Tamoanchan is a mythical paradise in the Mesoamerican cultures of the post-classic period. The term Tamoanchan originally does not have Nahuatl origins but comes from the Huastec language, specifically Timoancán. It is often associated with the Olmec culture, considered by many as the Mesoamerican mother culture. Teotihuacán may have been later linked by the Mexicas to Tamoanchan. Some authors suggest that Timoancán is derived from the Mayan language of the Huasteca, meaning ‘mountain of the serpent’ or ‘place of serpents.’ The Mexicas also referred to it as Xochitlicacan or Xochitlalpan, meaning ‘land of flowers.’
Origin and Meaning
The frequent appearance of the term Tamoanchan in Nahuatl documents and its absence in documents of other languages indicate that it is a Nahuatl term, specifically from the Nahuat variant spoken in the kingdom of Tula. It is formed from the components tamoa, meaning ‘to end’ or ‘to perish’; in, meaning ‘of them’; and chantli, meaning ‘home,’ signifying ‘the home of mortals.’ Its Nahuatl variant is pronounced tlamoanchan with the same meaning.
However, Bernardino de Sahagún’s informants composed it, playing with senses and words, using the verb temoa, meaning ‘to descend.’ This interpretation suggests ‘the house of those who descend’ (to death). Hence, its hieroglyphic representation in Mesoamerican codices and reliefs is a broken tree from which a person falls. It symbolizes the manifest universe. (Note: The phonetic resemblance to the Mayan composition ta-moan-chan, meaning ‘excrement of the serpent bird,’ is coincidental, as it is not documented in any Mayan source.)
Linguistic definitions:
- From Mayan: tamoanchan, ‘the place of the serpent hawk’ (‘ta,’ place; ‘moan,’ hawk; ‘chan,’ serpent).
- From Teenek: tamoanchan, ‘the place of the tree of the underworld’ (‘ta,’ place; ‘moan,’ hawk (bird of the underworld); ‘che,’ tree; ‘chan,’ house (place)).
- From Nahuatl: tamoanchan, ‘the house of descent’ (‘tamoa,’ descent; ‘an,’ where; ‘chan,’ house).
According to various myths, Tamoanchan is an earthly paradise inhabited by diverse gods where pulque was invented, and humanity was created. It is said to be located “above the thirteen heavens” or “above all airs and the nine heavens.” It has a significant connection to Tlalocan, another Mexica paradise, or the same, according to some authors who consider Tamoanchan as only the magical flowering tree (Nahuatl xochitlicacan) within Tlalocan, tonacacuahuitl, the tree of life.
Some myths describe Tamoanchan as the dwelling place of the goddess Xochiquétzal, the patroness of single women, beauty, and love. Her abode is recorded as Tamoanchan, Itzicayan, or Xochitlicacan. Xochitlicacan may also refer to a flowering tree in Tamoanchan, whose flowers had the magical property of turning anyone who touched them into a faithful lover, and cutting them was forbidden. One day, the tree broke, and the flowers began to bleed, either because they were cut, according to one myth, or because Xochiquétzal sinned with Tezcatlipoca, while being married to Tláloc or Cinteotl, according to another.
After this sacrilege, the gods Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl expelled the gods from Tamoanchan, sending some to Earth and others to the underworld. Some of the expelled gods include Achitometl, Huitzilopochtli, Itzpapálotl, Mixcóatl, Quetzalcóatl, Tzontémoc, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, and Yacatecuhtli. Another myth describes Tamoanchan as the place where the god Quetzalcóatl and the goddess Quilaztli brought the sacred bones with which the first humans were made.
It is also said that Teteo Innan (the mother of the gods), also called Toci, originated from Tamoanchan. Itzpapálotl (obsidian butterfly) is also connected to Tamoanchan. Some authors view Tamoanchan as a physical, historical place located on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
The 13th Level of Heaven
Tamoanchan, meaning “Home by the Water” or “In Search of Our Home,” “House of Descent,” or “Birthplace,” is a mythical paradise in Aztec mythology.
Tamoanchan was considered the 13th level of heaven or a heavenly realm. The exact location of this level – the realm is not entirely certain. It was placed above Omeyocan, but also on Earth as an earthly paradise and in an unknown cave.
The rulers of this realm were the divine couple Tonacateuctli (“Lord of Our Body” or “Lord of Our Sustenance”) and Tonacacihuatl (“Lady of Our Body” or “Lady of Our Sustenance”). In a Spanish document written in 1531 based on indigenous codices, “Historia de los Mexicanos por sus pinturas,” the following text can be found:
“It seems that they possess one god, whom they call Tonacateuctli, who has as a wife Tonacacihuatl, or by another name, Xochiquetzal, who created themselves and remained in the 13th heaven, about whose beginning nothing is known, only about its existence and creation, which was in the 13th heaven […]”
In the Telleriano-Remensis codex, Tamoanchan is described as the place where the gods were created and is an earthly paradise. According to sources, this level had rivers, springs, forests full of wildlife. There also grew a great, miraculous, flowering tree whose flowers could not be cut. They had the power to bestow true love on anyone who touched them.
According to indigenous legends, despite the prohibition, someone cut the flowers, and the tree collapsed and began to spout blood. This fact angered the Lords of Tamoanchan greatly, and they expelled all the gods. Tamoanchan was inhabited by deities created by Tonacateuctli and Tonacacihuatl, as well as many other beings created in a different way.