Itzli, «Obsidian stone», is one of the forty-five energies that rule the days, trecenas and veintenas of the Mexica calendar. Obsidian itself — volcanic stone made energy.

Why do you call Itzli an energy and not a god?

Because «god» translates badly. The Mexica did not separate the deity from the force it stands for as the European word does. «Energy» is not perfect either, but it does not carry that freight. It is a decision of this site, declared as one — and it applies to Itzli as to the other forty-four.

Why is the full entry on Itzli only in Spanish?

Because the entry on Itzli quotes Sahagún, Durán and the codices in their own sixteenth-century words. A quotation carried across stops being a quotation. The Spanish entry is linked from this page.

The energies

One of the forty-five energies

Itzli

Obsidian stone

What it rules

Obsidian itself — volcanic stone made energy.

Why «energy» and not «god»

Because «god» translates badly. The Mexica did not separate the deity from the force it stands for in the way the European word does, and calling them gods imports an idea that is not theirs. «Energy» is not perfect either, but it does not carry that freight. It is a decision of this site, and it is declared as one.

The full entry is in Spanish, and here is why

What you have read above is this project's own summary of Itzli. The full entry — the part that rests on the sixteenth-century sources — has not been translated, and that is a decision rather than an omission.

We chose not to touch the primary text. Those sections quote Sahagún, Durán and the codices in their own words, often in sixteenth-century Castilian. A quotation carried across stops being a quotation: it loses the register, the ambiguity and the exact wording someone might want to check against a facsimile.

In Spanish the entry carries:

El nombre
Señor de la segunda hora de la noche
El pedernal como objeto sagrado
De dónde viene su imagen

Read the full entry in the original Spanish → Nahuatl names and terms are identical in both versions.

The name

Itzli is the direct personification of obsidian, the volcanic black glass prized in Mesoamerica as much for its cutting edge as for a surface able to reflect like a mirror. He is one of the manifestations of Tezcatlipoca, whose own name means «smoking mirror».

The sources count him among the aspects of Tezcatlipoca, for the obvious reason: the smoking mirror is made of obsidian. The same stone that cuts is the one that reflects, and that is where his name comes from.

How to cite this page

Alma Mexica, «Itzli», The energies. Revised 2026-09-17. https://almamexica.org/en/energy/itzli/