Aztek resaerch for practical response

Delving deeper into the origins of Lucha Libre, and specifically where the wrestlers got the inspiration for their masks and costumes from has lead me to investigate into Aztek Mythology,Gods, Creatures, supernatural beings and traditional tribal masks - which is what the Luchadors would often base their ring attire around.Branching away from the research for my dissertation, this has given me some initial ideas on producing the practical response.

(info from http://www.dorsetgrove.co.uk/AztecGodsGoddesses.htm )

The Aztec Gods and Goddesses

It is estimated that the Aztecs had over 1,700 gods and goddesses, many of whom required human sacrifices.

Based on the number of sacred temples located, scientists have estimated approximately a quarter million humans were sacrificed every year, roughly equivalent to 1% of the population.

Here is a partial list of the Aztec gods and goddesses.

CENTEOTL, the corn god. He was a son of Tlazolteotl and the husband of Xochiquetzal. 

CHALCHIUHTLICUE: The goddess of running Water. She was the sister of Tlaloc. 

CHANTICO: the goddess of Hearth Fires and Volcanoes. 

CHICOMECOATL: the goddess of Corn and Fertility. 

CIHUACAOTYL: a goddess whose roaring signaled War. 

COATLICUE - She of the Serpent Skirt. 

EHECATL, the god of wind. 

HUEHUETEOTL, "the old, old deity," was one of the names of the cult of fire, among the oldest in Mesoamerica. The maintenance of fires in the temples was a principal priestly duty, and the renewal of fire was identified with the renewal of time itself. 

HUITZILOPOCHTLI, below (the war/sun god and special guardian of Tenochtitlan) the deified ancestral warrior-hero, was the Mexica-Aztec patron par excellence. 

ITZPZPALOTL: a goddess of Agriculture. 

IXTLILTON: the god of Healing, Feasting, and Games. 

MACUILXOCHITL: the god of Music and Dance. 

METZTLI: the Moon god. 

MICTLAN: the underworld and home of all the dead except warriors and women who died in labor. 

MICTLANTECIHUATL: the lady and goddess of Mictlan and the Realm of the Dead. 

MICTLANTECUHTLE, god of the dead. 

OMETECUHLTI and his wife OMECIHUATL created all life in the world the god of Duality. 

PATECATLl: the god of Medicine. 

PAYNAL: the messenger to Huitzilopochtli.

QUETZALCOATL,below (the god of civilization and learning) "quetzal (feather) serpent," had dozens of associations. 

TEOYAOMQUI: the god of Dead Warriors. 

TEZCATLIPOCA below, (god of Night and Sorcery) "Smoking Mirror" (obsidian), characterized as the most powerful, supreme deity, was associated with the notion of destiny. His cult was particularly identified with royalty, for Tezcatlipoca was the object of the lengthy and reverent prayers in rites of kingship. 

TLALOC, (below) the rain deity, belonged to another most memorable and universal cult of ancient Mexico. 

TLALOCAN: Tlalocan was the earthly paradise of Tlaloc, located in the East, the place of Light and Life. It was where the souls of those killed by lightning, dropsy, skin diseases, and those sacrificed to Tlaloc went. 

TLAZOLTEOTL: the goddess of Licentiousness. 

TONACATECUHTLI: the creator and provider of Food. 

TONATIUH (below), the sun  was perceived as a primary source of life whose special devotees were the warriors. The warriors were charged with the mission to provide the sun with sacrificial victims. A special altar to the sun was used for sacrifices in coronation rites, a fact that signifies the importance of the deity. The east-west path of the sun determined the 

principal ritual axis in the design of Aztec cities. 

TONANTZIN, "honoured grandmother," was among the many names of the female earth-deity. 

XILONEN, "young maize ear," and Chicomecoatl, "seven serpent," were principal deities of maize representing the chief staple of Mesoamerican peoples. 

XIPE TOTEC, the god of springtime and regrowth.

XIUHTECUHTLE the fire god. 

XOCHIPILLI: the god of Feasting and young Maize

YACATECUHTLI: the god of Merchant Adventurers.


I found more detailed descriptionshere>>
http://archaeology.about.com/od/aztecarchaeology/tp/Aztec-Gods.htm


I had no idea they had sooo many gods, all with near-unpronounceable names. I wanted to try and get my head around some of them, and to learn a bit more about Aztek mythology/ creation in general. I stumbled upon this animated film from back in the day. It's all pretty bloody weird, in fact I'm not sure if what I just watched was actually real, or just a strange hallucination?I'm still baffled, but it was interesting to see the traditional 16thCentury native-style paintings used to illustrate the story, and got me thinking about the typical color palettes and linework i could incorporate into my practical response.I'll give it another couple of watches too let it sink in.

Legend of the Five Suns

MYTHICAL CREATURES

The Ahuizotl - "spiny aquatic thing" or ‘Thorny One of the Water...’

The doom of many a fisherman, this creature was thought to murder those who ventured too far into the water’s depths. This animal has been the centre of much speculation. Was the Ahuízotl real or mythical or does it have relatives that still survive today?

It has short fur, small, pointy ears, a smooth body and black tail, at the end of which sprouts a hand much like a person’s. This animal inhabits the depths of watery springs and if anyone reaches the edge of its domain, he is dragged by the tail’s hand and taken down to its depths... (Book XI, Florentine Codex.)

"very like the teui, the small teui dog; small and smooth, shiny. It has small, pointed ears, just like a small dog. It is black, like rubber; smooth, slippery, very smooth, long-tailed. And its tail is provided with a hand at the end; just like a human hand is the point of its tail. . [When the body is retrieved] the one it has drowned no longer has his eyes, his teeth, and his nails; it has taken them all from him. But his body is completely unblemished, his skin uninjured."

Chanekeh, are legendary creatures in Mexican folklore. They are conceived of as small, sprite-like beings, elemental forces and guardians of nature.

By tradition, these beings would attack intruders, frightening them so that their soul would abandon their body, which the chaneques enclosed in the depth of the land. If the victim did not recover their soul through a specific ritual, he or she would become ill and die soon after.

In some contemporary legends, chaneques are described as children with the face of old men or women.

In Catholic beliefs, the chaneque are the souls of the children who died without Christian baptism, and may be from precolonial times, they are a sort of violent child demon who prey on people who wander in the forest or jungles of Mexico, they confuse people to make them lost and prey on them at night, eating them, to get rid of them you have to turn your shirt inside out or yell Juan 3 times to break their spell 

Cipactli - 'Crocodile' or 'Caiman', was a primeval sea monster, part crocodilian, part fish and part toad or frog, with indefinite gender. Always hungry, every joint on its body was adorned with an extra mouth. The deity Tezcatlipoca sacrificed a foot when he used it as bait to draw the monster nearer. He and Quetzalcoatl created the earth from its body.