Tzanepacoz is not, strictly speaking, a single faith. There are shared concepts, and even certain texts and songs that are commonly used. But the primary feature of Tzanepacoz—from the Motzálac for "divinity has taught us"—is its flexibility in accommodating the cults of various deities from across the Temacan Peninsula and the surrounding areas. The deities therein are all woven into particular narratives popular in smaller communities and larger empires both.
Key to understanding Tzanepacoz is understanding the difference between tlayhuan (darkness, but also destruction and change) and tzanehuin (brightness, as well as creation and peace). There is a preference for people to live lives more in tune with tzanehuin, but the philosophers and priests know that it is not possible to live without tlayhuan, nor can one not find even the smallest sliver of tzanehuin in the darkness. (Which is not to say, of course, that things which are much "lighter" in nature should not be rewarded and things much "darker" not feared.)
Another essential element in understanding Tzanepacoz is the realization that everything affects everything else. This is best laid out in the board game tzinnoh huanetlanoh, more commonly known as netrano, wherein the effect a piece has on the board is rarely to move itself and more often to move all the pieces around it. The aim of the game is still enlightenment, an ascension to the world above; but the means depends on the movements of others as much as those of oneself. Enlightenment, it is understood, is something that a person must choose, that a community must support, and that life must spin the right way.
There is no starting point, official or unofficial, for the religion. Instead, there are multiple creation stories.
The eight major deities are laid out below. There are a number of others, often quite specific, but these are typically agreed on regardless of locale.
Xochēmicua, Dunyu
This deity has never accepted human sacrifice, preferring instead flowers and fruit. He is considered the patron and protector of humanity, and the chronicler of their deeds.
Citlecua, Juru
The goddess of the Second Sun, fire, and time, this deity is patron of the hidden and performative arts, and the protector of the secret dead.
Checuetzi, Ap'asi
The god of change and destruction, Lord Hummingbird rules the land of the dead and unborn beneath the earth. It was to escape him that the first humans emerged, and destruction in his name was once deemed as important as creation itself.
Pālamman, Su'tena, Ggirnu
The mistress of the monsoon, the hurricane, and the eternal chaos upon which the world is built, Lady Thunder is also the bringer of lust and passion—and the source of forgiveness for these, by consuming them through confession. She is said to be a sister to Lady Serpentine—sometimes they are considered the same goddess.
Tlauhtzicin, Addanda
God of the sun and agriculture, Lord Giver is said to have been the first sacrifice—his energy becoming a light by which the universe was no longer cast in darkness.
Yahuayexal
Goddess of rain, rivers, floods, and the moon, Lady Serpentine is also linked strongly to fertility…and to poison.
Xōllecua, Atzoh, Tlaxima
God of creation and peace, Lord Wright is said to send the winds to breathe life into humanity and give them swiftness of arm and mind to create new things.
Queytzocua, Duza
Goddess of agriculture and the wild beyond it, of the earth and endurance, Lady Fierce is said to have sown the stars in the sky, and to water the celestial seeds with the Nebula itself.