Question: Why is Huitzilopochtli as the fiercest god of his pantheon identified with the hummingbird? I heard that some hummingbirds can be poisonous. Is that the reason?
Actually, Huitzilopochtli is associated with hummingbirds because the Aztecs believed that hummingbirds were among nature's greatest badasses. Their bright colors, incredible speed and sharp-looking beaks represented ferocity, vitality and masculinity in Aztec culture, so it was natural to associate them with Huitzilopochtli, the most ferocious of war-gods. This is also why fallen warriors are sometimes represented as hummingbirds; their warlike souls are easily translated into the energetically fierce little birds.
Modern students of Aztec culture often find this confusing because we tend to think of hummingbirds as symbols of beauty, gentleness and nature thanks to their pretty colors and association with flowers, but the Aztecs were big fans of their boundless energy and stabby beaks. You or I might look at a hummingbird and think, "Oh, that's pretty!", but an Aztec would look at one and think, "Oh, man, that is a tiny winged murderfestival going to town on that jacaranda."
There are actually no poisonous hummingbirds. They're not one of those creatures that's brightly colored to warn you that they'll melt your skin off; they're just an exciting rainbow of feathers to aid them in attracting mates and blending in with flowers.
Interestingly, if you were to place a hummingbird next to Huitzilopochtli's OTHER totem, the golden eagle, the hummingbird would be the one driving the eagle off. Yes, the eagle that can be trained by falconers to hunt wolves, and can be found driving off grizzly bears.
ReplyDeleteThey're seriously territorial, and their beaks and speed means that they actually have few predators. Seriously, they're viscious little things. And they go for the eyes.
Really, a lot of the tinier animals are insanely viscious. The most badass mammal out there is probably the short-tailed shrew. It gives even less of a fuck than the honey badger, and they're venomous to boot (Ideas forming...)
Oh! And, while I forget the exact species, there're a few poisonous bird species... mostly concentrated in New Guinea, for some reason. And that's poisonous (you try and eat one, you die), not venomous (it bites you, you die), for any who might read this and decide they need a cool and interesting new totem...
Yeah, eagles are all kings of offense, but they are not fans of tiny angry spears coming at their faces. For Huitzilopochtli, it's the hummingbird that's more of the warlike, fierce, badass totem; the eagle is more of the proud symbol of the people kind of figure.
Deleteyeah I remembered that it was an episode of the t.v. show where the birds beaks had been dipped in poison. Which an interprising scion could do with snake and hummingbird. turn yourself into the tiny warrior use your snake powers to coat your beak in deadly venom and wala.
ReplyDeleteIt's worth noting that hummingbirds are connected in Aztec mythology to the reincarnation of warriors. I can't re-find the place where I read this originally, but I've found at least one source that claims that when dead warriors return from Huitzilopochtli's realm to visit the world of the living, they return as hummingbirds.
ReplyDeleteMakes me wonder whether hummingbirds are associated with warriors because both warriors and hummingbirds were already associated with Huitzilopochtli, or whether hummingbirds are associated with Huitzilopochtli because both hummingbirds and Huitzilopochtli were already associated with warriors.
...a hummingbird and egg question?
DeleteI didn't want to be the one to have to say it.
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