In one of the two main Aztec calendars (the Tonalpohualli), Tezcatlipoca ruled the trecena 1 Ocelotl ("1 Jaguar"); he was also patron of the days with the name Acatl ("reed").

Similarities exist between Tezcatlipoca and the patron deity of the K'iche' Maya, Tohil, as described in the Popol Vuh.

These include: Few representations of Tezcatlipoca survive into the present day, due in large part to a significant portion of codices being destroyed by Catholic priests.

Simultaneously, some Aztec texts note that the darkness and omnipresence of Tezcatlipoca make him something akin to "invisible", thus direct representations of him are considered inadequate or even impossible.

[9] Mary Miller has posited that the combination of yellow and black might be a connection to the jaguar, with which Tezcatlipoca is associated.

He variably wore earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry, all rendered in precious materials like gold and jade.

Alternate translations for pitza make reference to blowing or playing instruments like the flute, which appear during the Tozcatl fest and may then have some relation with Tezcatlipoca himself.

[3][11] The ezpitzal is one or more streams of blood shown emanating from Tezcatlipoca's head, sometimes accompanied by the symbol for a flint knife or a heart.

[3] The frontispiece of the Codex Fejéváry-Mayer, one of the more well-known images from Aztec codices, features a god circumscribed in the 20 trecena, or day symbols, of the Tōnalpōhualli.

"[8] The figure is also shown with two unaltered feet, but does possess the white sandals, armbands, and adorned ears and head of Tezcatlipoca.

Finally, perhaps coincidentally, the figure is bounded on the left side by the symbols for acatl (reed) and tecpatl (flint knife), both of which are associated with Tezcatlipoca.

The page also features the ollin symbol, a trecena that additionally represented eras of time, including the five suns.

[17] Another common practice was to cover themselves in black soot or ground charcoal while they were involved in priestly activities at the temple or during rituals.

[18] They would also cover the sick and newly appointed king in a similar manner with a black ointment to encourage an association with the god.

[17] Several types of priests were dedicated to the service of Tezcatlipoca, one of them likely being the one Sahagún calls "huitznahuac teohua omacatl".

"On his installation", the new king fasted and meditated, "which included prayers in honor of Tezcatlipoca, the patron deity of the royal house".

The four Tezcatlipocas were the sons of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, lady and lord of the duality, and were the creators of all the other gods, as well as the world and all humanity.

Karl Taube and Mary Miller, specialists in Mesoamerican studies, write that, "More than anything Tezcatlipoca appears to be the embodiment of change through conflict.

His cult was associated with royalty, and was the subject of the most lengthy and reverent prayers in the rites of kingship, as well as being mentioned frequently in coronation speeches.

[24] Tezcatlipoca overthrew Quetzalcoatl, forcing him to send a great wind that devastated the world, and the people who survived were turned into monkeys.

Despite these references, Mary Miller states that the deity actually depicted in codex illustrations and the one more likely to be associated with the temascal is Tlazoteotl.

This individual was called the teixiptla or "deity impersonator" and was chosen to ceremonially represent the god to the Aztec people.

[26] The teixiptla was usually selected from among captive warriors, and the chosen individual was bathed and ceremoniously cleansed for the role that he was to undertake.

Benardino de Sahagún describes in the Florentine Codex how the teixiptla must possess certain physical qualities in order to be worthy of becoming Tezcatlipoca: For he who was chosen was of fair countenance, of good understanding and quick, clean body— slender like a reed; long and thin like a stout cane; well-built; not of overfed body, not corpulent, and neither very small nor exceedingly tall.

He who was thus, without flaw, who had no [bodily] defects, who had no blemishes, no moles, who had no lacerations or wrinkles on his body, they then looked well that he be taught to blow the flute ...[28]For the duration of Toxcatl's preparation, the teixiptla lived as a god would, wearing expensive jewelry and having eight attendants.

During the feast where he was worshipped as the deity he personified, he climbed the stairs to the top of the temple on his own where the priests seized him, a time in which he proceeded to symbolically crush "one by one the clay flutes on which he had played in his brief moment of glory", and then was sacrificed, his body being eaten later.

For Aztec nobility, this "patron deity" is fundamental in the social and natural phenomena justified by religion during this time.

[20] Utter respect from the highest position of Aztec nobility, the king, shown through the figurative and literal nakedness of his presence in front of Tezcatlipoca.

For I am blind, I am deaf, I am an imbecile, and in excrement, in filth hath my lifetime been ... Perhaps thou mistaketh me for another; perhaps thou seekest another in my stead[20] For kings, lords, priests, and citizens alike, the cyclical nature they observed every day and every year was portrayed not through science or philosophical debate, but utter reverence and respect for the spiritual beings they believed were the cause of these events.