Tepeyóllotl, “heart of the mountain,” is a god in the Mexica pantheon, the eighth lord of the night and regent of the calli (“house”) sign, associated with the western cosmos, where the sun sets. This god’s dominion covers the night sky and the core of the earth, a space that current Nahua cultures call the heart of the Tlalokan. In ancient images, Tepeyóllotl appears surrounded by stars and as a jaguar wearing sandals, with ornaments on his wrists, bells and round ear flaps. This god shares features with other gods, such as the smoky mirror, horizontal straps, the aztaxelli (feather adornment) and the anáhuatl (circular breast shield made of shells), the same as Tezcatlipoca, “Lord of the Smoky Mirror.” It is possible that Tezcatlipoca could have been changed into a jaguar, which would stir fear and anxiety in the people who saw him. Other features and garments relate Tepeyóllotl with Quetzalcóatl and with Tláloc, the rain god.
Given his connection to the mountains and the night, Tepeyóllotl is associated with echoes and caves, which are considered to be entryways into the heart of the mountain: a place to store rain, wind and other forces of fertility. Currently, the “heart of the mountain” is linked symbolically to figures such as the Lord of the Mountain or of the Animals, as well as with the gods of thunder and rain. Contemporary ethnography in the state of Guerrero documents the jaguar’s role in asking for rain and in venerating the hills, caves and earth. In the well-known “Fight of the jaguars,” farmers appeal to water and thunder entities through ritual fights, where spilling blood is an offering to the jaguar god; and to reciprocate, the god responds by spilling his own “blood,” in the form of rain.
In this farming complex, the roar of the jaguar is closely connected to thunder. Several cultures coincide in the belief that hearing the “roars” in wells as the rainy season starts and as it ends means the ocean is present. The Tepehuas know that when the spring “roars,” the old god of Thunder has happily received the offerings and he will send rain from the ocean. This link between the ocean, thunder and wind, coming before the rains, shows up in ancient images of Tepeyóllotl through a snail trumpet or tecciztli, an instrument in mythology that Quetzalcóatl uses to give life to humankind.
The echo of Tepeyóllotl’s roar reminds us of the flood and temblors that put an end to earlier times. Ancient sources narrate that his roar can be heard from one hill to the next, and was thought to be a bad sign associated with death and illnesses. The mountain is a sacred space, because of the wealth it cradles within – the forces of fertility and life – and because of its danger, the ability to cause illnesses because of the air or bad air that live there. Tepeyóllotl stays seated inside the cave, guarding the assets human existence needs.