The Moon
Tecciztecatl – (God of the Moon) by Richard Balthazar
Ymir and Ra. Two of the original creations of this Universe. Great gods of magnificent power...were gone.
The growing pantheons of gods throughout the Universe fought and struggled. They all sought dominance over the others. All, that is, except for two rather unique pantheons.
The "Others" that fought the mighty Ra were deeply troubled with the results of their conflict. Through their battles, they had come to respect the power and wisdom of Ra. When they finally captured him, they were shocked. Betrayal had broken him. When Ra gave the juvenile pantheon his power and imposed his self-banishment, they found that, they too, were upset. This was not the outcome they wanted. Honorable victory over a great opponent was one thing, but Ra’s heartbroken surrender left them with a bitter taste in their mouths. Instead of celebrating their great victory, they mourned their great foe. They had what they wanted. They had Ra's Sun and peace with his other creations. But still, they grieved. They grew sick of war. They had no wish to fight other pantheons.
In contrast to these troubled gods, at the edge of the Universe, Odin and his growing pantheon were content. They had a planet to call home and a corner of the Universe sliced out for themselves. But they had a problem. Odin's brood was still small. Too small to resist the forces of others. He grew fearful that his warlike neighbors would forcibly take his home. In desperation, Odin put out a call for help.
A call that one group of gods answered.
Both the “Others” and the remnants of Ra’s pantheon had no wish to fight the neighbors of Odin. But, at the same time, they found that they could not stand by and watch the only content pantheon be destroyed because they did not share the violent tendencies of others. Thankfully, their reputations preceded them. The whole Universe had heard of the pantheon that vanquished the mighty Ra and none wished to fight these imposing gods as well as Ra’s own creations.
And so, an alliance was formed.
They agreed to share Odin's planet and Ra's Sun and to live in peace. But, before they separated to their chosen portions of the world, they had a problem to solve. Ra's mighty power had been the only thing keeping his Sun lit. But Ra was gone. Panic spread among the new alliance when his creation began to dim.
They convened to solve this trouble. They realized that someone would need to power the Sun. But who could possibly match the power of Ra? With growing dread, they realized that Ra's power had been sufficient to maintain the Sun and his own form for eons. But they did not possess his power. To power the Sun, one god would have to give up his form. One god would have to die. They would trap themselves in the Sun and burn their very being to keep it lit.
But who? Who among the gods would volunteer for such a fate? Much debate was had before two volunteers presented themselves.
The first was Tecciztecatl. Tecciztecatl was not a member of Ra or Odin’s pantheon, nor was he a one of the “Others”. He had fled his own family of gods during battle and been too ashamed to return. He found acceptance and a home among the newly formed alliance and volunteered his life to repay this debt.
The second god to volunteer was Helios. Helios had led the “Others” in many of the battles against Ra years before, and, when Ra shared his power with Helios's pantheon, Helios seemed to be granted more than his brethren. He felt that this was the will of Ra. That he had received this extra power so that he might power the Sun.
The pantheons could not decide between the two. Both gods were honorable and determined. So, with reluctance, the pantheons agreed that whichever god could throw himself into the Sun first would be the one to power it.
Tecciztecatl was the first to react. He flew to the Sun as fast as he could with Helios close on heels. Tecciztecatl reached the Sun first and prepared to throw himself in. But, at the last second, he hesitated. His intentions were pure, but he was not the bravest of gods. He had run from battle once before, and now, in this most important of tasks, he hesitated.
His hesitation was all it took for Helios. With a cry, he dove into the Sun, sacrificing his very essence to keep its molten core burning.
Tecciztecatl was devastated. He felt such shame that it made him want to dash himself against the ground. The other gods tried their best to console him. It was understandable for him to hesitate! He should not be ashamed! He had volunteered when nobody else would! Surely that had taken great courage.
But Tecciztecatl would not be consoled. He fled to the Sun where he cried for Helios and his own shame. With a final sob of despair, Tecciztecatl resolved to throw himself into the Sun so that he might end his existence and join his friend. With a great cry, he dove towards the Sun.
His friends watched in shock, all arriving too late to intervene.
All, except for Diana.
Diana, the most fleet-footed of Helios's pantheon, had followed Tecciztecatl as he fled towards the Sun. She cried out for her friend to stop, but Tecciztecatl would not listen. In desperation, she dove after him and succeeded in grabbing hold of his ankle.
But for poor Tecciztecatl, it was too late. Already, his upper half was buried in the Sun, and his essence had been ignited. Diana heaved him out and shepherded him to the other gods who cried out at the damage done.
They quickly realized that they were too late to save him. Tecciztecatl was already glowing dimly, burning up from the inside. Diana was desperate. Gathering the power granted to her by Ra, she formed a shell around Tecciztecatl, attempting to isolate the part of him that was burning from the rest of his being.
But, in the end, it was not enough. All she could do was slow the process.
And so, both pantheons grieved.
They grieved for the loss of Helios and the loss of Tecciztecatl. With nothing left to do, they hung the body of Tecciztecatl next to his friend in the Sun and honored them both together.
Helios the Sun.
And Tecciztecatl the Moon.
Author's Note:
Okay wow those last two stories got kind of depressing didn't they? I swear I didn't really mean for them to turn out that way. I had these basic concepts for how I wanted to work these stories and myths together and, really, when it came down to it, these stories felt like they were writing themselves. I began jotting down the intro to the Solar System portion at around 10:00 PM and then something...happened...and I was lost in a writing haze for hours. I wrote all three of these stories in one sitting and, as I type this sentence, it's currently just past 3:00 in the morning.
Well, enough about my strange writing experience. You're here to learn about these myths! In developing this storybook, I really wanted to try my best to throw in as many different gods/goddesses/beings as I could. While my first story about Chaos was based loosely around Greek and Judeo-Christian roots, I felt it was necessary to formally introduce the Greek/Roman pantheon in this story. That being said, I did want to throw in someone new or unique, which is why I decided not to introduce any more of Odin's or Ra's pantheons in this story.
I do mention Diana and Helios in this story and it's important to clarify that they are part of the same Greek/Roman pantheon. Diana was the Roman form of Artemis and both were often associated with the moon. Helios was actually a Titan (those that came before the gods) and was the original driver of the Sun Chariot (or just the sun).
Aside from those two characters, this story was based primarily upon the legend of Tecciztecatl and how he became the moon. I really dug around for this one, diving deep into lists of moon deities and the like. In Aztec mythology, Tecciztecatl is one of two volunteers to sacrifice himself to replace the sun when the old sun dies (which apparently happened a lot in Aztec mythology). Just like in my story, Tecciztecatl hesitates right before he sacrifices himself and ends up being passed up by the other volunteer (Nanahuatzin). Regaining his courage, Tecciztecatl jumps in after him and becomes a second sun. But, unlike my version, in the original, Tecciztecatl is punished by the other gods for his cowardice and hesitation and is stripped of his shine. He is left dimmer than his counterpart and thus becomes the moon.
I really felt like Tecciztecatl got a bad rap in the original story, and I really wanted to try to give him a more honorable or sympathetic ending. With the "death" of Ra in the Sun story, I felt that I had a perfect opportunity to weave this legend in and still ultimately give ownership of the "Sun god" position to Helios, just like Greek/Roman mythology. I also felt that I could find ways to explain Diana's association with the moon while still giving the position to Tecciztecatl.
By far the hardest thing about this story was the word limit. Normally, I wouldn't really think this would be a problem, but in this case, trying to weave everything together took a lot longer than I anticipated. In this one story , I felt that I had to explain how the two pantheons (and therefore the Sun and the Earth) came together, how a crisis arose that required the sacrifice of a god, and then the actual story of how Helios becomes the sun and Tecciztecatl becomes the moon. In the end, I had to cut some words and extra sentences to get it just under the 1000-word limit. As it stands right now, that story sits at exactly 999 words. Whoops!
Big thanks if you read this story and this really long Author's Note!
I'm embedding a YouTube video below with some happy vibes and a cute animation just in case anyone needs to shake off those icky feelings or stress given the recent campus closure news and US health concerns. I enjoy sharing good vibes and this song is one of my favorites! Chill with some Brazilian beats! (And if you enjoy the song, be sure to check out the full version. It's called "Morena" by Vitor Kley.)
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