Aztecs Cosmology

It was clear through the human sacrifice that the Aztecs practiced that they had no regard for the quality of human life and did it for the benefit of their society. First of all, they would kill thousands of people at a time, and then they ate the arms, thighs, and heads leaving the bodies to feed to the wild animals (Document G). This shows that the Aztecs did not care about the people that they were killing, only about sacrificing to the gods. Secondly, many say that the Aztecs sacrificed human beings for the sole purpose of pleasing the gods. In the eyes of the Aztec religion, if then gods were happy with the Aztecs, then that they would be blessed. It is clear the Aztecs sacrificed to make their civilization the most successful of their time. In contrast, it is also a popular belief that the reason for human sacrifice was for cannibalism. It is a possible that since they had no animals such as cattle or lamb, they had to resort to eating human beings (Document J). This theory demonstrates that the Aztecs valued the well- being of their society over human life. Regardless of what approach regarding human

The Aztec were a powerful group but did not have an imperialistic worldview like the Spanish. The Spanish expanded their empire and travelled across to the America’s. Here they explored and conquered many groups of people. As they fought the Spanish army grew with more slaves being taken in. This was very different from the Aztec people who fought only for control. They were not focused on expanding their religion and allowed conquered areas to keep their religion and way of life. They did not take slaves and used the captured men for human sacrifice. The Aztec thought that sacrifice would keep their gods happy and increased the amount of before they were conquered. Thus the Aztec worldview was based on religion and the gods. The Aztec and Spanish worldviews were different. The Aztec respected their gods and only conquered land to not be destroyed while the Spanish conquered land to expand their empire. These factors helped contribute to the fall of the powerful Aztec

Religiously, the two societies were very different. The Aztecs had hundreds of gods and goddesses although they praised their sun god, Huitzilopochtli, more than any other god. They Aztecs would sacrifice people (usually prisoners of war) to help give the sun energy to sustain its life. Many of the gods that the Aztecs worshipped were gods of agriculture because of how deeply their society relied on agriculture. The Mongols did not have as many gods as the Aztecs. The Mongols were very open with religion; they were much more tolerant than the Aztecs. Although when the Mongolian great leader, Genghis Khan, opened his mind to Shamanism, the rest of the Mongol society followed him although it was never mandatory to be Shamanistic.

The Aztecs and Mayans were similar in location. Both, civilizations were located in the modern day country of Mexico. Also, from the civilizations closest locations the two civilizations were less than fifty miles apart. Both, civilizations also bordered the Gulf of Mexico. The two civilizations were similar in religion. The Aztecs and Mayan religions were both polytheistic. Both, religions also had a supreme deity along with less important gods. They both also had cities with temples as shrines to their gods. The Mayan and Aztecs both also participated in human sacrifice in order to please their gods. The Aztecs and Mayans both believe in an afterlife, heaven or hell. The civilizations were also similar in their writing system. The Aztecs and Mayans both wrote in glyphs. Glyphs are picture that represent letters or words. Also, almost all written documents from both civilizations did not survive. Both civilizations also had a complex calendar. The two civilizations had the

Ancient Aztec religion was different interaction of gods, dates, directions and colors. The most preoccupation in the religion of the Aztecs had to do with fear of the nature, and a fear of the end of the world. The Aztec religions believed that it took five gods to create the world. According to the Aztecs the attempts were preventing because if the hidden conflict among the gods

The author argues that the Spanish were completely at fault for the total destruction of the Aztec Empire. In Broken spears, the author explains how many factors other than Spanish power contributed to the downfall of the Aztecs. Not only did the Spanish have many advantages over the Aztecs, but also they also exploited them and took advantage of the cultural difference. The main key aspects to the Spanish victory, is that the Spanish were viewed as gods at first because of their appearance, the Aztecs welcomed the Spanish with gifts and festivities, which showed the Spanish had total control of people. The Aztecs also held a ritual ceremony for the arrival of the “god” that included a human

The Aztec people felt very strong about their beliefs in gods and superstitions. Montecuhzoma the independent ruler of the Aztec empire swayed his people to believe in the power of gods and idols and live a spiritual life. This ultimately was a turning point for the Aztecs and is where the Spanish once again gained advantage over the Aztecs. While the Aztecs were faithful to their beliefs it made them powerless an easy take down. Superstitions played a huge factor in the Aztecs first encounter with the Spanish people. In 1519 when the Aztec people saw sight of something coming from a distance in the water, they believed it was Quetzalcoatl (Leon-Portilla, 18). Quetzalcoatl was a legend to them that promised to come back. Montecuhzoma misread the situation and sent messages and gifts in hopes that it sent a gesture to welcome the gods onto their land. This was a big mistake that Motecuhzoma made by opening his arms to the Spanish people upon their first encounter together (Leon-Portilla, 63). This is just one case where the Aztec people poorly used their judgement. However, Motecuhzoma did come to realize the behavior of the Spaniards or “Gods”. When the Spaniards held the gold given by the Aztecs their greed became noticed in the eyes of the Aztecs. The Natives described them as monkeys. They soon caught on that the Spaniards were not gods and heroes and more so barbarians

Aztec view of the afterlife and its significance was the driving force of their life. Aztecs strongly believed in an afterlife. The journey to the afterlife entailed many things. It was believed that the way you died decided how your afterlife would go, not the way you lived. If you didn’t die in the specific ways which sent you to specific gods, you would go through the nine levels hell; in the ninth you would serve for eternity. “They are not places of bliss or damnation, merely multiple levels of existence divided in purpose.”

How did Aztecs view the afterlife and its significance? What would one’s journey entail? Could you change your afterlife by living a certain way? The Aztecs strongly believed in an afterlife. It was believed that the way you died decided how your afterlife would go, not the way you lived. “They are not places of bliss or damnation, merely multiple levels of existence divided in purpose.” In a normal death, (specify normal), you would go through the nine levels hell; in the ninth you would (cease to exist?/ serve for eternity).

The Aztecs and Incas possessed different ideological and intellectual values or developments throughout their powers. For instance, an image of the Aztecs shows their practice of human sacrifice through a ceremony and the building of large temples to honor the gods (Fefferman, “Human Sacrifice Mendoza”). Ideology was a major interest of the Aztecs for they sacrificed themselves for their many deities and cared more about them, unlike the Incas who did not practice sacrifice for their gods. Aztec

Warriors and people that were sacrificed received great glory in the Aztec culture. The Aztec culture was full of human sacrifice and electing candidates for it. The Aztecs believed that depending on how the person died, that was how their afterlife would be like. If you were a warrior that died in battle or by sacrificing themselves, they were well respected and their afterlife was going to the East towards paradise, or joining the war God “Huitzilopochtli” in battle. Women who died in childbirth were also treated as courageous and respected.

The religion of the Aztec, including their beliefs, customs and religions, acted as a tremendous influence on their government, economy, and culture. Religion was the foundation for the infamous culture of the Aztec Civilization. Through ceremonies of sacrifice, and the infusion of cosmology into their religion, the Aztecs sculpted a culture unlike that of any other civilization, and left behind a legacy to be studied and admired for generations to come. Religion ultimately shaped the unique civilization of the Aztecs, through cultivating the general outlook and values of the Aztecs, expanding the empire, and influencing the architecture and layout of their city.

Graulich, walks his readers through the process and history of the Aztec religion. While describing their relation to the sun and moon, he addresses myths of the religion and their use of sacrifice, and cannibalism. He writes, “sacrifice was castigation, but also expiation, and it opened the way to a better hereafter.(Graulich pg.386)” This defines the Aztecs perception of their sacrifice rituals, it was not aimed for harm or punishment, but to immortalize the human soul. He also mentions the Aztec’s methods for capturing enemy’s soldiers, they are treated as if they are saved and are reworded by being sacrificed to the Aztec gods.

The Mayans religion consisted of many different aspects of nature, astronomy, and rituals. They also had a calendar that was and still is well known. They also had astronomical buildings that were used for their rituals. The Incan religion often involved human sacrifices, which damaged their population. The Aztecs were strictly focused on the god Huitzilopochtli, and everything they did was based around that.

The religion of the Aztecs was made up of mainly three gods: Huitzilopochtli, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl. Below these three main gods were four creating gods. Below these four gods were many other gods, however the most important were Tlaloc, the rain god, Chalchihuitlicue, the god of growth and Xipe, the god of spring. The main thing that captures the attention of Aztec religion is their human sacrifice made to the different gods. Although human sacrifice was practiced around Mesoamerica, the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice in a large scale never seen before to date. The idea of human sacrifice was that Gods gave things to humans like food, rain, wealth, and other goods only if they were given human beings in return. The Aztecs believed that the goods liked best the living hearths of sacrificed captives. If the captive was a well skilled soldier and very brave then the Gods would return better goods to his people. This idea lead to wars were the Aztecs fought with other indians and capture their bravest men for sacrifice. As we can imagine,