Aztec belief

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The Aztecs were an ancient civilization that lived in Meso-America. They had a great variety of religious beliefs and also a large variety of gods that they believed in. The Aztecs worshiped these gods through many traditions including sacrifice and the construction of monuments. Teotihuacán is around 1800 years old and the first excavations began in 1905. The city consisted of a pyramid later dubbed as the Pyramid of the Sun by the Aztecs and was said to be created around 200 A.D. Teotihuacán at one time was the home of over 100,000 inhabitants being one of the largest city-states in existence of its time. Then, around 650 A.D. Teotihuacán collapsed. Evidence of a great fire concludes that it had a violent end. Around the ninth century, the first Aztecs decided to inhabit the city-state. They were a people with no advanced building tradition, so for them the sight of the great Pyramid of the Sun was awesome. They came to believe that such a building could only be created by gods and therefore named the city-state Teotihuacán: Place Where Men Become Gods. This monument became a base for many of their religious practices. The Aztecs were, unofficially, the first excavators of their own city. They recovered relics and symbols that they used in their capital. They wanted to justify their standings in the sacred world they lived in (De Lara 37-8).

Of the many Aztec beliefs and myths, one of the most prominent is that of the creation of existence. The Aztecs believed that in the beginning of time there was nothing at all, just a complete void. Then Ometeotl, the oldest of the gods was formed. Ometeotl was both man and woman and created him/herself because he/she could sustain life alone. Since Ometeotl created him/herself in a non-existent place, he/she was everything that existed. Ometeotl was the ultimate paradox because he/she was everything and all of their opposites: night, day, life, death, motion, stillness, etc. Since Ometeotl created him/herself, he/she was all powerful, with the ability to create and discontinue existence. Ometeotl gave birth to four offspring, which were also all one person known as Tezcatlipoca. The Tezcatlipocas existed for six hundred years before they began creation. Tezcatlipoca is in control of everything that has to do with the genesis of creation. They created the world and also the gods that rule it as well. They serve as guardians of humans that give both reward and punishment. To begin the process of creation, they made the god Tlaloc and his accompanying goddess, who were the gods of water. Tezcatlipoca then created Cipactli, a serpent who wanders in the void of existence. Everything that existed including our universe and any other universe existed within him. Anything beyond his body was nothing. His body was the line between existence and non-existence. Inside Cipactli’s head were 13 heavens. The earth was in the center of his body and nine underworlds extended down his tail. The Earth was believed to be only a vast disc surrounded by water in Cipactli’s body. They arrived at this reasoning because in the explorations of their ancestors, they discovered that if you traveled to the extreme of any direction you will find water. So they came to believe that the world was flat and surrounded by water. The earth is divided in to four quadrants and in the center of it is the navel where Ometeotl conveys great power. The first quadrant, the west, is where the sun rests and resides, this area is controlled by the god Quetzalcoatl, the keeper of wisdom. The east was ruled by Xipe-Totec, and was an ever changing climate. The east was difficult to get to because it was at the end of the earth and there were many perils that one had to cross. The Blue Tezcatlipoca controlled the land left of the west. The Blue Tezcatlipoca is known as the God That is Eaten, because the Sun sets in the underworld and stays in the realm of darkness where the moon and stars reign. The Sun has to fight through this realm in order to rise the next dawn and becomes the Eagle of Fire Bolts, which is a symbol of victory against the night. The north is ruled by Mictlantecuhtli. It is a cold and dry land. It is believed that when one dies, he goes straight there and from there begins his voyage to the afterlife. After they created these four quadrants Tezcatlipoca created the heavens. There are multiple layers to the heavens but the top level, called Omeyocán, is where Ometeotl resides. The underworld is in the tail of Cipactli. It is called Mictlán and consists of nine layers that the dead have to overcome. The final layer is called the extension of the Nine Waters and is the most dangerous and difficult layer. Only after they go through all of the perils of these nine layers may their souls rest and be cured of all corporal suffering (Huascar).

The Aztecs believed that the gods created the world at a time when nothing else existed. They also believed that the gods still maintain the life that exists, so they provide us with what we eat, drink, and any other necessities we need to live. They also believed the gods had the power to determine what was produced through their ability to provide rains and water. The Aztecs had an innumerable amount of gods they believed in. This was and is being discovered by years of archaeology on the site of Teotihuacán. All the works of art and other written works show that the gods had many different identities and were also believed to be ancestors of the Aztecs. The number of gods seemed to increase day by day, and the number of temples constructed to worship them increased as well (Pasztory 15-20).

The Aztecs were a civilization that practiced human sacrifice as well. They believed that they needed to sacrifice human blood in order to please the gods so that the gods would help their civilization thrive. The Aztecs would wage war on neighboring tribes in order to capture warriors from their tribes to offer as a sacrifice to the gods. They would sacrifice the victim on top of a high pyramid. There were all types of sacrifice rituals. There was one type of sacrifice for each god. For a sacrifice to the sun god, a priest would take a knife and cut out the heart from the rib cage of the victim. The Aztecs believed that in order for the sun to rise everyday, a certain amount of human hearts had to be sacrificed. For a sacrifice to the fertility god, the victim was tied to a post and shot full of arrows. They practiced human sacrifice in order to save their existence, or at least delay their extinction. In the Aztec religion, their belief was that the universe was created and destroyed four times before them. They were living in the fifth creation of the world and believed that there would be no sixth, meaning that they were the last to exist for all eternity (Hogg).

Like any other type of belief system, there were those who raised doubt questioning the creation of life, the gods, and the afterlife. Theological speculation seems to always coincide and develop with popular religion, no matter what religion. Questions arose on human understanding and the quest to find something on earth that would endure for all time. They wanted to find out that which they could not understand. They believed that the earth and our existence on it is merely a dream which we will eventually awaken from. Since they believed that they were only here on earth for a short time, they believed that life should be lived fully. They attempted to enjoy all of the pleasures of their short lives. They often descended, “…into the region of mystery…” through means of mushroom wine (Leon-Portilla 62-73).

The Aztec’s belief system and philosophies created precedence for many other civilizations to come. Their complex society and religious beliefs were well ahead of their times. Their ways of thinking provoked some of the greatest questions of man to date. Through their stories and religious practices we have come to know of these early thinkers. Their legacy is one to always be remembered.