The Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses , Devil and Demons
(Tezcatl=mirror, popoca=smoking) Aztec tutelary god of warriors, and avenger of misdeeds. One of his epithets was Moyocoya=the omnipotent. He represents the stars (→ Mixcoatl), the night sky, the winter, and the north, and is thereby the adversary of → Huitzilopochtli.
The animal sacred to him is the jaguar, whose spotted coat is reminiscent of the night sky. On the other hand, Tezcatlipoca may also embody the sun. It is typical of his divisive and divided being that he is able to lead → Quetzalcoatl into temptation. Each year, a prisoner of war was chosen as the earthly representative of Tezcatlipoca, and sacrificed by having his heart torn from his breast.
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