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Aztec Religion
According to ancient Aztec religion, it took the gods 5 tries to create the world. These attempts were foiled
because of infighting among the gods themselves. After he was knocked from his exalted position by rivals,
the first creator, Tezcatlipoca, turned into a jaguar and destroyed the world. Under similar circumstances, the
world was created and then destroyed with wind, and then two floods.
Each time a creator-god would take a turn being the sun. Finally the gods had a council, and decided one of
them would have to sacrifice himself to be the new sun. Nanauatl, a lowly, humble god became the sun, but
there was a problem - he wasn't moving. The gods realized that they all must sacrifice themselves so that
humans could live. The god Ehecatl sacrificed the others, and a mighty wind arose to move the sun at last.
This was no free sacrifice, however. Not only would the people have to help this weak sun to keep moving,
they would also be responsible to repay the sacrifice. The world remained in a precarious position!
Once the sun was dealt with, the world had to be recreated. Quetzalcoatl (meaning feathered serpent) was
the one who would create humans. Of course, people had been created several times before, so Quetzalcoatl
descended into the underworld to retrieve their bones. He tripped as he fled, and the bones shattered into
different sized pieces, which is why people are all different sizes. By adding his own blood to the mix, people
came to life.
The Aztecs believed gods ruled all parts of life. Their gods’ powers could be seen in nature, such as in trees or
storms, and in great people, such as kings or ancestors.
The calendar and the sun
The ancient Aztec religion was highly focused on keeping nature in balance. One false
step could lead to natural disaster. The weak sun could stop moving. In the sky was a
constant battle between light and darkness, a battle that would someday be lost.
Aztecs made their greatest number of sacrifices to the war god Huitzilopochtli (weetsee-loh-POHCHT-lee) and the rain god Tlaloc (TLAH-lohk). The Aztecs believed the
former made the sun rise every day, and the latter made the rain fall. Without them,
their crops would die, and they would have no food.
Human Sacrifice
Human sacrifices were an important aspect of the Aztec religion. At the root of these Aztec rituals was the
belief that the gods needed to be nourished by human beings. This was accomplished through human blood. A
part of the Aztec religion, therefore, was to participate in bloodletting, which is intentionally harming and
drawing blood from the body. Those who were higher in status within the Aztec religion were expected to give
the most blood during these Aztec rituals.
The Aztec gods and goddesses also required the living hearts of humans for nourishment. All hearts were good,
but the bravest captives were considered to be particularly nourishing to the Aztec gods. As a result,
widespread warring took place as the Aztec people sought to bring captives back to the Aztec temples for
sacrifice.
Sometimes, those practicing the Aztec religion sacrificed just one person. At other times, hundreds or even
thousands of captives were sacrificed at a time. Each Aztec sacrifice, however, took place the same way. The
captive or captives were taken to a pyramid or temple and placed on an altar. The Aztec priest then made an
incision in the ribcage of the captive and removed the living heart. The heart was then burned and the corpse
was pushed down the steps of the Aztec pyramid or temple. If the captive was particularly noble or brave,
however, he was carried down instead.
In the case of an Aztec human sacrifice being performed for the god Huehueteotl, the ritual was slightly
changed. Huehueteotl was the Aztec god of warmth, death, and cold. He was responsible for light in the
darkness and for food during times of famine. As a part of the Aztec religion, special sacrifices were held for
Huehueteotl. The victim was first thrown into a fire, and then pulled back out with hooks before dying. The
living heart was then removed and thrown back to the fire. Aztec human sacrifices and bloodletting were
important aspects of the Aztec religion, as they believed it brought balance and peace to the world around
them.
Warriors were highly regarded in the Aztec culture. They were responsible for going out and finding and
capturing the majority of the sacrifices used to appease their gods. As a result, a special god was included in
the Aztec religion to honor the warriors. This god, Camaxtli, was the god of war, hunting, fire, and fate. He was
thought to have invented fire and to have made the Earth. The Aztecs believed that Camaxtli lead both
warriors slain in battle and human sacrifices to the eastern sky. According to the Aztec religion, they then
became stars in the sky.
The end
Every 52 years, the people were terrified that the world would end. All religious fires were extinguished,
people all over the empire would destroy their furniture and precious belongings and go into mourning. When
the constellation of the Pleiades appeared, the people would be assured that they were safe for another 52
years.
The world in ancient Aztec religion was divided up into 4 quadrants, and the center - their
city Tenochtitlán. The heavens were divided into 13 ascending layers, and the underworld 9 descending
layers. The heavens and underworld may be better described as wheels within wheels, a more common form
for the Aztecs than layers or lines. The temple in Tenochtitlán was also the place where the forces of heaven
and earth intersected.
Prophecies were a part of the ancient Aztec religion. Many scholars today believe that the Aztec people
thought that the conquerer Hernan Cortes was their god-hero Quetzalcoatl, who had been banished.
The afterlife of a person was based mostly on how they died. Some, such as those sacrificed to
Huitzilopochtli, would join the battle against the darkness. In ancient Aztec religion, some would eventually be
reincarnated as birds or butterflies, or eventually humans. Some would be, for a time, disembodied spirits
roaming the earth. Most at some point would have to make the long journey through the 9 levels of the
underworld. People would be buried in a squatting position, with items that would help them in their
journey. In the end they would live in darkness.
http://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-religion.html
http://mrgrayhistory.wikispaces.com/UNIT+9+-+AZTECS+%26+INCAS
http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-religion.html