Cocijo

Principal Zapotec god of rain, lightning and storms.

Domains

• rain lightning
• storms clouds
• agricultural fertility

Powers

• Sends rain and lightning from the four cardinal directions
• Brings water that makes the maize grow

Epithets

• Cocijo latin · Cocijo · cultThe great rain-and-lightning god; the foremost Zapotec deity, who looses the four rainsJ. de Córdova, Vocabulario; colonial Oaxaca sources (secondary)
• Pitao Cocijo Zapotec · Pitao Cocijo · cultGreat Spirit/Breath Lightning - 'pitao' (pèe 'wind, vital force' + tào 'great') prefixed to the lightning-nameMarcus & Flannery, Zapotec Civilization (1996); Cordova, Vocabulario en lengua zapoteca (1578) (secondary)

Relations

• interpretatio: TlalocCocijo is the Zapotec member of the pan-Mesoamerican goggle-eyed rain-lightning storm-god complex of which Tlaloc is the Central-Mexican form (Zapotec cocijo natively means 'lightning', not a Nahuatl loan).Miller & Taube, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya (1993); Marcus & Flannery, Zapotec Civilization (1996) (secondary)
• interpretatio: ChaacCocijo and Chaac are co-members of the same areal rain-lightning storm-deity pattern, each a culturally distinct manifestation.Miller & Taube, An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya (1993) (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Córdova (1578); Monte Albán urns (primary)