The rabbit was the Aztecs’ favored creature of the hunt and was identified with the Chichimecs, the hunter-gatherers, and the patron hunting god, Mixcoatl, also known as the “cloud serpent”. The rabbit was also the ancient Mesoamerican symbol of the moon and is depicted in the art of Pre-Hispanic Central Mexico, Classic Mayan, and ceramic Mimbres art of the American southwest.
According to Miller and Taub, “In Postclassic Central Mexico, the rabbit was also closely identified with the intoxicating drink PULQUE. This association is well documented in the day name Tochtli, meaning rabbit in Nahuatl. The patron of Tochtli was MAYAHUEL, the goddess of MAGUEY [agave plant] and by extension its principle product, pulque. Moreover, the many PULQUE GODS were known collectively as the centzon totochtin, meaning 400 rabbits, or by the calendar name Ome Tochtli, or 2 Rabbit” (pg 142).
pulque: alcoholic beverage made from the fermented sap of the maguey (agave) plant
Nahuatl: 1. the Uto-Aztecan language of the Nahuatl 2. a member of a group of peoples native to southern Mexico and Central America, including the Aztecs
Rabbit vessel: Museo Nacional de Antropologia e Historia, Mexico City
(see Bibliography Category for references)