Talk:Tezcatlipoca/@comment-25431873-20150820123849

Interestingly, in the Aztec religion, there is an important ritual called deity impersonation: as the name suggests, specific individuals or priests would represent a deity through dressing up to look like that god. In the sixth month (or 5th) of the Aztec solar year, Tezcatlipoca was worshipped in special ceremonies that included the impersonation of the god, most often by a prisoner of war, typically the best looking and most courageous one. For one year before, the captive was tutored by priests, treated as a noble and even given four women to look after him. These women themselves impersonated four goddesses - Atlatonan, Huixtocihuatl, Xilonen and Xochiquetzal. When the special month finally came around the impersonator was handsomely dressed in a warrior costume and in a symbolic wedding festival he married his four goddesses. Honoured with flowers and dances the man-god was then ferried to a dedicated temple where he was promptly sacrificed and his heart removed to honour the real Tezcatlipoca.

It is possible the Magic God Tezcatlipoca was one such human, who actually became the Magic God version of the Aztec god upon his death.