In Aztec mythology, the Centzon Tōtōchtin (“400 Rabbits”) is a group of 400 divine rabbits who meet for frequent drunken parties. In the Aztec numbering system, the number 400 means Infinity and many first names were numbers.
The legend of the Centzon Tōtōchtin begins with the fated meeting of Patecatl, the God of Medicine and the discoverer of the medicinal plant Peyote, and Mayahuel the Goddess of Alcohol and Fertility.
The union of these two Gods resulted in Mayahuel giving birth to the Centzon Tōtōchtin — or 400 Rabbits. Being a responsible mother and the Goddess of Alcohol, Mayahuel chose to nurse them with pulque, an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey or agave plant.
Pulque or Octli, is the traditional alcoholic beverage of central Mexico, where it has been produced for millennia. It is the color of milk and has a sour yeast-like taste. The diet of these Gods consisted only of Pulque.
The leader of the rabbit brood is Tepoztecatl, who is known as the Mesoamerican God of Intoxication. Along with his brothers, Texcatzonatl, Colhuatzincatl, Macuiltochtli ("Five-Rabbit"), Ometochtli (“Two-Rabbit”), and others, he was given the serious responsibility of guarding and protecting all agave-based spirits (i.e. tequila, mezcal, sotol, etc.).
But the rabbits who had been raised on alcohol and nothing else, grew up to be mischief-makers. Rather than protecting the alcohol, they drank it all.
Legend has it that whenever you drink an agave spirit one or more of the Gods of Drunkenness will inhabit your soul and control your drunken behavior (regardless of how much you have drunk). Interestingly, the day to worship the rabbit gods is on the last day of each month.
Party like a bunch of drunken rabbits, but please party responsibly.
Shown: Pre-Colombian statue of a smiling Ometochtli (“Two-Rabbit”), the God of Fermented Beverages shown in human form, with a rabbit design on his clothing.
National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico.
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