Talk:Mixcoatl

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The first sentence begins, "In Aztec mythology, Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpant) was a god of the hunt, the north star and war. He (as another form of Tezcatlipoca) invented fire using the heavens, revolving around their axes, as a drill."

How does one produce fire using a drill? I have used a drill countless times and I have never had a fire break out. Perhaps if I knew the story I would understand what was meant. I am not at all familiar with the mythology in question but that should not matter; this entry should be understandable to someone who knows nothing of the subject. I think it should be reworded to remove the appearence of a non-sequiteur, even if it is only something that does not follow if you are uninformed or dense. Lots of us dense people out here to take care of. --Qaz

I did not write the sentence in question (I wrote the later bit about the legendary Chichimeca Mixcoatl), however, I do know that the traditional way to make fire is by taking two pieces of wood, making a small hole in one and making the other have a pointed end - the pointed end one is the "drill" - and it is drilled into the hole in the other until the friction causes fire.

It was this "fire-drill" that the Aztecs credited Mixcoatl with inventing. Is there a way we could phrase the sentence in question to make it clearer without having to go into a description of how to make fire?

--Erosenfield

[edit] Mixcoatl

>"While Mixcoatl was part of the Aztec pantheon, his role was less important than that of Huitzilopochtli, who was their central deity."

Thats funny because the Mexica's principal god was Huitzilpochtli, while the people of Texcoco was Tezcatlipoca, and the Acolhua was Huehueteotl. All of these groups of people make up what we call "Aztec". It was only the Mexica whose central deity was Huitzilpochtli. In fact in the codex Borgia, theres no Coatlicue or Huitzilpochtli, Huit is replaced by Mixcoatl. I would hesitate to make Mixcoatl sound less important than he really is. Xuchilbara 17:08, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Some copy problems

Much of the text as it stands now is a pretty close (I would say, uncomfortably so) paraphrase of the entry on Mixcoatl in Miller and Taube's The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya (1993, pp.115–116); a fact I've just noticed after comparing the two. It seems it was essentially expanded from this source in this anon 2005 edit- there are a couple of words and changes of emphasis that are different, but it's unmistakably derived and follows the same structure. While Miller & Taube is an excellent and generally reliable source, I would say the article prose needs some significant refashioning to avoid the impression of being a direct lift. Bringing in some other sources for contrast and comparision would also be desirable. Will see if this can't be addressed in the next little while. --cjllw ʘ TALK 04:43, 14 February 2008 (UTC)