Ehecatl
Ehecatl is the wind, the breath of Quetzalcoatl and his aspect as the one who sweeps the road clear for the rain gods: the Florentine Codex and the Leyenda de los Soles have the wind go before Tlaloc's rain, and the gods breathe on the ground bones to make people.
Ehecatl is not an independent deity in the sources but the wind aspect - the mask, in Nahua terms - of Quetzalcoatl, and this entry says so instead of inventing a separate cult. What is historical is that the aspect had its own round temples, its own day sign and its own address, and that the Mexica prayed to the wind as a lord. The planetary value Mercury, the air-sign zodiac values, the tarot cards and the sabbat Ostara are modern Western overlays; the Nahua tradition assigns him no planet, and his own time is the windy season before the rains rather than any Western sabbat. The Venus and Uranus values are overlay too.
Correspondences
Offerings
- Offerings
- Copal incenseTobaccoWaterTurquoiseFeathersThe swept road
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Ehecatl-QuetzalcoatlLord of the Wind1 WindThe Breath
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- Lord of the WindThe Breath That Clears the RoadHe of the Round Temple
- Symbols
- Round templeConch shellWind jewelSwept earthSpiral
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneThe breath that movesAddressEhecatlLord of the WindEhecatl-QuetzalcoatlRelationshipThe one who clears the way before the rainWarningAn aspect called as a lord is still an aspectResonanceThose who clear a path for others travellers
- Modern Practice
Ehecatl is called on to clear a way, for breath and breathing, for the moment before rain, and by travellers and those who go first so that others may follow. The honest use of the entry keeps him as an aspect: he is Quetzalcoatl in the wind, not a separate god with a separate theology.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- WindBreathThe roads of the rain godsSweepingThe sea crossingThe breath of lifeThe cardinal directions
- Mythology Summary
Ehecatl is the wind, the breath of Quetzalcoatl and his aspect as the one who sweeps the road clear for the rain gods: the Florentine Codex and the Leyenda de los Soles have the wind go before Tlaloc's rain, and the gods breathe on the ground bones to make people. His temples are round so that the wind can go round them, as at Calixtlahuaca, and he is the patron of the day sign 1 Wind. The grimoire's quetzalcoatl entry already lists Ehecatl among that god's names, and this entry exists because the aspect was worshipped and addressed as its own lord.
- Related Deities
- QuetzalcoatlTlalocChalchiuhtlicueHuitzilopochtliTezcatlipoca
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteTurquoiseGreenBlueScentsCopal whiteTobaccoOzone scentMetalsSilverMercuryAnimalsSerpentQuetzal birdHummingbirdHeron
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