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Aztec and Maya Religion
Question?
 What is the difference between
polytheism and monotheism?
Polytheism
 The belief in many gods
 Ancient Greeks
 Zeus- the God of Thunder
 Ancient Romans
 Mars- the God of War
Zeus- the king of
gods
Polytheism
 The Maya
 Chac- the God of Rain
 Native Americans
Spirituality and Nature
QUETZALCOATL
Feathered Serpent
Quetzalcoatl
 The Feather Serpent
 The of God of self-sacrifice, rebirth, human
subsistence (living)
 The God of the Aztec Priest
 Through Quetzalcoatl, Aztec priest were able to gain
knowledge and learning
 Opposed human sacrifice; preferred animal sacrifice
Quetzalcoatl
 Created humans

Named all of the
landmarks of the Earth

Discovered maize

Created fire

Established the
maguey culture -- octli
brewing and ceremonial
drunkenness
Tezcatlipoca
The Smoking Mirror
Tezcatlipoca
 The Smoking Mirror
 He was the god of the nocturnal sky,
god of the ancestral memory, god of
time, and god judgment
 Rival of Quetzalcoatl
The Aztec
 When the Aztecs
adopted the culture
of the Toltecs, they
made twin gods of
Tezcatlipoca and
Quetzalcoatl,
opposite and equal
Quetzalcoatl vs. Tezcatlipoca
Quetzalcoatl vs. Tezcatlipoca
 It is believed that the
Toltecs had a dualistic
belief system.
Quetzalcoatl's opposite
was Tezcatlipoca, who,
in one legend, sent
Quetzalcoatl into exile.
Alternatively, he left
willingly on a raft of
snakes, promising to
return.
the morning star
 One Aztec story claims
that Quetzalcoatl was
seduced by
Tezcatlipoca into
becoming drunk and
sleeping with a celibate
priestess, and then
burned himself to death
out of remorse. His
heart became the
morning star
Xolotl
 Quetzalcoatl was
often considered the
god of the morning
star, and his twin
brother Xolotl was
the evening star
(Venus).
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli
 As the morning star he
was known by the title
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli,
meaning "lord of the
star of the dawn." He
was known as the
inventor of books and
the calendar, the giver
of maize (corn) to
mankind, and
sometimes as a symbol
of death and
resurrection
Teotihuacán
Teotihuacán
 Teotihuacan was
dedicated to Tlaloc, the
water god, at the same
time Quetzalcoatl, as a
snake, was a
representation of the
fertility of the earth, and
it was subordinate to
Tlaloc. As the cult
evolved, it became
independent.
Teotihuacán
 The most elaborate
representations come from
the old Quetzalcoatl Temple
around 200 BC, which
shows a rattlesnake with the
long green feathers of the
quetzal.
Teotihuacán
 The snake represents the
earth and vegetation, but it
was in Teotihuacan (around
150 BC) where the snake
got the precious feathers of
the quetzal, as seen in the
Murals of the city. The most
elaborate representations
come from the old
Quetzalcoatl Temple around
200 BC, which shows a
rattlesnake with the long
green feathers of the
quetzal.
The Maya
 The Teotihuacán
influence took the
god to the Mayas,
who adopted him as
Kukulkán. The Maya
regarded him as a
being who would
transport the gods.
the fifth sun
 Usually, our current
time was considered
the fifth sun, the
previous four having
been destroyed by
flood, fire and the
like.
fifth-world
 Quetzalcoatl allegedly
went to Mictlan, the
underworld, and
created fifth-world
mankind from the bones
of the previous races
(with the help of
Chihuacoatl), using his
own blood, from a
wound in his penis, to
imbue the bones with
new life.
 Some scholars still
hold the view that
the fall of the Aztec
empire can in part
be attributed to
Montezuma's belief
in Cortes as the
returning
Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl/Cortes
 Most modern scholars
see the
"Quetzalcoatl/Cortes
myth" as one of many
myths about the
Spanish conquest
which have risen in the
early post-conquest
period
 Gave instruction of
music and dance

Cured eye ailments,
blindness, coughs, skin
afflictions; gave the
priests the practice of
curandero, the
diagnostic casting of
lots

Helped with fertility
problems

 Sired royal lineages

Established the
priesthood -- gave
proper instruction of
sacrifice and
created the
Tonalmatal

Domesticated
animals.
 Video of the Conquista
 http://www.youtube.com/watch
v=_YzZaLPxsig
 http://www.youtube.com/watch
v=O_99mcINufQ