400 Drunken Rabbits

If you happen to be a tequila aficionada like me you may find interest in the bizarre tale of 400 drunken rabbits from the ancient Aztec civilization.

Last week I wrote some posts about rabbits and hares and their relation to the occasion of Easter. While researching that topic I stumbled across some other crazy stuff about rabbits and hares in the process and the Aztec tale of 400 drunken rabbits was both interesting and bizarre.

Typical of many ancient civilizations, the Aztecs had a god for everything and one of them was Xochitl, the Goddess Of Flowers. One of the flowers was of the maguey, or agave plant, and from this plant was made 'pulque", which was used in many Aztec ceremonies due to it's intoxicating and mind altering qualities (think...tequila!!) 

Unfortunately, Xochitl gave too much pulque to the King Of Tula, who in a drunken frenzy, raped her, causing her to become the Goddess of Early Sexuality and Prostitution (harsh punishment for a victim of rape), and ultimately demonstrating to the Aztecs that intoxication was something to be strictly controlled.  

Enter a new Goddess in charge of pulque, Mayahuel, who along with her husband and the God Of Fermentation, Petacatl, had 400 children who, strangely, took the form of rabbits. Mayahuel fed her babies the pulque and such became the belief  of 400 drunken rabbits, with each higher number being a further state of intoxication until the infinity (which happened to be 400 to the Aztecs)

The goddess Mayahuel, mother of the 400 drunken rabbits

In other words, if you were as drunk as  2 rabbits, you may have had a bit of a buzz, and if you were as drunk as 400 rabbits, you were totally smashed! Some of the rabbits had specific names, like Tezcatzoncatl, who was known as Straw Mirror, as in, so drunk you could see as much as if you looked into a straw mirror (whoa!). 

There was also Macuil Tochtli, or 5 Rabbit, who was the God Of Hangovers, and Tequechmecauiani, or Hanging Rabbit, since some Aztecs became so drunk that they actually hung themselves. 

Tezcatzoncatl

Also interesting to note that getting intoxicated was strictly forbidden to youth and the penalty for being caught drunk was possibly strangulation. You'll never do that again!! Yikes!

So, the lesson in all of this might well be of finding some moderation, as in,  one or two rabbits strong is fine but anything after that and you could end up in big trouble!