Tippler Rabbits In The Midst Of Enraptured Myths

“I could be the white rabbit to your wild horse.”
Rabbit stories, tales and folklores often present the rabbit as the quick-witted, darting trickster eventually outfoxing his enemy or adversary. Symbolic rabbit meanings also deal predominantly with abundance, contentment and vulnerability. Traditionally, rabbits are associated with fertility, sentiment, desire, and reproduction. Rabbit meanings are also closely related to the seasons, the changes of Mother Earth and specifically springtime. It’s a celebration of life and bunnies bounce right back into the swing of spring.
Big field full of floppy-eared, soft-furred, big-eyed cute cuddly rabbit is not only iconic because of its traits, it also becomes superstitious and legendary myth. God as we know has been there for such long periods. According to histories and myths, ancient civilizations had bunch of Gods for almost everything: the sun, the sea, the earth, anything you can name it.
But, not much people know that it often also quite a few for alcohol related matters. The Aztecs had very stern dictum on alcohol use and misuse, but no other tribe had as many ‘Booze Gods’ as the ancient habitants of Mexico. They had 400 drunken crazy bunny-gods called the CENTZON TOTOCHTIN, the children of the Goddess of Alcohol Mayahuel and Petecatl (God of Medicine).

These 400 thirsty bunnies stood for the infinite ways in which people could inebriate themselves. So when someone got absolutely smashed, people would say he was ‘drunk as 400 rabbits’. But there’s a lot more to this legendary myths, since some of the rabbits actually had names and background stories.
“The Aztec Gods of drunkenness and intoxication”
Pulque, the fermented agave (maguey) juice is the traditional drink of Aztecs that played an important role in religious rituals at that time. But not everyone can drink it unless for the old people. Youngsters who got caught drinking were heartlessly punished, with ´throttle death´ as the supreme penalty.
Myth told that the Goddess of Flowers (including the manguey and its sap), Xochitl, gave some pulque to the King of Tula, who got drunk and raped her. It made her also the Godess of Early Sexuality and Prostitutes. From then on the Aztecs made sure that drinking became a solitary activity of the old and experienced men, who could control themselves. That’s why only old people could drink this sacred potion.
According to the myth she had 400 breasts that all gave quality fermented maguey sap. The ‘infinite’ amount of children she had with her husband Petecatl, who was believed to be responsible for fermentation, were pictured as rabbits, which she nursed with this alcoholic beverage.
After the rape incident Mayahuel became the new Goddess of Pulque. Since Mayahuel had so many mouths to feed, it’s no wonder she was also related to fertility and nourishment. The Aztec name for this shelter of bunnies was Centzon Totochtin, which literally means 400 rabbits, but they were often mentioned to as the Gods of Drunkenness. The legend said that they would gather on a regular basis to test their livers :))

The Two Rabbit, Tepoztecatl (Ome Tochtli)
Peculiar enough that there is no first bunny called Rabbit I and if there was, he was most like the Biggest Kahuna of all. As anyone who has ever tried to pronounce Aztec names knows, none of the rabbits’ many names were easily spoken (even when they were sober), as is the case with most Aztec mythological names. However there is a ‘Two Rabbit’, or in Aztec Ome Tochtli. Tepoztecatl, as he was actually named, was considered king of the Drunken Rabbits and God of Pulque. Where his mother is also related to nourishment, Ome Tochtli is all about fertility and drunkenness, which makes one reckon that like today many babies in those days were conceived after the libido was raised by alcohol.
The Five Rabbit, Macuil Tochtli
Where Ome Tochtli still knew what restraint in alcohol was, his brother, Macuil Tochtli, took things a little further. Officially he is the God of Alcoholic Beverages, but he also stood for surfeit with alcohol and the results for that behavior. Mainly the Rabbit God of Getting Smashed and Hangovers.
The Straw Mirror, Tezcatzoncatl
Another godly rabbit is called Tezcatzoncatl. He is the God of the Drunkards and according to the myth he was a big one himself too. It is called ‘The Straw Mirror’, in which of course the drunken state is meant in which you can see as much as when looking in a mirror made of straw.
The Winged One, Colhuatzincatl
Actually very little info about this member of the Centzon Totochtin, just that he was often referred to as ‘The Winged One’. So every experienced drinker can tell you that this was probably the God of one of the earlier stages of intoxication, perhaps.
God of Hanging, Tequechmecauiani
Apparently it wasn’t strange no more for people in the Aztec Empire to accidentally hang themselves when they were drunk. People who feared they would end up in a lethal noose would make an sacrifice to this Rabbit God. Maybe this example refers to the cruel death penalty by strangling for youngsters who secretly got drunk.
God of Early Civilization, Toltecatl
The evidence of not all of the 400 Rabbit Gods in every day life had anything to do with booze is Toltecatl. When he was not getting smashed with his divine brothers, he was simply the God of the older Toltec Culture, which the Aztecs respected and saw as their cultural and intellectual predecessors. From what they knew became the start of civilization.
God of Dance, Techalotl
Techalotl is actually have a meaning of ‘Squirrel’. Not sure if you ever saw a drunken squirrel dancing but once you got that image it should not be too hard to understand why Techalotl was one of the Centzon Totochtin. He symbolized as maniac on the dancefloor stepping on everyone’s toes.
Many cultures including the Aztec and East Asian, contain folklore or rabbit stories that depict the “moon rabbit” as a rabbit pounding a mortar and pestle.
You’re not gonna like this, because the story didn’t have happy ending for the Drunken Rabbits. One day they killed the mother of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec God of War and the Sun. This God, often portrayed as a hummingbird, knew no mercy and chased after the terrified rodents. He beheaded some bunnies, ripped out some hearts, stabbed them or simply threw them off a temple, till all the Centzon Totochtin were dead. The myth of this bloodbath was also used by Aztec priests to explain a lot about their ritual human sacrifices.
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