Metztli, the Marked Moon

The myth

Metztli is the Moon for the Mexica, a deity of ambiguous gender in the sources. The best-known myth is that of Tecciztécatl, who leapt into the Teotihuacan bonfire after Nanahuatzin and appeared in the sky as bright as the sun, until the gods threw a rabbit in his face. Historian Rafael Tena groups the Moon in the same “complex” of gods as Tecciztécatl, Mayahuel, Ome Tochtli and the Centzon Totochtin: Moon, fertility and pulque went together. The rabbit’s shadows remain, to this day, the Moon’s mark in Mexico.

Why it has this power

A Level 7 Rare with 2300 ATK and 2200 DEF: the marked moon is still nearly as strong as the sun. Darkness and Moon are the night she rules; Crown, her celestial royalty. She is born by fusing Tecciztécatl the Proud with the Rabbit of the Moon — the whole myth as a recipe: the god plus the rabbit that marked him.

Did you know

Many scholars see metztli, “moon,” in the name México, often translated as “in the navel of the moon.”

Connections

• Born from the fusion of: Tecciztécatl the Proud + Rabbit of the Moon

Where to get it

• Campaign drop: Itzel, Guardian of the Fifth Sun (Valley of the Fifth Sun) — grade S: 13% · grade A: 13% · grade B: 13% · grade C: 13% · grade D: 12%
• Born from the fusion of: Tecciztécatl the Proud + Rabbit of the Moon

Sources

1. Dioses mexicas. Complejo 11. Metztli (Arqueología Mexicana) — Rafael Tena
2. La pluralidad de rostros de Luna (Arqueología Mexicana) — Alfredo López Austin
3. Los mitos de Sol y Luna (primera parte) (Arqueología Mexicana) — Alfredo López Austin