#my favorite visual ever love the thought of a rabbit just chilling at the moon

[hycinthrt]

If you get this ask, tell us a story from the folklore or mythology of YOUR COUNTRY (e.g. if you are German, tell us a German myth). Then send this ask to ten people! Just want to see more people talking about lesser known myths ;)

so basically in aztec mythology the gods made the world and ended it a couple of times because they were not satisfied with the humans they had made. finally, on the fifth try, they made humans out of corn and i guess this turned out fine for them, so now they had the task of getting a new sun for the world. for this, a god had to sacrifice himself by leaping into a bonfire in order to become the fifth sun.

there were two candidates for this task: tecuciztecatl, who was a rich and beautiful god, and nanahuatzin, who was a poor god with a body covered in sores. when the moment came for the sacrifice, each bringing their extravagant and measly offerings respectively, tecuciztecatl stepped up to the bonfire. he tried several times, but he was too afraid to jump in so he pulled back.

then, it was nanahuatzin’s turn. he stepped up to the bonfire and, without hesitation, leaped into the flames. inspired by his bravery, tecuciztecatl jumped in after him. from this sacrifice, nanahuatzin rose as the sun and tecuciztecatl as the moon.

the thing is, they both were equally bright in the sky. the gods didn’t think this was fair, since nanahuatzin had shown much more bravery than tecuciztecatl. so one of the gods took a rabbit and threw it into tecuciztecatl’s face, dimming the moon’s glow. this is why, according to this myth, we can still the outline of a rabbit in the moon.

so there was a sun and moon now, but there was still a problem. both of them were sitting stagnant in the sky without moving across it throughout the day. this was causing the sun to scorch the world rather than nourishing it. nanahuatzin told the other gods that, just like he had sacrificed himself, they also had to give their blood in order to give the world what it needed to exist. the gods, after hesitating, also sacrificed themselves, which brought a wind to move the sun and moon through the sky.

this was the beginning of the fifth sun, which according to the aztec calendar, is the one we are still living in today