Xolotl

In mythology, Xolotl was a god of fire and lightning. He was commonly depicted as a dog-headed man and was a soul guide for the dead. He was also the god of twins, monsters, misfortune, sickness, and deformities. Xolotl is the canine brother and twin of Quetzalcoatl, the pair being sons of the virgin Chimalma. He is the dark personification of Venus, the evening star, and was associated with heavenly fire. The Axolotl is named after him.
Xolotl is depicted as a companion of the Setting Sun. He is pictured with a knife in his mouth, a symbol of death. Xolotl was the sinister god of monstrosities who wears the spirally-twisted wind jewel and the ear ornaments of Quetzalcoatl. His job was to protect the sun from the dangers of the underworld. As a double of Quetzalcoatl, he carries his conch-like ehecailacacozcatl or wind jewel. Xolotl accompanied Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan, the land of the dead, or the underworld, to retrieve the bones from those who inhabited the previous world (Nahui Atl) to create a new life for the present world, Nahui Ollin, the sun of movement. In a sense, this re-creation of life is reenacted every night when Xolotl guides the sun through the underworld. In the tonalpohualli, Xolotl rules over day Ollin (movement) and over trecena 1-Cozcacuauhtli (vulture).
His empty eye sockets are explained in the legend of Teotihuacan, in which the gods decided to sacrifice themselves for the newly created sun. Xolotl withdrew from this sacrifice and wept so much his eyes fell out of their sockets. According to the creation, after the Fifth Sun was initially created, it did not move. Ehecatl ("God of Wind") consequently began slaying all other gods to induce the newly created Sun into movement. Xolotl, however, was unwilling to die in order to give movement to the new Sun. Xolotl transformed himself into a young maize plant with two stalks (xolotl), a doubled maguey plant (mexolotl), and an amphibious animal (axolotl). Xolotl is thus a master transformer. In the end, Ehecatl succeeded in finding and killing Xolotl.
In art, Xolotl was typically depicted as a dog-headed man, a skeleton, or a deformed monster with reversed feet. An incense burner in the form of a skeletal canine depicts Xolotl. As a psychopomp, Xolotl would guide the dead on their journey to Mictlan the afterlife in myths. His two-spirit animal forms are the Xoloitzcuintli dog and the water salamander species known as the Axolotl. Xolos served as companions in this life and also in the after-life, as many dogs remain and dog sculptures have been found in burials, including some at the main temple in Tenochtitlan. Dogs were often subject to ritual sacrifice so that they could accompany their master on his voyage through Mictlan, the underworld. Their main duty was to help their owners cross a deep river. It is possible that dog sculptures also found in burials were also intended to help people on this journey. The name "Xoloitzcuintli", the name of a breed of a Hairless Dog, references Xolotl because this dog's mission was to accompany the souls of the dead in their journey into eternity. The name "Axolotl" comes from the Nahuatl language. One translation of the name connects the Axolotl to Xolotl. The most common translation is "water-dog". "Atl" for water and "Xolotl" for the dog.
In the calendar, the ruler of the day, Itzcuintli ("Dog"), is Mictlantecuhtli, the god of death and lord of Mictlan, the afterlife.
Xolotl with Xiuhcoatl "Fire Serpent" Xolotl is sometimes depicted carrying a torch, which references the tradition that the dog brought fire to mankind. The dog is conspicuously associated with the god of death, storm, and lightning. Xolotl appears to have affinities with the lightning-dog and may represent the lightning which descends from the thundercloud, the flash, the reflection of which arouses the misconceived belief that lightning is "double", and leads them to suppose a connection between lightning and twins.
Xolotl represents fire rushing down from the heavens or light flaming up in the heavens. Xolotl was originally the name for the lightning beast, often taking the form of a dog. He is the lightning beast, who darts from heaven with a torch in his hand. Xolotl is represented directly as a dog and is distinguished as the deity of air and of the four directions of the wind by Quetzalcoatl's breast ornament. Xolotl is to be considered equivalent to the beast darting from heaven. The dog is the animal of the dead and therefore of the Place of Shadows.
Xolotl's portrayal associates as a dog with the belief that dogs accompany the souls of the dead to Mictlan. Twins were viewed as unnatural monstrosities and consequently commonly killed one of the two twins shortly after birth. Xolotl represents the murdered twin who dwells in the darkness of Mictlan, while Quetzalcoatl ("The Precious Twin") represents the surviving twin who dwells in the light of the sun. In manuscripts, the setting sun, devoured by the earth, is opposite Xolotl's. Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl constitute the twin phases of Venus as the morning and evening stars, respectively. Quetzalcoatl as the morning star acts as the harbinger of the Sun's rising (rebirth) every dawn, Xolotl as the evening star acts as the harbinger of the Sun's setting (death) every dusk. In this way, they divide the single life-death process of cyclical transformation into its two phases: one leading from birth to death, the other from death to birth.
Xolotl was the patron of the ballgame. Some scholars argue the ballgame symbolizes the Sun's perilous and uncertain nighttime journey through the underworld. Xolotl is able to help in the Sun's rebirth since he possesses the power to enter and exit the underworld. In several of the manuscripts, Xolotl is depicted striving at this game against other gods. For example, in the Codex Mendoza, we see him playing with the moon-god and can recognize him by the sign ollin which accompanies him, and by the gouged-out eye in which that symbol ends."The root of the name ollin suggested the motion of the rubber ball olli and, as a consequence, ball-playing."
Ollin is pulsating, oscillating, and centering motion-change. It is typified by bouncing balls, pulsating hearts, labor contractions, earthquakes, flapping butterfly wings, the undulating motion of weft activities in weaving, and the oscillating path of the Fifth Sun over and under the surface of the earth. Ollin is the motion-change of cyclical completion.
Xolotl sacrifices the rain god. Within the sanctuary of the Red Temple, the Sun is finally born. Against the background of a solid red disk, a warrior drills a fire on the chest of a figure lying down. From the smoke emerges a red solar deity with the wind jewel. Immediately to the right, the deity is enthroned in the temple. He now has canine claws, a canine mouth mask, the wind jewel, and a distended eye that identify him as the red Xolotl, he also carries the Sun on his back.