The Aztec Gods and Goddesses

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.

Modern Mexican Folk Art depicting the Gods

 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.

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. 

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.

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. 

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 

XIUHTECUHTLI – God of Fire

MICTLANTECUHTLI –God of Death 

XILONEN – Goddess of young corn (replica)

XOCHIPILLI – God of music, flowers and spring

CHALCHIUHTLICUE –Goddess of  Rivers and Lakes

 XICAHUAZTLI – Sunbeam – the symbol of growth and fertility

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 1^st ) and all Souls Day (November 2^nd ). 

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.  

 

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