Gods and Goddesses played a major role in the everyday life
of the ancient Aztec culture.
The Aztecs worshiped many gods and goddesses, each one of
whom ruled one or more human activities or aspects of nature. Notorious for
their sacrifices and rituals, the Aztecs had an overpowering belief that the
world would end if their gods were not appeased. But their world did end in
1521 at the hands of the Spanish and their different gods. Unable to withstand
the Spanish assault and plagued by the foreign diseases Tenochtitlan fell to ruins and Christianity
toppled the Aztec gods.
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Modern Mexican Folk Art depicting the Gods
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The Aztec civilization worshiped hundreds of gods and
goddesses and religion was extremely important in Aztec life. Many of their
gods were agricultural, since the culture relied heavily on farming. As a farming people, the Aztec knew the forces
of nature and worshiped them as gods. Most important was their sun god,
Huitzilopochtli. But the essentials of nature, heroes, and ancestors were also sacred.
The Aztecs believed that the stability of the natural environment and the
destiny of humankind depended on these gods, some of whom were kind and
compassionate, but others who were voracious and terrifying.
The Aztecs believed that the power of their gods and
goddesses should be worshiped and thanks given to them, in the form of gifts and
sacrifices. They built monumental ceremonial centers and practiced many
religious rites, many of which involved brutal human sacrifice and the ritual
of bearing intense physical pain, which believers inflicted on themselves.
The Aztecs focus on human sacrifice was established around
the world of the Fifth Sun. The previous four suns had been destroyed and
legend has it that the gods sacrificed themselves to ensure that the new fifth
sun had enough energy to travel across the sky emitting life giving warmth and
light. But its continued existence relied on the human sacrifice of mortals.
The gods had sacrificed themselves to create the world and their blood had been
given to humans. To ensure that all aspects of life continued people needed to
sacrifice their own kind to the gods. Animal sacrifices were not enough.
Sacrifice was accepted and embraced by most as a part of life. The most honorable means of death was to be sacrificed or to be killed in battle
because a better rebirth was promised to anyone who
perished in this way. Different
ceremonies required different numbers of victims and different deaths.
Sometimes one, sometimes thousands would be sacrificed.
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| The importance of the heart as a sacrificial offering is
represented in this greenstone carving of a heart. Greenstone was thought to
contain the essence of life just as sacrificial hearts provided sustenance for
the gods. | |
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| The sacrificial victim was bent backwards over this sacrificial
stone to stretch their abdomen and make it easier for the priest to cut out the
heart. |
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The Aztec priests used flint knives, often adorned with
faces to cut open sacrificial victims and remove their hearts. |
One key feature of Aztec ritual was the impersonation of the
gods by priests who would dress up to resemble a specific deity. The
impersonators were called "ixiptlatli" and were revered as physical
manifestations of the god prior to been sacrificed himself.
But Aztec life was not only about war death and sacrifice.
The people also enjoyed music, poetry and dance. Life was centered around bustling markets
where people would gather to trade, gossip and catch up with other socially.
Goods were bartered and haggling was common. Trade was the center of the Aztec
economy and anyone cheating or thieving were severely punished.
The gods were even responsible for the establishment of the
new Aztec civilization. The Aztecs were landless people until they founded Tenochtitlan (now Mexico
City) in 1325.
The Aztecs were comprised of various groups who arrived from the north
into the Anahuac Valley
around Lake Texcoco. Legend has it that they were
guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, meaning "Hummingbird from the
South." On an island in the middle
of Lake Texcoco the Aztecs saw an eagle perched
on a
prickly pear cactus, holding a rattlesnake in its talons. This fulfilled an ancient prophecy
and the Aztecs set about and built their city Tenochtitlan
where they saw the vision, by constructing an artificial island which today is
in the center of Mexico City.
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| This legendary vision is
pictured on the Coats of Arms of Mexico. |
The Aztecs had a very elaborate tribute system where the
commoners were expected to offer labor (including public works and military
service), crops, craftwork and luxury items to the royals and nobles of the
city. The Aztec demands were stifling and this lead to much resentment,
especially when children were taken for sacrifice. But the many rebellions were
crushed. When the Spaniards arrived they capitalized on this bad blood and used
it to their advantage to overcome the Aztecs.
Following are some of the Aztec gods on display at the
Australia Museum. The full list of the Aztec gods
can be found in
Wikipedia
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| XIUHTECUHTLI – God of Fire |
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| MICTLANTECUHTLI –God of Death | | | |
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| XILONEN – Goddess of young corn (replica) | | |
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| XOCHIPILLI – God of music, flowers and spring |
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| CHALCHIUHTLICUE –Goddess of
Rivers and Lakes |
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| XICAHUAZTLI – Sunbeam – the symbol of growth and fertility |
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| A Sculptured Gatekeeper who stood atop the stairways of
temples allowing only priests and nobles into the upper shrines. |
Yet today traces of the Aztec civilization are alive still
in Mexico
- in the ruins, in the Aztec descendants, in art work, in Mexican handcrafts and folk art, in Milagros, in certain foods and most of all in
the national identity. Aztec rituals merged with those of Christianity and
superstition still reigns. This is seen in the many Mexican festivals such as
the Day of the Dead where Mexicans set up altars to remember friends and family
who have died. This festival blends both
Catholic and Aztec rituals and grew from celebrations dedicated to
Mictecacihuati, goddess of death. Catholics all over the world have adopted All
Saints Day (November 1st ) and all Souls Day (November 2nd ).
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| Altar for the Day of the Dead |
Another example of ancient Aztec practices still being alive
are seen in
Milagros or "miracles"' which are similar to
Aztec jewelry. Milagros are small metal religious
good luck charms found
in many areas of Latin America, especially Mexico and Peru as well as Europe,
where they are often referred to as Exvotos (Offerings). These small charms
usually depict arms, legs, praying people, farm animals and a wide range of
other subjects and represent the cultures that produce them.
They are nailed or pinned to crosses or
wooden statues of various saints like the Virgin Mary or Christ, sacred
objects, saint statues, or hung with little red ribbons or threads from altars
and shrines.
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| Milagros |
They are also carried for
protection and good luck. Typically,
a believer will make a vow to a saint or to a sacred object, and later they
will make a pilgrimage to the site of a shrine or church and take a Milagro
there and leave it as a sign of gratitude and devotion
. In Mexico, the use of Milagros is
connected with an institution known as the “manda”. This where a person will
ask a favor of a saint, and then, in order to repay the saint after the favor
has been granted, one must make a pilgrimage to the shrine of that saint, and
take a Milagros and leave it there. These Milagros are typically pinned to some
object of devotion in the shrine, and often a small prayer of thanks is added,
written on a piece of paper.
These current religious rituals date back to the
spiritual culture of the Aztecs with the Aztec gods and goddesses being
replaced by saints and other aspects of the Catholic ceremony
