A M E S OA M E R I C A N R E L I G I O N :
THE AZTECS AND THEIR LEGACY
By: Binta Traore, Eram Waseem,
and Suman Qaisar
INTRODUCTION
The Aztec tradition defies the common description of primal religious tradition
The Aztecs had a great population (about 15 million)
Many Aztecs were urban
Aztec religion emphasized the interrelationship between myth and ritual
Aztec religion was essential because it came before Catholicism
Aztec influence can still be seen today in some modern Mexican religious practices
THE AZTECS AND MESOAMERICAN CULTURE
Mesoamerica included most of present-day Mexico and extended downward to
present-day Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica
Native Americans arrived there about 20 000 years ago
This area has been home to Mesoamerican culture, which included civilizations such
as the Olmec, the Maya, the Toltec, and the Aztec
THE TOLTEC TRADITION: THE FOUNDATION OF AZTEC
RELIGION
The Aztecs migrated to the region from the northwest, and were latecomers to
Mesoamerica
There were already great cultural achievements by the time they arrived, which
offered the foundations for them to build their own civilization
The strongest influence was from the Toltecs
The Aztecs based their authority figures off of the Toltec god, Quetzalcoatl’s, earthly
devotee, Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl
Aztec children were taught to recite, “Truly with him it began, truly from him it flowed
out, from Quetzalcoatl–all art and knowledge” (quotes in Carrasco, Religions of
Mesoamerica, page 44)
TEOTIHUACAN: PLACE OF ORIGINS
Quetzalcoatl was worshipped in the city of Teotihuacan long before the rise of the
Toltecs
Today Teotihuacan is mainly known for its monumental Pyramid of the Sun and
Pyramid of the Moon
Teotihuacan is the most visited archaeological
site in the Americas
Teotihuacan is located 30 miles northeast of
Tenochtitlan (the capital city of the Aztecs)
Aztec myth identified Teotihuacan as the
origin of the entire cosmos, including space
and time
TEOTIHUACAN: PLACE OF ORIGINS
The myth goes as follows:
It is told that when yet [all] was in darkness, when yet no sun had shone and no dawn
had broken-it is said- the gods gathered themselves . . . There at Teotihuacan. They
spoke . . . :
“ . . . Who will take it upon himself to be sun, to bring the dawn?” (Sahagun,
Florentine Codex, book 7, part 8, page 4)
COSMOLOGY: TIME AND SPACE
The Aztec’s cosmology was thoroughly interrelated with their pessimistic view of time,
their perspective on the human condition, and their ritual of human sacrifice
AGE OF THE FIFTH SUN
The Aztecs believed the sun was created at Teotihuacan
They also believed that the present sun is the fifth sun. Four previous suns and their
ages had already been destroyed. The only way of delaying the end of the age was
to nourish the sun through human sacrifices.
This pessimism was enhanced by the belief that the fifth sun was the last that would
ever shine
Each of the five suns occupied its own cosmic location: the center, the west, the north,
the south, and the east (the fifth sun)
The Aztecs believed the universe was built around this structure of the center plus four
cardinal directions
patia
FOUR DIRECTIONS AND THE AXIS MUNDI
The Aztecs understood the spatial world as having four quadrants extending outward
from the center of the universe
These quadrants connected the earthly realm to the many-layered heavenly realm
above and the many-layered underworld below
Teotihuacan had been arranged that way, apparently with a cave as the original axis
mundi
The Aztecs designed Teotihuacan to be the center of their world. At the point where
the four directions met stood the Great Temple, known by the Aztecs as Serpent
Mountain
Worship at Serpent Mountain was devoted to a god of fertility and rain and to a
god of war and sacrifice
THE HUMAN ROLE IN SUSTAINING THE COSMOS
Aztecs see nature as connected to the super-natural
Earth: living
2 divine forces:
1.
Head
2.
Heart
They are nurtured by human beings with basic needs
Humans: seen as axis mundi (center of the world)
One reason for human sacrifice: Human body was nourishment for the sun and the cosmos
THE HUMAN ROLE IN SUSTAINING THE COSMOS
Different ways humans sustained the Cosmos
1. Sacred topography
2. Cosmology, divination and calendar
3. A pantheon (gods) of life-sustaining forces and divine beings
4. The preservation of nature through ritual and sacrifice
5. Earth's vegetation, plants and flowers
Ometecullis and
Omeciuatu
place the
human soul into
a lifeless skull
(Codex
fejerwaryMayer)
New fire is drilled
on a victim's chest
with a fire drill
(Cordex Borgia)
Tlazolteotl
(with flayed
skin) gives
birth to
Cinteotl
(Codex
Borbonicus)
THE RITUAL OF HUMAN
SACRIFICE
Aztecs believed they owed everything every thing to the gods
Sacrifices were made to increase food supplies or provide good weather through
divine means
As well as humans, animals were also sacrificed
Sacrifices: some Aztecs would cut themselves or execute other Aztecs or prisoners
from war
Ritual: The prisoner was pressurized into walking up the stairs of the temple. When
they got to the top, priests fell on them, put them on sacrificial stone and cut open
their stomach from the throat to the stomach. Then they would rip out their heart to
offer it to the gods. Then the bodies were either pushed down the stairs or the body
was lowered and four men carried it. When the body reached the bottom, the body
would be pulled apart or moved away depending on the ritual. The head was hung
on the skull rack.
THE RITUAL OF HUMAN SACRIFICE
Heart: gave a lot of divine force which was offered as food to the sun
Head: given to the sky
The warrior's willingness to be sacrificed: he has accepted his role in carrying the
delicate Cosmo and this role allows him to enter the highest heaven upon death
Sacrifices similar to this happened once every twenty days
Victims: became slaves (sometimes included women and children)
Human sacrifice was a means to please the gods and it helped the Aztecs avoid
disaster
A picture taken from the
Codex Mendoza,
created by native scribes for
the Spanish in 1541-1542,
showing a ritual Aztec
sacrifice.
THE MASTERY OF LANGUAGE
Being rich gave the Aztecs ways of carrying out religious needs
Spiritual forces were communicated through the comprehension of speech
"Knowers of things" could communicate with the gods and make contributions through
language which is another way of sacrificing
They can also make donations to the gods instead of sacrifice
The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl (nay'wah-tuhl) which is a language that is naturally
expressive
THE MASTERY OF LANGUAGE
It is capable of huge achievements in poetry and other types of speech
The Aztecs liked intelligence and jokes
They used riddles frequently while speaking
If you knew how to answer the riddle then they assume that you came from a good
family
Riddles:
○ What is it that is a small gourd bowl filled with popcorn?
○ What is that which we enter in three places and leave only by one?
Ancient literature of the
Mesoamerican religion
JAZAKALLAH FOR LISTENING
