Aztec Religion

The Aztecs were Mesoamerican people from the early centuries in the Americas. The home of the Aztecs was in the Valley of Mexico, they named it Tenochtitlan an island in Lake Texcoco. Before they got to Tenochtitlan, the Aztecs were from Aztlan led by chief man Tenoch. It was believed that “they were hated and rejected by all the surrounding inhabitants of the valley because they were uncivilized” (Aztec Culture). It was also believed that the chief Tenoch got a message from their God that said to lead his people to a place surrounded by Lake Texcoco and, where they saw an eagle eating a snake on a cactus that was their place for them to grow. During the next couple of years, the Aztec empire began growing into the greatest and most powerful tribe in Mexico. The Emperor who led them after Tenoch was Moctezuma II and it has also who led them to their downfall when the Spanish got to Tenochtitlan.

This was a new farming technique where they were able to grow corn, tomatoes, beans, squash and peppers. This gave the Aztecs a wonderful food supply, which helped the population of the Aztecs grow rapidly. Once the Aztecs started growing wealth through trade, they started using conquest to conquer other city-states and gain more wealth.

As in most ancient societies, religion played a big role in Aztec society when the Spaniards first arrived in Mexico. Tenochitlán had hundreds of temples and religious buildings devoted to 1000 gods. Their religious practices revolved around lavish ceremonies to communicate and appease the gods. Their most important ritual was offering human sacrifices for the god Huitziolopochiti, the sun god. They believed that when the sun set he had to fight the forces of evil to get to the next day. He needed human blood to give him strength for his daily

How did the entire Aztec population get wiped out? In theses two books I read, “Conquest of New Spain“ by Bernal Castillo and “Broken Spears” by Miguel Portilla, to piece together to form my own opinion of how a small group of Spaniards was able to completely take control of and completely wipe out the Aztec empire.

1.Aztecs believed in sacrificing humans. They believed that if they did not provide enough blood to the gods, the world would end. It is said that the gods when the world was being created that they cut parts of themselves in order to nourish the earth. Aztecs believed that because of their loss of blood they needed to be regiven it through sacrifices dedicated to them. They would sacrifice people every 20 days, which was an Aztec month. Aztecs thought everything is tonacayotl(spiritual flesh hood), which means everything in this world was created from the gods blood, limbs, and fingers. They would perform different sacrifices for different gods. For instance, the god Tezcatlipoca would have a young impersonator sacrificed to him in the month of Toxcatl, this impersonation was given food, women, and was treated like a celebrity. On the day he was killed he would run in the town playing the flute, then he would climb the temple and let the priests sacrifice him.

The Aztecs reigned from the twelfth century to the fifteenth century. Their fist city, the Aztec capital, was called Tenochtitlan. Tenochtitlan was the military power and was in charge of

The Aztec practiced a religion. Prophecies are apart of the Aztec. In fact, they believed in gods. By the way, they believe in 5 gods. However, Ehecatl is the wind god. Also, Tezcatllpoca is the god who turned into a jaguar. On the other hand, Nanauatl is the sun god. By the way, Huitzilop is the warrior sun. So then, Quetzalcoatl is the god that created humans. The Aztec religion is divided into 4 quadrants. In fact, they had ritual sacrifices.

But then, this is when the empire started to fall apart after many years. There are several reasons that it had happened. First, there are the sacrifice. The sacrifice wasted immense amount of resources, manpower, and livestock. This greatly damaged the Aztec empire’s social balance. Another reason that caused it to happen was smallpox, yellow fever, and those diseases that wiped out mass amount of Aztec people, greatly damaging the society and the Aztec empire’s defense system. Then comes the invasion of a Spanish conqueror called Cortes. He has advanced weapon like horses and guns. The Aztecs learned how the Spanish fought, and they tried to counter that fighting style, and it almost worked. But sadly, it didn’t. With the help of the smallpox plague and the allies of Cortes, Cortes was managed to defeat the Aztec quickly and easily despite being outnumbered. Soon, the Aztec were

The Aztec religion held a major influence on the Aztec society, whether it was cultural or political. The Aztec religion also held great significance to one’s life through the religious rituals which punctuated people’s lives. Due to this, the economy was well organised, due to the fact that they had a ruling class system system which was based on human ability and birth. The Aztec legal system and a strong moral code, which held great importance to families and community life within the Aztec empire.

When Cortes and his forces arrived in Central America they were warmly greeted and given splendid gifts. Cortes, a knowledgeable man, had great plans to defeat his enemies. He made allies and also used items brought from Spain. The Aztecs had a scheme to kill the Spaniards in their sleep until Cortes's mistress Mariana found out. They then began the attack that later turned out to start the war between the Aztecs and the Spaniards. Cortes found an effectual way to block all the exits to forbear every citizen in the region. Eventually the Aztecs surrendered and were conquered until the collapse of their empire. The Spaniards brought death to the region through diseases and war. Both the Spaniards and the Aztecs culture have a great affect on today’s traditions and customs in Mexico. Although this a tragic and horrific event which can never be change it has a big meaning of what people should learn about the past and cannot occur in the

The Aztec gods were very hungry. The people fed their gods to keep them happy. They fed their gods grain, goods and animals. People were also chosen to be a sacrifice. It was an honor to be given up to the gods. The aztecs spent countless hours making sure that their gods were all happy.

The Incas went to heaven if they were good but they went to the underworld if they lived a bad life. Mummies are sacred to the Incas. The Incas said corichaanh means golden temples. The Incas believed in an afterlife for their whole life. The Incas wrapped material around the dead people to make them mummies. The Incas brought gifts to the dead people so they can use the gift in the afterlife. When you went to the underworld for living a bad life you had to eat rocks. The Incas makes ahuaca man made. The Incas done and made sacrifices in the church rooms. Where they make the sacrifices the room is gold. The Incas temple rooms are made out of cuzco. Sapu acted like himself was a god. The gods believed in innaha pacha. The rest of the temple rooms were for the gods to use. Coricancha used to be the most important temple of them all. Most of the Incas worshiped their own gods. Inti was the most important god of all the gods. There was one more important god but she was the most important from the moon her name is mama quilla. The spanish tore down the coricancha temple. The priest of the temples were the most important to the Incas. The Incas thought that mountains were sacred to them. They had parades for the dead emperors. They keep servant to look out for the dead emperor's body. The incas celebrated every month and every

Religion necessitated the need for the Aztecs to go out and conquer surrounding peoples. They would need to sacrifice a human everyday to prevent the world from falling into darkness. Therefore, as to not run out of people, they used surrounding groups as a quarry for their religious practices, which gave a religious reason for conquer.

Some food the Aztecs ate included corn right of the cob, soup called pozole. The Aztecs also ate chillies, tomatoes, and limes, cashews, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peanuts and the best of them all chocolate. Their food also included beans and squash. Aztec food was a rich combination of food we eat today.

Religion was the foundation and the core factor for developing all elements of the Aztec society. War itself was considered an element of their faith, as it was seen an act that honored their Gods, and contributed to the honor and wealth of their community. Additionally, the Aztecs were polytheistic and believed in feeding the sun through that human sacrifice. In fact, they believed that human sacrifice was essential to the survival of their kind. Typically the Aztecs would obtain an individual for sacrifice through battle or capture a prisoner of war to fulfil this sacred duty.