PXL_20250413_153147551

Sat, 14 Feb 2026 07:49:22 +0100

THE DUALITY OF THE TEMPLO MAYOR

The shrines of Tlaloc, rain god, and Huitzilopochtli, war god, crowned the Templo Mayor.

Duality was the foundation on which the Mexicas relied on to explain and order the cosmos. In this context, the Great Temple was considered "the center or navel," for the geographic directions converged there, as well as the axis that connected it vertically to the dwelling place of divine forces in the skies and in the underworld.

The cosmos was composed of opposing and complementary forces.They could be female, aquatic, terrestrial, and cool, versus male, fiery, celestial, and hot.

These forces needed each other, for when they came together, they gave rise to movement. Just as the sun displaced darkness and the moon, to die at dusk giving rise to nighttime; or the rainy season-the planting season-that led to the dry season-the time for war. Forces formed part of all beings and followed in succession in a never-ending spiral.