Meso-American Religion

The Aztecs

The Aztecs were influenced by the Toltecs to build their own civilization Were a great civilization with a population of about fifteen

million Were urban (not villagers)- living in the city of Tenochtitlan (like

the Yoruba in Ife)Now Mexico City

Their religion predates CatholicismCame to Mesoamerica with the Spaniards in the 16th century

Mesoamerica included most of present-day Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

Aztec God: Quetzalcoatl

Aka feathered serpent

Worshiped in the city of Teotihuacan

Creator & order-maker of universe

Aztec goddess: Tonantzin Mother goddessWorshipped at a

mountain outside Tenochtitlan

Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl The god’s earthly

devotee Ruled as priest-kingDisappeared but will

return one day

Important cities Tenochtitlan Aztec CapitalContained Great

Temple of Feathered Serpent

Axis Mundi for Aztecs

Now known as Mexico City

Teotihuacan Today known for its

monumental pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon

Located 30 miles northeast of the capital city

Place of origins The gods gathered here

to create the world

4 directions & the Axis MundiCenter of the universe=

axis mundi Has four quadrants

extending outward from the center connecting the earthly realm to the heavenly realm above and the underworld below

A cave was built in Teotihuacan representing the axis mundi

At the point where the four directions met stood the Great TempleKnown as Serpent

MountainA mountain usually

represents the axis mundi for primal traditions

The SunThe sun was created at

TeotihuacanThe sun has its own ageFour suns and their ages

had already been destroyed

The 5th sun, present sun, faces a similar fate The last that would ever

shine The only way of delaying

the end of the age was to nourish the sun continually through human sacrifice

Human nature Two divine forces nurtured

the human being with basic needs One concentrated in the

head Another in the heart

These two divine forces make each human being a sort of axis mundi- connecting the earthly realm to the divine

The human head and heart were regarded as potent nourishment for the sun and the cosmos itself

Rituals: human sacrifice

A warrior – wishing to offer himself as the sacrifice for the fragile cosmos He will enter the highest

heaven upon death the priest leads the ritual

The warrior has to lay on the sacrificial stone

The priest cuts open his breast, seized his heart, and raised it as an offering to the sun

The heart was offered as nourishment to the sun It possessed divine force

The head was offered to the sky

The body – was not rolled, was lowered by four men

This ritual was performed every 20 days

Victims – captive warriors Some victims were slaves-

rarely women and children

Language In addition to human

sacrifice, the Aztec culture provided its people with other means for fulfilling religious needs, such as language

The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl the Aztecs also favored wit

Employing riddles in their ordinary speaking

Knowing the answer to riddles meant that one came from a good familyExample: “What is that

which we enter in three places [and] leave by only one?

The Fall The fall of Tenochtitlan was

due to one of the Aztec myths The belief that Topiltzin

was going to return around 1519

Hernan Cortes arrived in Mesoamerica in 1519 wearing a feathered helmet

The Aztec king- known as Moctezuma II confused Hernan Cortes with Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl Welcomed him with gifts

Hernan Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan

The popular veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe began in 1531 when a dark-skinned apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to an Aztec convert to Catholicism named Juan Diego.

The hill on which she appeared was considered the sacred place of the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin

Mexican Indians today continue to refer to the Virgin Mary as Tonantzin

Dia de los MuertosThe popular Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead,

shows the survival of Aztec religious culture. This celebration joins the living and the dead through

rituals that are both festive and spiritually meaningful