be this. I am going to explain the
most basic version of what Mesoamerican culture is
and the meaning of this
project. In part two, for those
who already have an idea of what
Mesoamerican culture is, I'm going to go into
more detail. There I will explain what
the codices are, the tonal powali, the
tonal macho, the veintenas, the tonals,
all that. So, to make sure I don't lose track of them
, I'm going to upload it in two
different parts. And if you'd
like to look up your information at
home and read some books, here are some
recommendations. Borgia codex,
Boturini codex. I
also have here the digital version,
which is the Fer Barer codex. He
explains some things there that are wow.
Here we have Mexico, the
ancient Mexico of San Bernardo de Sagún, and
this is also very beautiful, which is the
civilization, the great civilization of
the Aztecs and the Mayans. Ah, that's a
lot of information to understand the
culture, isn't it? So let's get started
with this video.
In this project we have two deities that are
so important to the
Mechica culture. Some
may refer to the Mechicas as
Otomis or also as Anahuacas. I'll leave it at that
, I don't want to confuse you. For
now I'm going to refer to the Mechicas.
At the bottom of this
project we have the quatlique. Her name
translates to "the one with the snake skirt".
This great monument, a work of art.
If you would like to see this monument
in person, you can see it at the Museum of
Anthropology in Mexico City, which
is where the Templo Mayor, the
pyramids of the Mechicas, the great
empire, used to be. It's a beautiful monument. I was
fortunate enough to see him in person. I went to
the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico with my
whole family, my wife, and it was such a
beautiful moment to see
these beautiful monuments that
leave you speechless. So I
highly recommend it. It's full of
energy, it's full of vibes, it's
an emotion that you get when you enter that
museum that makes you feel like you've
returned to your homeland. It's very
difficult to explain, but it's something very
beautiful. The quadrille,
this great monument has two parts. In
the front we have
Quatlique, the one with the snake skirt.
On the other side of the monument we have
Citlali Lique, the one with the
starry skirt.
Remember that very important detail
that I will explain in part two
and
your mind will explode. So we'll
leave it at that for now.
Cuatlique, sitlalique,
the whole monument,
many indigenous people called it tonancing.
Any female deity
of the
Mesoamerican civilization was called a tonancing.
Some may argue that no, that
tonancin was a single entity. Yes, that's
definitely correct.
Several archaeologists have defined
the tonancing as,
in quotes, the Virgin Mary. I'm
not going to get into that topic
right now because religion and
civilization were once one.
But hey, Cuatlique, [shout]
Cuatlique is known as the
cosmic mother.
She is the deity of life, death,
fertility, and the earth.
Her body
is that of a mother.
She is a cosmic mother. She gave
birth to many children, many.
One of his daughters is named Koyol Shauki, a
very important woman who, in
Mechica mythology, became the moon. He also
had 400 children, Losenso Wisnauwa, who
were the stars of the
south,
400 stars of the south. Do you remember
the citlaliquecue? That's where the
second part comes in.
Mother Coatlicue lived on Mount
Cuatepec,
which is located in
Mexico City. And one day, her job was to
keep it clean.
One day she was sweeping,
keeping Mount Cuatepec
clean,
when suddenly a quetzal feather fell
, it landed on her belly and by a pure
miracle
she became pregnant. To shuki, the moon and
the 400 southern stars, the Wisnuwa. Did
n't you think she got pregnant?
That's what they wanted,
they didn't want that baby to be born,
they wanted to avoid the birth. But
Quatlique managed to
have her baby, and
that baby is Witosle, a very
important age, a
very important one. Witziloposle is also
known as the southern hummingbird
or left-handed hummingbird. Upon birth, he
goes straight to war against his
sister Koilol Shauki and the 400
stars of the south.
He managed to
dismember everyone,
and he cut off his sister Koy Shauki's
arms, head, and feet.
and was buried
underground. In fact, in
Mexico City you can also see
where the ruins of the Templo Mayor are,
where the Zócalo is, there is
the tombstone, the monument of
Koyoshauki with his dismembered body that
was in those times we are
talking about from 1300 to 15.
That great stone talisman was located
below the Templo Mayor of the
Mechican pyramids.
Now, that's the story of Cuatlique.
But who is Cuatlique?
She is the one who represents what is,
as I repeat, life, death,
fertility and the earth.
Her body is the earth, the tlac.
Tlac
is the nawal word that means on
the earth. His body is the tlac.
She is at the top, forming
the head of Coatlice and
Citlalique, of course, because they share a
body, they are two snakes
looking at each other, which in Nagal snake are
called coal.
Coal, remember that one because the word
coal becomes different words
in the Mechica culture to describe
various deities, various tonals. Thus,
the snake is one of the
most important animals of
civilization.
Now let's go to the top.
Who's upstairs? Tlalock.
Tlalock.
Tlalock. Many people, if you search for it on
the internet, will find the most
basic definition, which is the god of rain.
Correct? I don't like to use the
word God or goddesses much, because in the
codices
these deities are not referred to as gods. They are
cosmic energies, they are energies, they are
personalities. It is what makes up the
person, humanity, the earth, the
world, the universe. They are
cosmic energies. So Tlalock
is indeed the rain,
but if we share, if
we really see his name,
the name Tlalo has a
much greater meaning. Its name is
made up of two Nawalt words, which is
tlali ocli. Tlalo tlali ocli. Tlali
means
earth, ocli means liquor or pulque,
so the definition would be
the liquor of the earth or the pulque of the
earth, the one
that fertilizes the earth. Thanks to
him, he is in charge of the survival
of the people. For the Mexica, Tlalock
was someone extremely important. Thanks to him
the rain came and gave them the harvest.
The temple of Tlalo
is located in the main temple, but
not only Tlalo
next to Tlalock, who do
we have? Wtilole. His temple is
in red and the detail in
turquoise blue. Something beautiful. The pyramid is
enormous, made up of five
constructions during the
Mechica civilization. That pyramid went through five stages
. They built one, they made one on
top of the other, one on top of the other
until they reached the fifth construction.
After that they could no longer make the
sixth because they were invaded by
all the indigenous civilizations and the
Spanish. That's a completely
separate discussion. I'm not going to get involved in that. Ah,
but that's why Tlalo is so
important. For the Mechicas, it was very
important to have these two energies
above the main temple,
like Witopostle and Tlalock. Tlalock. He
has one, we'll call her his wife
so we don't get confused. His wife's name is
Chalchutlique.
She is the energy, the deity of
waterfalls, lakes,
oceans, and rivers.
When Tlalo
lets the rain fall,
the one who receives it is Chalchutlique, who
is also a part of fertility, she also
takes the seed, the harvest, she is the
celestial womb.
The celestial womb. And I want you to
memorize that part. Chalchlique is the
celestial womb,
the one that receives the seed
so that the crops can grow above
Tlac,
on the earth of Coatlic.
Several feminine energies
are connected with fertility. I'm just going to
mention a couple of
feminine energies. You don't have to
memorize it right now, but just so you
understand how much
feminine energy there is. Quatlique, sitlalique,
yolotlique, ichel tla solteol
and chalchutlique, one of those that
I can remember right now, but all of
them are connected, they are connected
with fertility and you may wonder
why I put Tlalok and Quatlique in the
same project of that
tattoo. Because?
Coatlique
is connected with all the meanings
of the Mechicas. For now, I'm just going
to call it the Aztec calendar. It's
not the correct name. Many people
call it the
sun stone. Yes, that's correct,
but it's not its full meaning.
I want you to memorize this
word.
And excuse me if I'm losing you, I
just have to explain this part so you can
understand why I connected
these two deities together. Its
correct name is the male tonal.
Once again, the Aztec calendar, its
correct name is the tonal masó. Because?
Because the tonal masó is connected with
the universe, the middle heaven, and the earth.
In the middle we have Tonatiu
Tlaltecutli
and Tlalock. [music]
Very good. Tlalo is involved in the
male tonal. Coatlique at the base
below
is located
the central part of the male tonal,
including Tonatiu Tlaltecutli
and Tlalock.
Chalchutlique is involved
in a part of the Sitla
Lique monument, which I will
explain in much more detail in the second part, but she
is there. Chalchut liqual
is in representation of the midheaven.
Fertilize the land with Chalchutlique
to give it to quatlique.
Nothing was a coincidence, everything was
connected.
Wiloposli,
Koyol Shauki, Chalchutlique and Tlalok.
Many deities, of course. But for
this project, I wanted to give it that
meaning.
Because?
For my client, it was very important that it
represent what it means to
be a father.
He has
a family that depends on him.
He has his partner who makes fruit
[snort]
from what he brings from outside.
So in this representation I wanted
these two energies to represent
my client's life
because Tlalo brings the rain [music] and
Chalchutlique gives him the seed
to bury in the Tlac of Cuatlique
so that it will bear fruit.
It's a circle.
What goes down must come up. It's a cycle of
life. where for me, the quatlique is
one of the most important energies,
life, death, earth and
fertility. If you loved this video,
please share it, give it a like,
let people know you
like the culture, and if you have any
questions, leave them in the comments. I
will gladly try to
answer them in the next video. And with that
said, I'll say goodbye to this video.
I hope you liked it. As I said,
it's a very basic version. I know that if
you know a lot about the culture, this
video will seem boring to you, but
for those who don't know about the culture,
this video will be fascinating. So
if you have any questions, feel free
to leave a comment. I
will gladly answer that in a
separate video. And if you'd like more videos
like these, let me know and I'll gladly
upload more. Thank you so much and
have a nice day.