Worshipped by many cultures, one of the main deities of the great Aztec Empire, the “Lord of the Smoking Mirror,” is also one of the most interesting and elusive Mesoamerican deities. Known as the master of the destinies of the world, giver and despoiler, patron of kings and slaves, sower of discords and revealer of sins, lord of night and darkness, and the first sun of the creation, he is as fascinating as he is complex. Tezcatlipoca was as feared as he was revered, for the god was all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, yet also fickle, capricious, and with a wicked sense of humor to boot.

The study of Tezcatlipoca must necessarily be framed in the Mesoamerican historical-cultural context, which is an undertaking entailing a fair amount of difficulties. Due to the complexity of each culture’s mythology, the many different gods, languages, and people involved, their study and the attempts made thus far to understand and explain it all have not resulted in a clear, unified discourse, but in a multiplicity of interpretations. This can make getting a clear and consistent picture from the available literature a little daunting.

From differences in the spelling of names to differences in the gods that are attributed to each pantheon and their roles in the myths and their unique features, the listener venturing into the mythology and history of Mesoamerica-and of Tezcatlipoca in particular-should be aware that there are certainly incontrovertible facts and data on which there is a general consensus. In addition, the information offered in one source may very well differ from that found in another, as each author makes their own interpretations and draws their own conclusions from the evidence studied. This is the case with different chronicles penned centuries ago, the major academic studies done over the past centuries and decades by specialists in the field, and even more so with the myriad online sites and articles that, in their attempts to simplify the information or offer more concise data, tend to neglect to include this important caveat.