Night Lords
The Night Lords or Lords of the Night are a group of 9 Gods that each rule over each night consecutively. Each ruling God is associated with good, bad, or neutral portents for that night. In Aztec cosmology, they also contribute one of the three souls given to a person at birth, the ihiyotl.
The existence of a 9 nights cycle in Mesoamerican calendrics was first discovered in 1904 by Eduard Seler. The Aztec names of the Deities are known because their names are found in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Codex Tudela.
For the Mexica, the Night Lords are (in order)1):
- 1. Xiuhtecuhtli
- 2. Tezcatlipoca
- 4. Centeotl
- 7. Tlazolteotl
- 8. Tepeyollotl
- 9. Tlaloc
References
1)
Elizabeth Hill Boone. 2007. Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate. University of Texas Press pp. 44-45