1. Meso-American Religion
The Aztecs

2. The Aztecs
were influenced by the Toltecs to build their own civilization
Were a great civilization with a population of about fifteen million
Were urban (not villagers)- living in the city of Tenochtitlan (like the Yoruba in Ife)
Now Mexico City
Their religion predates Catholicism
Came to Mesoamerica with the Spaniards in the 16th century
Mesoamerica included most of present-day Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica

3. Aztec God: Quetzalcoatl
Aka feathered serpent
Worshiped in the city of Teotihuacan
Creator & order- maker of universe

4. Aztec goddess: Tonantzin
Mother goddess
Worshipped at a mountain outside Tenochtitlan

5. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl
The god’s earthly devotee
Ruled as priest-king
Disappeared but will return one day

6. Important cities Aztec Capital
Teotihuacan
Today known for its monumental pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon
Located 30 miles northeast of the capital city
Place of origins
The gods gathered here to create the world
Tenochtitlan
Aztec Capital
Contained Great Temple of Feathered Serpent
Axis Mundi for Aztecs
Now known as Mexico City

7. 4 directions & the Axis Mundi
Center of the universe= axis mundi
Has four quadrants extending outward from the center connecting the earthly realm to the heavenly realm above and the underworld below
A cave was built in Teotihuacan representing the axis mundi
At the point where the four directions met stood the Great Temple
Known as Serpent Mountain
A mountain usually represents the axis mundi for primal traditions

8. The Sun The sun was created at Teotihuacan The sun has its own age
Four suns and their ages had already been destroyed
The 5th sun, present sun, faces a similar fate
The last that would ever shine
The only way of delaying the end of the age was to nourish the sun continually through human sacrifice

9. Human nature
Two divine forces nurtured the human being with basic needs
One concentrated in the head
Another in the heart
These two divine forces make each human being a sort of axis mundi- connecting the earthly realm to the divine
The human head and heart were regarded as potent nourishment for the sun and the cosmos itself

10. Rituals: human sacrifice
A warrior – wishing to offer himself as the sacrifice for the fragile cosmos
He will enter the highest heaven upon death
the priest leads the ritual
The warrior has to lay on the sacrificial stone
The priest cuts open his breast, seized his heart, and raised it as an offering to the sun
The heart was offered as nourishment to the sun
It possessed divine force
The head was offered to the sky
The body – was not rolled, was lowered by four men
This ritual was performed every 20 days
Victims – captive warriors
Some victims were slaves- rarely women and children

11. Language
In addition to human sacrifice, the Aztec culture provided its people with other means for fulfilling religious needs, such as language
The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl
the Aztecs also favored wit
Employing riddles in their ordinary speaking
Knowing the answer to riddles meant that one came from a good family
Example: “What is that which we enter in three places [and] leave by only one?

12. The Fall The fall of Tenochtitlan was due to one of the Aztec myths
The belief that Topiltzin was going to return around 1519
Hernan Cortes arrived in Mesoamerica in 1519 wearing a feathered helmet
The Aztec king- known as Moctezuma II confused Hernan Cortes with Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl
Welcomed him with gifts
Hernan Cortes destroyed Tenochtitlan

13. The popular veneration of the Virgin of Guadalupe began in when a dark-skinned apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to an Aztec convert to Catholicism named Juan Diego.
The hill on which she appeared was considered the sacred place of the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin
Mexican Indians today continue to refer to the Virgin Mary as Tonantzin

14. Dia de los Muertos
The popular Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, shows the survival of Aztec religious culture.
This celebration joins the living and the dead through rituals that are both festive and spiritually meaningful