Aztecs Religion

A Mesoamerican religion
Aztecs adopted into their own religious practice deities of other geographic regions or peoples. Therefore they had many gods.
These gods can be divided into 7 general categories:
Cultural gods
Nature gods
Gods of creation
Gods of excess
Gods of maize and fertility
Gods of Death and the Underworld
Trade gods
Important deities were Tlaloc the god of rain, Huitzilopochtli Patron god of the Mexica tribe, sun god and war god, Quetzalcoatl god of civilization and order, and Tezcatlipoca god of destiny and fortune.
Each of these gods had their own temples within the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan.
A common Aztec religious practice was the recreation of mythological events and living persons would impersonate specific deities and be revered as a god and often ritually sacrificed.

Religion and Society

Religion was part of all levels of Aztec society.
Throughout society, each level had their own rituals and deities.
The main responsibility of the priesthood was to make sure that the gods maintained their place in society. They made sure the gods were given offerings and sacrifices, and ceremonies were performed.
The natural 365 day calendar followed the agricultural year. Each 18 (20 day) month had its own religious ritual usually along an agricultural theme.
There were 5 supplementary unlucky days
The ritual calendar of 260 days ran parallel to the natural calendar. Each day was named after a weather condition, animal, plant or object with numbers 1-13. Hence 20 (13 day) months. Priests would interpret the signs and numbers determining the future success or failure of an event or its meaning. Events included births, deaths, marriages, departures and election of rulers.

Mythology and Ritual

According to legend, Huitzilpochtli had to kill his nephew, Cópil, and throw his heart on the lake. But, since Cópil was his relative, Huitzilpochtli decided to honor him, and caused cactus to grow over Cópil's heart which became a sacred place. Modern Mexico City is located here.

Death

The Aztec world consisted of three main parts: the earth world on which humans lived, an underworld which belonged to the dead and the upper plane in the sky.
The Aztec underworld was called Mictlan ("place of death").
The sky had 13 layers, the highest of which was called Omeyocan "place of duality".
Tlalocan, "The place of Tlaloc", a spring like place with abundant water where people who drowned had their afterlife.
For fallen warriors and women who died in childbirth, their souls would be transformed into hummingbirds that would follow the sun across the sky. Souls of people who had less glorious deaths would go to Mictlan.
Offerings were made to the dead 80 days after the funeral, then one, two, three, and four years later, after which all links between the dead and the living were severed.

Sacrifice

Death was a key element in the perpetuation of creation. Therefore gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves for life to continue.
The Aztec’s believed there had been Five suns or five worlds. The first four were destroyed.
Nanahuatzin, "the pimpled one", self sacrificed himself which caused a fifth and final sun to rise and the first humans were made out of maize dough
Human sacrifice among the Aztecs and in Mesoamerica was necessary for the continued existence of the world.
Gods were paid with offerings sacrifice - often offerings of food, flowers, effigies, animals. But the larger the thing required from the God the larger the sacrifice had to be, therefore the greatest sacrifice was one’s own blood and life.

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Aztecs Religion

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