T: Tahiti to Tyche 271
Tlazolteotl
Described in Maya myth as the Earth Mother, “the Woman who sinned before
the Deluge.” Tlazolteotl signified the seismic upheavals that wracked Aztlan and
accompanied the Great Flood. According to the mestizo chronicler Enrique
Camargo, Tlazolteotl came from “a very pleasant land, a delectable place, where
are many delightful fountains, brooks and flower gardens. This land was called
Tamoanchan, the Place of the Fresh, Cool Winds.” It was here, at Tamoanchan,
that Tlazolteotl committed some offense against the gods, who destroyed the “Place
of the Fresh, Cool Winds” with a terrific flood. Sailing with a remnant of her
warrior women, she eventually arrived on the shores near Veracruz.
The Aztecs also knew her as Toxi, “Our Grandmother,” a reference to their
sunken, ancestral homeland.
(See Tamochan)Tobacco
A variant of the story of the Great Flood familiar to many Native American
tribes tells of a long-haired god who was sleeping near a campfire, or star in the
night sky. A demon crept up on him, then suddenly pushed his head into the flames.
The god’s hair instantly caught fire, and he dashed wildly throughout the heavens
until the demon tripped him, and he fell to Earth. There he ran around the world,
causing terrible conflagrations wherever he went. Finally reaching the ocean, he
jumped into the water to extinguish his flaming hair. But in so doing, he caused a
massive flood that killed off almost all mankind. Afterward, the survivors discov-
ered that at each place where his burning hairs had fallen to the ground, tobacco
was growing. Henceforward, they used it in sacred rituals to commemorate their
escape from the deluge.
Comets are traditionally described as “hairy” or “long-haired,” and its associa-
tion here with the Great Flood suggests the Atlantis cataclysm.
(See Pipestone, Asteroid Theory)Tollan
Topiltzin, the Toltec version of the “Feathered Serpent,” was a prince in Tollan,
the glittering capital of a magnificent empire located on an island in the middle of
the Atlantic Ocean. After its destruction by a natural catastrophe, he led Toltec
ancestors to the shoes of Mexico.Toxi
The Aztec “Grandmother” synonymous with Atlantis.
(See Tlazolteotl)