Fauna Mexica

Question: Since I am a fan of using the research you did, do you have a good list of animals important to Aztec mythology? Want to find something fitting for my Animal-purview wielding Aztec.

Well, that depends a lot on what kind of Animal-wielding Aztec your Scion is! Different animals represent different things for the Aztecs, just as they do for other cultures around the world, so which one you want to pick up probably depends a lot on your Scion's character, associations and future plans.

First of all, the most common ones are those that the gods already have associated with them, which stands to reason - those gods have animal associations because of those animals' symbolism, and those animals' symbolism is strong because they're among the most culturally important animals to the ancient Aztecs. The solitary and predatory jaguar, totem of Tezcatlipoca, represents soverignty, power and kingship, while the hummingbird, Huitzilopochtli's symbol, representa virility, strength and energy with the wild beating of its wings. Eagles, another of Huitzilopochtli's favored symbols, represent strength and warlike victory as well as being solar symbols, and chroniclers recorded them being fed human hearts to carry the blood back to their master the sun. Tezcatlipoca is also associated with the turkey, which sounds ridiculous to us but is in fact because the Aztecs associated the turkey's bright colors and strutting male behavior with masculinity and pride.

Then there are also the animals that have nasty connotations. Owls, bats and spiders all represented death, decay and the terrible world of the afterlife, which is why they're so often seen hanging out with Mictlantecuhtli and other death gods. Dogs (usually hairless, and the forerunners of the famous Mexican Hairless Dog) were also related to death and night since they were considered the guides that helped human souls find their way to the Underworld.

Finally, there are the domestic plenty and fun times animals. Rabbits are strongly connected to fertility, both plant-wise and baby-wise, and being fertile and somewhat round they also have strong links to the moon, which governs fertility in women; deer have many of the same associations, as their hoofprints were said to mimic both the spots on the moon and the shape of the vulva. Reptiles and amphibians - including crocodiles, snakes, frogs and turtles - are almost universally associated with water and fertility in Mesoamerica, which in turn sees them frequently associated with Tlaloc and his wife Chalchiuhtlicue. Frogs, thanks to their enthusiastic leaping, are also used to symbolize joy, while butterflies represent happiness, beauty and spiritual freedom.

This is all a very quick, very rough list of animals known to the Aztecs and what they associated them with, so feel free to branch out and look up other animals from that part of the world. There are a lot of animals endemic to Mexico and the surrounding areas that aren't specifically mentioned in a lot of Aztec lore but which are still awesome options for a Scion looking for a fancy new Animal totem - the coati, for example, or the axolotl, armadillo, coyote or howler monkey. You could even get fancy with extinct animals that the Aztecs knew but that are now gone from Mexico, like the Mexican wolf or bear, or even the ancient mammoths whose remains are sometimes found buried beneath Mesoamerican ritual centers.

Pretty much any animal in Mexico (or outside it, if your Scion wants to be non-traditional!) is fair game. As always, our advice is to choose one that suits you, and then find the symbolism attached to it - or, if it doesn't have any, make it yourself and introduce it into Aztec mythology as its new patron god.