According to a myth concerning the creation of the world in the fifth cosmic age, the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca (the cosmic enemies of the first and second ages of creation) saw the terrible Tlaltecuhtli walking across the primal ocean, and were afraid.
They took hold of the goddess from both sides and after a vicious cosmic struggle, which cost Tezcatlipoca the loss of his left foot, they succeeded in tearing her body in two, creating the heavens and the earth. Her hair was transformed into vegetation, her eyes and mouth were changed into fountains, rivers, springs and caves, while her nose and shoulders became valleys and mountains.
- The Mesoamerican goddess Tlaltecuhtli (Earth Lord) is often depicted as female, and was also regarded to be androgynous (‘The Mythology of the Americas’, Jones, D.M; Molyneaux, B.L, 2001, p.155)
