This Aztec picture has been called the “Mesoamerican Big Bang.” It depicts the opening burst in the creation of the universe. Right there, front and center, is Ometeotl. He is radiating, and pulsing out all-encompassing, creation power; as only a bi-gender can do.
The ancient worship of Ometeotle is not the story of some dead and irrelevant God of yore. No. Ometeotl is still worshipped by the many, modern day Aztecs, allies and like-minded souls. You can sample a moving invocation of Ometeotl’s succor (comfort and assistance) here and now. Please go to the bottom of this article and click on the link for meditative song about Ometeotle. You can listen to evocative chant while reading this article. Heck, just copy and paste this link to the same song: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_AZkraujc3E
If you put a spotlight on his ancient story, Ometeotl can be seen as a contemporary figure. In fact, Ometeotl falls right into the messy stew pot of our simmering modern society: he is in the middle of the screamie-meamie, culture wars over gender identity, relationships and frankly, … sex. Witness the struggle to embrace, and the fierce opposition, the palpable hostility, to even just accepting, “non-traditional” gender roles. This broad brush covers people who are non-binary or transgender or bisexual or have some other personal or relationship desires. This major struggles opens a new battle line in our culture wars. This new battlefield is also a vast expansion of the chronic, festering social war on homosexuality generally. The forces of liberating modernity have a new role model in the ancient Aztec Gods. Since time immemorial, Ometeotl has been the ultimate bi-gender content creator. Ometeotl exercises more creative control than all the current social media influencers combined. You talk about non-traditional: Ometeotl is at the forefront of gender boundaries; in fact he and she has been characterized as … “beyond bisexual”. See below. Disclaimer: ُThe purpose of this article is NOT to gratuitously titilate, or “to appeal to prurient interests,” [a key requirement for obscene sexual depictions or description, according to the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California]. Rather, the story of Ometeotl leaps off the pages of “Oh, that’s so quaint” folk tales: then Ometeotle, both he and she, jumps right into the blaring news headlines of our culture wars. We can learn from the example of Ometeotl.
Ometeotl was the Aztecs’ original creator deity, a God composed of husband Ometecuhtli and wife Omecihautl. After creating themselves and four of the most powerful gods of the pantheon, they left to reside in the highest heaven.
Wikipedia, Ōmeteōtl
January, 2023. Welcome to the second installment of the Aztec God of the Month Club! Ometeotl is the second God in this twelve part series.If you wish to know more and become a member, please review our opening roll-out article introducing the Aztec God of the Month Club:
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Generally speaking, we have a lot to learn from the Aztecs. One area of teachability is around the issues of gender and sexuality. Ometeotl is the leading examplar of ancient gender relations that mirrors our a modern times. For one thing, Ometeotl throws some shade on the intellectual underpinning invoked by those seeking total gender emancipation. The liberators’ clarion call can be summarized: “Finally, in modern times, people can now express their real gender identity that was always suppressed by a outdated world outlook, rooted in ancient times. Individuals can form their own self-concepts and unions, free from the constraints of the old-time beliefs. The shackles of traditional values have fallen!” Generally, the arguments supporting fluid genders and fluid relationships may rise or fall on their own merits. Yet, the historical perspective used in the above claim is not true. The time line is pointed in the wrong direction; historic trends have been turned on their heads. Not all traditional beliefs require strait-laced, discrete male and female dichotomies with a limited scope of intimacy. The traditional, ancient Aztec Gods got there first, in terms of creative, fully textured gender and intimate relationships. Ometeotl, adored as the creative essence, erased gender boundaries. In modern parlance, Ometeotl is non-binary and they were on the gender edge, long, long before any 21st century person declared themselves pansexual or required plural pronouns.
Introduction. In general, the Aztecs God scene would make for a crowded party: a fiesta bubbling with guests living life to the fullest. Out of this ancient scene comes wild stories that would scare the last ten years growth out of our modern-day “traditionalists.” And no one embodies the modern, fluld gender bender reality more than hoary Ometeotl, that most ancient of Aztec Gods. Below are images of the universal creator, Ometeotl, with his first human couple. What is going on in these pictures?
Meet All of Ometeotl: “They God That Stand Double”
Who is this Ometeotle? Well, he starts off as the bisexual God of Duality, and it gets complicated from there. [learnreligions.com, Ometeotl, Aztec God.] According to Wikipedia: “Ōmeteōtl (Nahuatl pronunciation: [oːmeˈteoːt͡ɬ] ( listen)) (“Two gods”) is a name used to refer to the pair of Aztec deities Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl….” Ometeotl is not like a Greek God that lays down the law. He does not order people around and tell them what to do. Rather, Ometeotl is the creative male and female impulse that both mothers and fathers the Gods, and mortals. The underlying assumption here is that only an all-encompassing energy can create life on that level. Ometeotl, who appears at first blush as a singular God, is called out by the Aztecs as their true selves: the “original celestial creator couple.” Yes, Ometeotl is a unitary God, but in the form of an interdependent male being and a female being. Ometeotl is like some sort of sexual binary star system. (see generally, https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/gods/gods-of-the-month-ometeotl).
This highest of the holy Aztec Gods is accorded a bunch of different, often counterbalanced, names including: the Lord of Duality, the Two-Lords; the Two Ladies; the First Pair, the Divine Grandparents, Our Father-Mother; The Lord and Lady of Our Sustenance; God of the Near and Far, Giver of Life; One who Invents Oneself; and They God Stands Double. He deserves all these accolades as, for starters, Ometeotl, gave birth to himself — how does that work? Then, he went on, acting as both mother and father, to give birth to the four most powerful and primordial Aztec Gods: Xipe Totec, the Flayer of Flesh, Tezcatlipoca, the Obsidian Lord of Night, Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, and Huitzilopochtli, God of War. In turn, these four Gods created and nurtured all of humankind.
Thus, Ometeotl is considered the Father-Mother of both the leading Aztec Gods and all of humanity. In this most common of the Aztec creation stories, Ometeotl is more like the overarching grandparents of humanity. Yet other strands of this story have Ometeotl more intimately connected with human creation; from Aztec midwifes birthing chants invoking Ometeotl name, to his overview of the first human couple that is depicted above in the two-photographs side by side. Other Aztec sources claim Ometeotle brings to childbirth the “beating spirit in the heart of every new born.”
As the ultimate creative essence, Ometeotl is complicated. Note the alligator headband.
As the master of the highest level of creation, Ometeotl is also the master of the highest level of Heaven:
Left: The thirteen levels of the Aztec Heavens. Living in the thirteenth level is Ometeotl, shown here sitting on a throne of maize (corn). This highest peak of the thirteenth Aztec heaven is called Omeyocan, the Place of Duality.
Note: Some Aztec sources claim there are only nine levels of heaven, to mirror the nine levels of Hell. No matter how many layers of heaven may exist, Ometeotl is on top.
Ometeotl is the complete gender universe: “He is ‘beyond bisexual.’ Ometeotl is a couple that completely epitomized Male and Female. To the Aztec, creation is the result of complementary opposition and conflict. Much like a dialogue between two individuals, the interaction and exchange between opposites constitute a creative act. The concept of interdependent opposition is embodied in the creator god, Ometeotl… possessing both the male and female creative principles.” (cites omitted, lightly edited for clarity, taken from https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/gods/gods-of-the-month-ometeotl)
Ometeotl is a reflection of the Divine as seen by Aztecs, ancient and modern. Thus, Ometeotl’s story still resonates with us, as evidenced by the emotive power in the meditative prayer-song set out below. Does this story give us insight for today? Perhaps the wisdom of the Aztecs can serve a mirror reflecting universal truths in our times. Or maybe, he simply embodies the stand-alone virtues and vices of the unique Aztec tradition, now long gone. No matter how you look at Ometeotl, his origins and roots are ancient. Ometeotl should not get caught up in our cultural slug fest about gender roles and sexual identity. These conclusions still leaves an open question: Can Ometeotl provide palpable guidance for us today? Or is he just some bizarre picture on Aztec papyrus, some reedy myth best left to Mesoamerican history classes?
Mexica Peyote Song: Acknowledges the creator by different names. Request the Creator to listen to your prayer
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Very interesting. Thanks for posting!
Most religions begin with animism, evolve through polytheism and tend toward monotheism. In animism the rocks and brooks and trees have spirits—nature is alive. In polytheism the natural forces are personified–wind and rain and sun are gods. The tendency toward monothism is the last phase.
With the concept of Ometeotl as the origin and creator of ALL, the Aztecs were on their way to monotheism.
They were a metaphysical culture.
Brillliant article.
ROSS GANDY