The gods, goddesses and religious calendar Aztec Religion The gods, goddesses and religious calendar By Brooke Houshar #8

Talocan is the home of the Aztec gods and goddesses. ~where human sacrafice & cerimonies r held

Gods and goddesses Xochipilli Huitzilopochtli Mictlantecuhtli Tlaloc Chicomecoatl Huitzilopochtli  Coatlicue Tezcatlipoca Xipe Totec

Huitzilopochtli God of war He is the main deity in Aztec religion ~called "Hummingbird on the Left", or "Left-Handed Hummingbird" ~Huitzilopochtli was a tribal god and a legendary wizard of the Aztecs. Originally he was of little importance to the Nahuas, but after the rise of the Aztecs, Tlacaelel redid their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as Quetzalcoatl, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca, making him a solar god. Through this, Huitzilopochtli replaced Nanahuatzin, the solar god from the Nahua legend. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in the form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive the cycle of 52 years, which was the basis of many Mesoamerican myths. While popular accounts claim it was necessary to have a daily sacrifice, sacrifices were only done on festive days. There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. ~Huitzilopochtli was a fierce god who used the “serpent of fire” (the sun’s rays), to destroy his enemy siblings, the moon and stars. So as the battles of day and night continued, the Mexica (Aztec people) recognized his victories over darkness with each new sunrise. However, to keep this warring god appeased in their behalf, they had to continually feed his insatiable appetite for the hearts of human sacrifices. This was believed to sustain him for each new day’s battle.  God of war He is the main deity in Aztec religion

Coatlicue She represents pain of life She wears a serpent skirt & heart necklace ~"The Mother of Gods", is the Aztec goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, "our grandmother", "the lady of the serpent".

Tezcatlipoca God of magic, war and death ~Has missing foot which was eaten by the earth monster as he dragged the earth from the waters before man was created. He's called 'smoking mirror' or the dark side of life. ~his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May.  festival featured the sacrifice of a young man who had been impersonating the deity for a full year. ~Toxcatl is a ritual as symbol of the change of season represented as the death and rebirth of Tezcatlipoca. He likens Toxcatl to its K'iche' Maya equivalent, the feast of Jun Raqan, which is the celebration of the new year. 

Xipe Totec The god spring, new life and suffering ~"our lord the flayed one" ~He had a temple called Yopico within the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. ~Representations of the god have been found as far away as Mayapan in the Yucatán Peninsula. The worship of Xipe Totec was common along the Gulf Coast during the Early Postclassic. The deity probably became an important Aztec god as a result of the Aztec conquest of the Gulf Coast in the middle of the fifteenth century. ~He wore a human skin. At his festival a prisoner was skinned alive and the skin was worn by priests to show new life bursting from the old. The god spring, new life and suffering

Xochipilli Prince of flowers, god of dawn, dance and love. ~His name contains the Nahuatl words xochitl ("flower") and pilli(either "prince" or "child"), and hence means "flower prince".  ~In the mid-19th century, a 16th-century Aztec statue of Xochipilli was unearthed on the side of the volcano Popocatépetl nearTlalmanalco. The statue is of a single figure seated upon a temple-like base. Both the statue and the base upon which it sits are covered in carvings of sacred and psychoactive organisms including mushrooms (Psilocybe aztecorum), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), Ololiúqui (Turbina corymbosa), sinicuichi (Heimia salicifolia), possibly cacahuaxochitl (Quararibea funebris), and one unidentified flower. The figure himself kneels on the base, head tilted up, eyes open, jaw tensed, with his mouth half open and his arms opened to the heavens. The statue is currently housed in the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City.

Mictlantecuhtli God of the dead ~Those who died of natural causes went to live with this god. On the way to him their skin was ripped off by a wind of knives; then they lived as skeletons. ~"Lord of Mictlan" ~Two life-size clay statues of Mictlantecuhtli were found marking the entrances to the House of Eagles to the north of the Great Temple ofTenochtitlan God of the dead

Tlaloc ~Recognized by his fangs and eye rings. Thought to be half human and half alligator. ~He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. He was associated with caves, springs and mountains. He is known for having demanded child sacrifices. ~In the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, one of the two shrines on top of the Great Temple was dedicated to Tlaloc. The High Priest who was in charge of the Tlaloc shrine was called "Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc Tlamacazqui". However the most important site of worship to Tlaloc was on the peak of Mount Tlaloc, a 4100 metres high mountain on the eastern rim of the Valley of Mexico. Here the Aztec ruler came and conducted important ceremonies once a year, and throughout the year pilgrims offered precious stones and figures at the shrine. God of rain

Chicomecoatl Goddess of maize (corn) ~"Seven snakes" or "the hairy one", which referred to the hairs on unshucked maize ~symbol being an ear of corn. ~Taller than the figure itself, the headdress is known as amacalli("paper house"); it is the most typical attribute of the corn goddess.  ~During Aztec religious rituals, actual "paper house" headdresses were elaborate constructions made of brightly colored stiff bark paper. They were worn by corn goddess impersonators. Goddess of maize (corn)

Human Sacrifice ~Human sacrifice was a very complex ritual. Every sacrifice had to be meticulously planned from the type of victim to specific ceremony needed for the god. The sacrificial victims were usually warriors but sometimes slaves, depending upon the god and needed ritual. The higher the rank of the warrior the better he is looked at as a sacrifice. The victim(s) would then take on the persona of the god he was to be sacrificed for. The victim(s) would be housed, fed, and dressed accordingly. This process could last up to a year. When the sacrificial day arrived, the victim(s) would participate in the specific ceremonies of the god. These ceremonies were used to exhaust the victim so that he would not struggle during the ceremony. Then five priests, known as the Tlenamacac, performed the sacrifice usually at the top of a pyramid. The victim would be laid upon the table, held down and then have his heart cut out.

Religious Calendar ~At the center of the Aztecs' calendar stone is the sun god, Tonatiuh. He is surrounded by symbols of the five world creations. The symbols of the 20 days of the solar month are on the stone. Also, eclipses of the sun were foretold by the calendar stone.

~Crocodile- 1 ~wind- 2 ~house- 3 ~lizard- 4 ~serpent- 5 ~death- 6 ~deer- 7 ~rabbit- 8 ~water- 9 ~dog- 10 ~monkey- 11 ~grass- 12 ~reed- 13 ~Jaguar- 14 ~eagle- 15 ~vulture- 16 ~movement- 17 ~flint- 18 ~rain- 19 ~flower- 20

Reading the Religious Calendar ~The Tonalpohualli was the most important Aztec calendar.  This 260-day calendar marked the dates when the Aztec ceremonies were to be held.  The Tonalpohualli consisted of 20-day periods each bearing the name of a different god.  Starting from the first day, the number one through thirteen was associated with each god day.  With 20 gods and 13 numbers, if run continually until a repeated god day and number would equal 260 days.  This would run in repetition every 260 days. ~The next calendar the Aztecs followed was the vague year calendar that consisted of a 365-day calendar broken up into 18 20-day months with five days left over.  The day god and number of the first day of the vague year named vague years.  So if the beginning of the vague year fell on day god 2 Reed, then that would be the name of the vague year. ~The calendar is best represented by two calendar wheels, one that lists each day god in the 260-day cycle and the other wheel shows each of the 365 vague year days.  Spun around together, it takes 52 years for a repeating of a vague year and day god together.  This 52-year cycle was important to the Aztecs as they revered as a time of change that could make the current events more or less difficult depending on the signifying god days and their correlation to other celestial events. ~the 260 day calendar moves to the right  ~the 365 day calendar moves to the left

The Sun and Moon Story Tecuciztecatl Nanauatzin Quetzacoatl The gods wanted to bring light to the world and they asked for a volunteer to become the sun. Not one, but two gods volunteered - the rich Tecuciztecatl and the poor Nanauatzin. At midnight, after five days of preparing to be sacrificed, they were taken to a terrible fire. Tecuciztecatl was told to throw himself into the flames. Four times he tried, but each time the flames drove him back. Then it was Nanauatzin's turn, and he rushed straight in. Tecuciztecatl tried again, and he followed Nanauatzin into the fire. In the morning, Nanauatzin rose and shone brightly in the sky. He was the sun. Then Tecuciztecatl appeared. He was the moon. To send them on their way, Quetzacoatl, the Wind God, blew hard until they moved through the heavens. Tecuciztecatl Nanauatzin Quetzacoatl

Quiz on Aztec Religion 

Credits http://www.questgarden.com/56/64/8/090108112907/index.htm http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/ http://wikis.lib.ncsu.edu/index.php/The_Aztec_Calendar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_calendar  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_religion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huitzilopochtli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coatlicue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxcatl  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tezcatlipoca http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xipe_Totec http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xochipilli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mictlantecuhtli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tlaloc http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/00.5.51 http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/calendar.html http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-calendar.html