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Type
RealmMythology
Mesoamerican Pantheon
Realm
Mythological / Non-physical
Tamoanchan is a paradisal origin-place in central Mexican lore: flowering trees, gods, and in some accounts the making of humans from bones brought out of Mictlan. Sahagun and the Codex Telleriano-Remensis treat it as a place of splendor from which beings fall or are expelled after a forbidden tree is cut or a flower is torn. It is not the Christian Eden with a serial number. Cult evidence is thin compared with Tenochtitlan's temples; the name is more painted and sung than excavated.
“Tamoanchan, the place of the misty sky, where the gods dwelt and the flowering tree stood.”

The Maya underworld, 'Place of Fear,' ruled by the death lords One Death and Seven Death. Souls must pass through houses of darkness, knives, cold, jaguars, fire, and bats. The Hero Twins descended here to defeat death itself.

The legendary Toltec capital associated with Quetzalcoatl as priest-king. A place of artistic and cultural perfection where corn grew in brilliant colors and cotton grew already dyed. Quetzalcoatl was tricked into disgrace here by Tezcatlipoca.

The mythical homeland of the Aztec people, 'Place of Whiteness' or 'Place of Herons.' From this island city, the Mexica began their long migration south, guided by Huitzilopochtli, until they found the eagle on the cactus that marked Tenochtitlan.

The great Maya-Toltec city dominated by El Castillo, the pyramid of Kukulkan. During the equinoxes, shadows create the illusion of a serpent descending the stairs. The cenote here received sacrificial offerings to Chaac.

The mythical mountain where Huitzilopochtli was born fully armed to defeat his sister Coyolxauhqui and four hundred brothers. The Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan was a recreation of this sacred mountain.

The 'Place Where Gods Are Made,' site of the Fifth Sun's creation. Here the gods gathered in darkness, and Nanahuatzin sacrificed himself in fire to become the sun. The Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon mark this sacred ground.