The Obituary
Tlaloc was the Aztec god of rain, water, lightning, and agricultural fertility, his worship descending from Teotihuacan. Depicted with goggle eyes and jaguar fangs, he ruled Tlalocan, a verdant paradise for those who died by water, drowning, or lightning. One of the two shrines atop the Templo Mayor was his. His cult demanded the sacrifice of children, whose tears were thought to summon rain. Aztec worship of Tlaloc ended with the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521.
Worth remembering
- He is shown with goggle eyes and jaguar fangs; the drowned and the lightning-struck went to his green paradise, Tlalocan.
- Children were sacrificed to him in spring, their tears believed to ensure the coming rains.
Sources
- Tlaloc was the Aztec god of rain, water, and fertility Wikipedia
- He shared the Templo Mayor's twin shrines with Huitzilopochtli Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.