AMERICAN AGAVE

AMERICAN AGAVE

LATIN NAME: AGAVE AMERICANA

MOTHERLAND: MEXICO

Goddess Mayahuel

American agave, which can be confused with its sibling Agave Tequilana used in the production of tequila, is actually used in the production of a similar liquor called Tehkeela.

In general, agave plants have been accepted as the earthly image of Mayahuel, the goddess of fertility and motherhood, especially for the Aztecs, the ancient civilizations of Mexico, their homeland.

Mayahuel is depicted as a woman with 400 breasts breastfeeding 400 drunken rabbits, the gods of drunkenness.

According to Aztec mythology, when the world was first created, they believed that there was an evil goddess named Tzintzimitl in the sky who swallowed the light on Earth, leaving people in darkness and demanding human sacrifice for light. Described as a feathered serpent and living on earth with humans, the God Quetzalcoatl decides to change this situation and kills Tzintzimitl and ascends to the sky to give light to humans, but he cannot find Tzintzimitl and in the meantime, he meets his granddaughter, the goddess of fertility Mayahuel, and falls in love with her. When he falls in love, he gives up killing Tzintzimitl and brings Mayahuel down to earth to live together. The goddess Tzintzimitl, who does not accept this situation, descends to earth and kills Mayahuel, and Quetzalcoatl kills Tzintzimitl, both avenging Muyahuel and returning light to humans.
The other gods, who are saddened by the situation of Quetzlocatl, who cries at Mayahuel's grave every night, decide to do something and grow a plant from Mayahuel's grave. They add a hallucinogenic essence to this plant so that Quetzlocatl can forget his pain when he drinks it.

The sap of the agave plant was considered a sacred gift from the gods by the Aztecs, but due to its intoxicating properties, its consumption by humans was restricted and controlled. Only the elderly, the sick, and women were allowed to consume more than normal people on special occasions. This is the first known practice of restricting alcohol consumption in history.

Since the goddess Mayahuel's children, the gods of drunkenness, suckled rabbits called Centzon Totochtin, it is thought that this drink was Pulque or Mezcal, a type of fermented milk-like drink traditionally produced from the agave plant in some parts of Mexico today.

The tequila drink we know today was obtained in the 15th century in the town of Tequila near Guadalajara, Mexico, when the unfermented Pulque extract obtained from the agave tequilana species was distilled by the Spanish.