The Religion of the Aztecs
By:
Caitlin Brogan
Deirdre Wylie
Kathleen McGowan
Ryan McBride
A Brief Background
• Located in central
Mexico
• Empire spanned
from the
14th -16th
centuries
A Brief Background
• The Aztecs referred to
themselves as Mexica
• Tenochtitlan, the center of
their civilization, is modern
day Mexico City
• An Aztec myth states that
one of their gods,
Huitzilopochtli, told them to
settle on the site where they
witnessed an eagle on a
cactus devouring a serpent.
They named that land
Tenochtitlan.
A Brief Background
• Practiced a Mesoamerican religion which
served to:
-unify the people
-solve the mysteries of life
-maintain order
• Fall of empire marked by takeover of
Tenochtitlan by Spanish conquistadors in
1520s
A Syncretistic Religion
• Prior to the arrival of the conquistadors,
the empire was highly successful and
rapidly growing
• Success attributed to combining beliefs
and practices of conquered people into
one religion
• Practiced a syncretistic religion
Priestly Hierarchy
• Organized priestly hierarchy governed empire
• Priestly duties:
-ensure regularity of seasonal cycles
-servants to the deities
-rule over people
-conduct ritual ceremonies
-lead military
-govern schools
Priestly Hierarchy
• Levels of ascension: novice priests,
offering priests, fire priests, Quetzalcoatl,
and Tlatoani
• Tlatoani
-high priest with divine right
-head of the military
-people were not allowed to look him in
the eye
Priestly Hierarchy
• Quetzalcoatl was the title given to the two priests
who ranked below Tlatoani (not to be confused
with the god Quetzalcoatl)
-presided over shrines atop the Great
Temple
-only priests allowed to marry and have
families of their own
• Fire priests were the priests in charge of human
sacrifices
Beginning of human sacrificing
• Idea started because of belief in main sun
god Hulzilopochtli
– They believed that the sun god fought the
moon and star gods every night to bring life to
the earth so mankind could live
– Aztec people worshiped the sun god and felt
obligated to repay him for fighting their battle
by nourishing him
How to repay the Sun God
• They realized that they cannot nourish a
god on what mere mortals would eat.
• They came to the conclusion that the gods
must be nourished on what gives life,
which is blood.
Types of Sacrifices
• Varied according to:
– Specific god being nourished
– The celebration that was going on
Sacrifice by God
• 3 examples:
– Name unknown
• What was required?
– sacrifice was a mature woman from a noble family of Aztec
descent
– Sacrifice to Rain God Tlaloc
• What was required?
– The sacrifice of a child with two cowlicks in their hair
– Sacrifice to strengthen Sun God during eclipse
• What was required?
– The sacrifice of the blood and heart of an Albino
• (believed they were “full of light”)
Sacrifice by Celebration
• 2 important celebrations
– God’s Feast Day
• During this day the priests of the community would kill their
slaves for the gods
• done to try to sway the gods to provide the people with
sustenance
– O’Nothing Days
• During the night, priests would dress up as one of the
supreme gods
• would then wait on top of an extinct volcano and wait for the
evening star to reach the top of the sky
• The priest would then open the victim’s chest and light their
heart on fire
– while the heart was still beating they would tear the heart out of the
sacrifices body and put it in a bowl to offer to the gods
GODS
Gods
• The Aztecs believed in gods for different
situations
–
–
–
–
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Creation of their world
For fertility, regeneration
Death
War
Sacrificial nourishment of the sun
Categories of the Gods
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Nature gods
Gods of creation
Gods of excess
Gods of maize and fertility
Gods of death and the underworld
The trade gods
Hulzilopochtli
– Also known as hummingbird
– Most important god
– the patron god of the entire Aztec society
• “patron god” is believed to be one who the
Aztecs created their entire society around
• “patron god” is assumed to have created
their remote ancestors as well as assigned
the people their language, customs,
characteristics, and professions
• The god of war, sacrifice, and the sun
Tezcatlipocatl
• Also known as smoking mirror
• The shaman god
Quetzalcoatl
• also known as feathered serpent
• The god of life
Levels of the world
1. Human World
2. Upper World
3. Nether World
Upper World
• Inaccessible to humans
• Has 13 layers
• Also known as Tialocan
Human World
• Also known as the earth world
Nether World
• Has 9 layers
• Also known as Mictlan
• The life cycle consists of birth, life, death,
and rebirth.
• When someone dies they go to either to
Mictlan, Tialocan, or the sun
• Fallen warriors and women who died
during childbirth were thought to have their
souls “transform into hummingbirds that
would follow the sun on its journey
thorough the sky
• People that drowned went to Tialocan
• All others go to Mictlan
2 Types of Calendars
• Xiuhpohualli -Year Count
• Tonalpohualli - Day Count
Xiuhpohualli
• Xiuhpohualli – Year Count
• 365 day calendar that followed the
agricultural year.
• Consisted of 18 months with 20 days in
each
• 52 years
Tonalpohualli
• Tonalpohualli - Day Count
• 260 days
• Religious calendar
• A day consists of a number and a symbol. Each day sign
is dedicated to a god.
Festivals
• Each month had its own festival
• Each festival had its own deity that was
worshipped
• All of the festivals had agricultural themes
– Sowing, planting, and harvesting
Xiuhmolpilli
• Xiuhmolpilli
– To prevent the end of the world.
• Abstinence from work, fasting, ritual
cleansing, ritual bloodletting, destruction of
old household items and observance of
silence
Toxcatl
• Fifth twenty-day month
• Sacrifice of a young man
• Tezcatlipoca- God of God’s
References
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Beltran, A. (1961). The Ancient sun kingdoms of the americas. Cleveland & New York: The World
Publishing Company
Brundage, Burr Cartwright. (1983). The Fifth Sun: Aztec Gods, Aztec World. Austin:
University of Texas.
Carrasco, David (1998). Daily Life of the Aztecs: People of the Sun and Earth.
Greenwood Press, Connecticut
Davies, Nigel (1973) The Aztecs: A History. Macmillan.
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=aaa
European Voyages of Exploration: Aztec Empire. (2010, April 4). Home | University of Calgary.
Image posted on http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/ eurvoya/ aztec.html.
Introduction to the Aztec Calendar. (2010, April 9) Aztec Calendar: Today in the Tonalpohualli, the
Sacred Aztec Calendar of Mexico. http://www.azteccalendar.com/azteccalendar.html
Mexico Lock & Key. (2010, April 4) About Us. Image posted on http://mexico locknkey.com/AboutUs.html.
Moctezuma, E.M. (2002). Aztec. London: Royal Academy of Arts.
Smith, Michael Ernest. (1998). The Aztecs. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell.
The Aztec Gateway. (2010, April 9). http://www.amoxtli.org/.
Townsend, Richard F. (1992). The Aztecs. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd.
Vaillant, S.B. (1962). Aztecs of Mexico: Origin, rise and fall of the Aztec nation. Garden City, N.Y.:
Boubleday & Company, Inc.
Van Tuerenhout, Dirk (2005). The Aztecs: New Perspectives. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-Clio.