teotl

{{short description|Nahuatl term for divinity}}

Teōtl ({{IPA|nci|ˈte.oːt͡ɬ|}}) is a Nahuatl term for sacredness or divinity that is sometimes translated as "god". For the Aztecs {{lang|nci|teotl}} was the metaphysical omnipresence upon which their religious philosophy was based.

As described by James Maffie, {{lang|nci|teotl}} "is essentially power: continually active, actualized, and actualizing energy-in-motion... It is an ever-continuing process, like a flowing river... It continually and continuously generates and regenerates as well as permeates, encompasses and shapes reality as part of an endless process. It creates the cosmos and all its contents from within itself as well as out of itself."{{harvnb|Maffie|2014|p=23}}. He continues, "... There are no absolute beginnings - or absolute endings, for that matter - in Aztec metaphysics. There are only continuings. Death, for example, is not an ending but a change of status, because that which dies flows into and feeds that which lives ... in a single, never-ending process of recycling and transformation." (ibid p 24)

This is conceptualized in a kind of monistic pantheism{{harvnb|Maffie|n.d.|loc=sec 2b,2c}}, citing Hunt 1977 and I. Nicholson 1959; Leon-Portilla 1966, p. 387 cited by {{harvnb|Barnett|2007|loc="M. Leon-Portilla argues that Ometeotl was neither strictly pantheistic nor strictly monistic."}} as manifest in the supreme god {{lang|nci|Ometeotl|italic=no}},{{harvnb|Maffie|n.d.|loc=sec 2f: "Literally, 'Two God', also called {{lang|nci|in Tonan, in Tota, Huehueteotl}}, 'our Mother, our Father, the Old God'"}} as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire.{{harvnb|Maffie|n.d.|loc=sec 2f}}, citing {{harvnb|Leon-Portilla|1963}}.

Similar concepts to {{lang|nci|teotl}} existed elsewhere in Mesoamerica at the time of the conquest, such as in the Zapotec term {{lang|zap|pee}} or the Maya {{lang|myn|ku}} or {{lang|myn|ch'u}}. Such immaterial energy can also be compared to the Polynesian concept of Mana.{{harvnb|Miller|Taube|1993|p=89}}. For a lengthy treatment of the subject see Hvidtfeldt, 1958 In Pipil mythology {{lang|ppl|Teut}} (Nawat cognate of Teotl){{cite web |first1=Rafael |last1=Lara-Martínez |first2=Rick |last2=McCallister |url=http://whp.uoregon.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/GlosarioComparadoSpanishNawat.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427200555/https://whp.uoregon.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/GlosarioComparadoSpanishNawat.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-27 |title=Glosario cultural Náwat Pipil y Nicarao: El Güegüense y Mitos en lengua materna de los pipiles de Izalco |language=es |page=199 |quote=tewt, teut, "Dios"; teot, náhuatl teotl "god, dios" (Nicaragua) [Squier]. téut, "Dios" [Calvo Pacheco].}}Also used for the Christian God in a modern translation of the New Testament by Jan Morrow and Alan King, {{cite book |url=http://nebibliaj.org/ |title=Ne Bibliaj Tik Nawat |date=2012 |language=qu |chapter=Yojan 1:1 |chapter-url=http://nebibliaj.org/JHN01.php |quote=Achtu nemik ne palabraj wan ne palabraj nemik itech ne Teut wan Teut ne palabraj. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507060643/http://nebibliaj.org/JHN01.php |archive-date=2016-05-07}} is known as the creator and father of life.{{cite book |first=Miguel Ángel |last=Espino |author-link=Miguel Ángel Espino |title=Mitología de Cuscatlán |location=San Salvador |publisher=Biblioteca Basica de Literatura Salvadorena |date=1996 |orig-date=1919 |isbn=9789992301784 |language=es}}

The gods in the Aztec pantheon, themselves each referred to as a {{lang|nci|teotl}} (plural {{lang|nci|teteo}}), were active elements in the world that could manifest in natural phenomena, in abstract art, and as summoned or even embodied by priests during rituals – all these could be called {{lang|nci|teotl}}.{{harvnb|Bassett|2015|p=89}}

Molly Bassett identifies major characteristics of {{lang|nci|teotl}} as the term is used in the Florentine Codex to get further insight on Aztec religion as described in other codices.{{harvnb|Bassett|2015|pp=194–196}}: "a {{lang|nci|teotl}} has {{lang|nci|axcaitl}} (possessions), a {{lang|nci|tonalli}} (prerogative), and a {{lang|nci|neixcahuilli}} (an exclusive pursuit) and is {{lang|nci|mahuiztic}} (marvelous) and {{lang|nci|tlazohca}} (beloved)."

Whereas in most Nahuatl translations of the Bible and Christian texts, "God" ({{lang|grc|Θεός}}) is translated with the Spanish word "{{lang|es|Dios|italic=no}}",Bible.is: Genesis in [http://www.bible.is/NHETBL/Gen/1 Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl], John in [http://www.bible.is/NHETBL/John/1 Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NCHTBL/John/1 Central Huasteca Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NHWTBL/John/1 Western Huasteca Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NCJTBL/John/1 Northern Puebla Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NPLWYI/John/1 Southeastern Puebla Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/AZZTBL/John/1 Highland Puebla Nahuatl], [https://archive.today/20130820161353/http://www.bible.is/NAHNVS/John/1 Guerrero Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NHYTBL/John/1 Northern Oaxaca Nahuatl], [http://www.bible.is/NHIWBT/John/1 Tenango Nahuatl]. in modern translations by the Catholic Church in the 21st century, the word "{{lang|nah|Teotzin|italic=no}}", which is a combination of {{lang|nci|teotl}} and the reverential suffix -tzin, is used officially for "God".{{cite web |last=Horatio |first=Luis |website=Catoliscopio |title=Credo en versión Nahuatl |date=5 March 2013 |url=http://parroquiaicm.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/credo-en-version-nahuatl/ |access-date=2022-07-28}}