Religion occupied a huge place in Aztec society. The Aztecs had a whole pantheon of gods, each of whom ruled a certain area of people's lives. But most of them were united by bloodthirstiness. Our review contains 15 facts about the most significant representatives of the Aztec divine pantheon
1. Number of gods
There were more than a hundred gods in the Aztec pantheon. Some gods also had several names, and depending on the name used, the essence of the mentioned god itself changed. The gods of the Aztecs sometimes illuminated the most incredible manifestations of the universe and civilization.
2. Duplicity
Many Aztec gods had two faces. Two-facedness, as a rule, meant a tendency towards good and evil. The nature of such deities could change depending on the situation. It is also curious that duplicity was commanded by a separate god - Ometeotl.
3. Gender “discrimination”
In Aztec mythology there are both male and female gods (at least to the extent that the concept of gender can be applied to a deity). However, men accounted for two-thirds of the pantheon, while women occupied only a third.
4. Bloodlust
The Aztecs, as the creators of one of the most recognizable civilizations on earth, had a very bloodthirsty pantheon. Many religious rituals demanded human sacrifices. Sacrifices to the gods were carried out by priests in the pyramids of the sun and moon.
5. Xipe Totec
The god of agriculture, seasons, and jewelry, Xipe Totec, according to belief, sent diseases and bad weather to people. He was one of the most "bloodthirsty". During sacrifices in his honor, the priests performed a ritual dance wearing the skin removed from the victims.
6. Tlaloc - god-jar
The god of rain and agriculture, Tlaloc, was considered one of the most trustworthy. Sometimes he was depicted as a jug. It was believed that he sent hail, frosts, floods, as well as gout and rheumatism. It is curious that those who drowned or died of gout went to Tlaloc's paradise.
7. Camashtli
God Camashtli commanded war and fire. He was as much a bully and destroyer as his European pagan brethren. It is curious that Camashtli was revered as one of the creators of the world. He also took warriors who fell in battle to heaven, where they became stars.
8. God Huitzilopochtli and the severed head
The god Huitzilopochtli also commanded war. According to legend, while still in his mother’s womb, he learned that his sister wanted him dead. Then Huitzilopochtli jumped out of the womb in military garb, cut off his sister's head and slaughtered 400 of his brothers. After that, he threw the remains of his relatives into the sky. The sister's head became the moon, and the dead brothers became stars.
9. Aztec prophecy on a modern flag
The flag of Mexico is an image of the prophecy of the god Huitzilopochtli, who commanded people who were looking for land to live in to find an eagle sitting in a rocky place on top of a nopal cactus and devouring a snake. This is exactly what is depicted on the flag.
10. Homeless God
Ometecuhtli was the only god of the Aztec pantheon to whom no temples were dedicated. This god commanded life itself, and therefore, according to the beliefs of the Aztecs, he was everywhere and did not need a “point of connection.”
11. Trade union of prostitutes
The goddess Shochiquetzal commanded flowers, artists, love and protected women of the most ancient profession.
12. God of Puppets
The Aztecs believed that people on Earth were created and destroyed by a higher power three times in a row. God Quetzalcoatl was the one who created people for the fourth and last time (on this moment) from their own bones.
The Aztecs also had their own Adam and Eve - Ochomoco and Zipactonal. They had a son named Piltsintekahtli, who married Xochiquetzal. Ochomoco was also the goddess of astrology, the night and the calendar among the Aztecs.
14. Supreme God
Each Aztec god was responsible for a specific area human life. But there was also a higher deity - the god of fire Haehaeteotli. During the holidays in his honor, all wars stopped. As a sacrifice, people who were decided to be sacrificed had their hearts cut out and burned on coals. The Aztecs believed that in this way they could return the favor of God.
15. Cycle of life
Unlike most other religions, the Aztecs believed that their gods were mortal. The problem of the mortality of gods in the beliefs of the Aztecs, however, boiled down to the fact that, despite the finiteness of existence, they were reborn many times.
The world is full of mysteries. In Laos, for example, there is. The jars scattered throughout the valley are believed to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old.
« Aztec Gods similar to other gods of the Mesoamerican region. According to legend, the homeland of the ancients Aztec Gods are, hitherto undiscovered by archaeologists, the Seven Caves of Chicomostoc. The legendary city of Aztlan also appears in Aztec myths and is considered the ancestral home of the Aztec people."
The main pantheon of Aztec gods: Camaxtli Aztec God of the stars, the polar star, hunting, war, clouds and fate. With the help of the firmament, Camashtli kindled the first fire for people. Camashtli is one of the four gods who created the world. Mictlantecuhtli Lord kingdom of the dead. Among the Aztecs, Mictlantecuhtli was a god the afterlife, hell. Mictlantecuhtli was depicted as a skeleton or with a bare skull with protruding teeth. He was always accompanied by an owl, a bat and a spider. His wife is Mictlancihuatl. Huitzilopochtli Was the God of the Aztecs. Huitzilopochtli promised them that he would lead them to a blessed place where they would become chosen people for him. This happened under the leader Tenoche. Xipe Totec Among the Aztecs - a God associated with the ancient deities of spring vegetation and sowing, the patron of goldsmiths. Xipe Totec - God of agriculture, spring, seasons. There were other Aztec Gods. The list of them is very long. One Aztec deity can have several names. It is worth listing a few of these Gods: Quetzalcoatlus Known as Kukulkan, feathered serpent is a symbol of the great spiritual Mesoamerican culture, widely represented in art and iconography ancient civilization Aztecs. Tezcatlipoca Lord of the night sky among the Aztecs, god of war, sky and earth, God of ancestral memory, God of time, antagonist of Quetzalcoatl. Tlaloc Supreme God of rain, earthly fertility and water. The Indians feared Tlaloc's wrath. When Tlaloc was angry, he sent hail, thunder and lightning.
Aztec rulers:
Complete list of all Aztec rulers: Acamapichtli Reign: 1371/6 - 1396 Wiliciliputl Reign: 1396 - 1414 Chimalpop bye Reign: 1414 - 1428 Itzcoatl Years of reign: 1428 - 1440 Montezuma I Reign: 1440 - 1469 Axayacatl Years of reign: 1469 - 1481 Vise Reign: 1481 - 1486 Ahuizotl Reign: 1486-1502 Montezuma II Reign: 1502 - 1520 Cuitlahuac Years of reign: 1476 - 1520. Cuauhtemoc Reign: 1520 - 1521 Aztec folk hero: Nezahualcoyotl Reign of Nezahualcoyotl: (April 28, 1402 – June 4, 1472) - philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler of Tlatoani, the pre-Columbian city-state of Texcoco in Mexico.
Head of a deity from Copan, 9th century
Mayan mythology. Among the Mayan people, knowledge and religion were inseparable from one another and constituted a single worldview, which was reflected in their art. Ideas about the diversity of the surrounding world were personified in the images of numerous deities, which can be combined into several main groups corresponding to different spheres of human experience: gods of hunting, gods of fertility, gods of various elements, gods of heavenly bodies, gods of war, gods of death, and so on. IN different periods Mayan history, certain gods could have different significance for their admirers. The Mayans believed that the universe consisted of 13 heavens and 9 underworlds. In the center of the earth there was a tree that passed through all the celestial spheres.
On each of the four sides of the earth there was another tree, symbolizing the cardinal points - a red tree corresponded to the east, a yellow tree to the south, a black tree to the west, and a white tree to the north. Each side of the world had several gods (wind, rain and heaven holders) who had a corresponding color. One of the important gods of the Mayans classical period was the god of corn, represented in the form young man with a high headdress.
By the time the Spaniards arrived, another important deity was Itzamna, represented as an old man with a hooked nose and a goatee. As a rule, images of Mayan deities included a variety of symbolism, indicating the complexity of the thinking of the customers and performers of sculptures, reliefs or drawings. So, the sun god had large crooked fangs, his mouth was outlined by a strip of circles. The eyes and mouth of the other deity are depicted as coiled snakes, etc. Among the female deities, especially significant, judging by the codes, was the “red goddess,” the wife of the rain god; she was painted with a snake on her head and with the paws of some kind of predator instead of legs. Itzamna's wife was the moon goddess Ish-Chel; it was believed to help with childbirth, weaving and medicine.
Some Mayan gods were represented in the form of animals or birds: jaguar, eagle. During the Toltec period of Mayan history, the veneration of deities of Central Mexican origin spread among them. One of the most respected gods of this kind was Kukulkan, in whose image elements of the god Quetzalcoatl of the Nahua people are clear.
Currently, most scientists accept and recognize the following Mayan mythological deities: the god of rain and lightning - Chaak (Chaak or Chac); god of death and lord world of the dead– Ah Puch; god of death - Kimi (Cimi); lord of the sky - Itzamna; god of trade - Ek Chuah; goddess of sacrifices and ritual suicides - Ish-Tab (IxTab); goddess of the rainbow and moonlight– Ish-Chel (IxChel); the riding god, the feathered serpent of Quetzal - Kukulkan (Gukumatz); god of corn and forests - Jum Kaash; god of fire and thunder – Huracan; demon of the underworld – Zipacna and others. An example of Mayan mythology of the pre-Hispanic period is provided by the epic of one of the peoples of Guatemala, the Quiche, “Popol Vuh”, preserved from colonial times. It contains stories of the creation of the world and people, the origin of the twin heroes, their struggle with the underground rulers, etc.
Mayan hieroglyphs, bas-relief, 10th century
The veneration of deities among the Mayans was expressed in complex rituals, part of which were sacrifices (including human ones) and playing ball. Chichen Itza had a ball court, the largest in all of Mexico. It was closed on two sides by walls, and on two more by temples. The game of ball was not just a sporting competition. Many archaeological discoveries indicate that it was clearly associated with human sacrifice. On the walls enclosing the site, beheaded people are depicted in relief. There are three platforms around the site: the Venus (Quetzalcoatl) platform with the tomb of Chac-Mool, the Eagle and Jaguar platform with the Jaguar Temple, and the Skulls platform. Huge statues of Chak-Mool depict him reclining, with a sacrificial dish on his stomach. On the platform of the Skulls there were stakes on which the severed heads of the victims were strung.
Mayan writing. It has long been believed that the Mayans were the inventors of writing and the calendar system. However, after similar but older signs were found in places farther away from the Maya region, it became apparent that the Mayans had inherited some elements from earlier cultures. Mayan writing was of the hieroglyphic type. Mayan hieroglyphs have been preserved in four manuscripts (the so-called Mayan codes, three in Dresden, Madrid, Paris, the fourth codex has been partially preserved).
The hieroglyphs either give images of figures, or are combined in groups of four or six hieroglyphs above the figured images. Calendar signs and numbers accompany the entire text. Schellgas (in “Zeitschrift fuer Ethnologie”, 1886) and Seler (in “Verhandlungen der Berliner Anthropologischen Gesellschaft” and in “Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie”, 1887) did a lot to analyze hieroglyphs. The latter proved that groups of hieroglyphs are composed of one hieroglyph relating to the action depicted in the picture below them, another hieroglyphically signifying the corresponding god, and two more indicating the attributes of the god. The hieroglyphs themselves are not compounds of elements representing a known sound or sound combination, but almost exclusively ideograms. Paul Schellgas systematized the images of Mayan deities in three codes: Dresden, Madrid and Paris. Shellgas's list of deities consists of fifteen Mayan gods. He identified most of the hieroglyphs directly related to these deities and denoting their names and epithets.
As a rule, the texts ran parallel to the graphic depiction of the plot. With the help of writing, the Mayans could record long texts of various contents. Thanks to the efforts of several generations of researchers, it became possible to read ancient texts. A significant contribution was made by our compatriot, Yuri Valentinovich Knorozov, whose first publications on this topic appeared in the early 1950s. He published the monograph “The Writing of the Maya Indians.” It reproduced in facsimile the texts of the surviving Mayan manuscripts (codes), compiled, perhaps, even before the Spanish Conquest, in the 12th-15th centuries and named after the cities in which they are now stored - Dresden, Madrid and Paris. The book also outlined the principles of decipherment, a catalog of hieroglyphs, a dictionary of the language of the Yucatan Maya of the early colonial period, and a grammar of the Mayan language. In 1975, in the book “Hieroglyphic Mayan Manuscripts,” Knorozov proposed reading the manuscripts and their translations into Russian. The texts of the codes turned out to be a kind of manual for priests with a list of rituals, sacrifices and predictions that related to different types of Mayan economy and to all social strata of the population, except for slaves. Brief descriptions of the gods' activities served as instructions on what to do for the corresponding groups of inhabitants. In turn, the priests, guided by descriptions of the actions of the deities, could set the time for rituals, sacrifices, and the implementation of certain works; they could also predict the future.
Drawing on the skin of the Aztec calendar
Mayan calendar. To calculate time, the Mayans used a complex calendar system that included several cycles. One of them represented a combination of numbers from 1 to 13 (“week”) and 20 “months”, which had their own names. Was also used solar calendar with a year of 365 days. It consisted of 18 months of twenty days and five “extra” or “unlucky” days.
In addition, the Mayans used the so-called long count, which, in addition to a 20-day month and an 18-month year, took into account a 20-year period (katun); a period of 20 katuns (baktun) and so on. There were other dating methods. All of these methods changed over time, making it much more difficult to correlate the dates recorded by the Mayans with European chronology.
Aztec mythology. Among the Aztecs, who came to the Valley of Mexico from the north of the country in the 13th century and adopted the ideas of their predecessors, the Toltecs, as well as the Zapotecs, Mayans, Mixtecs and Tarascans, the main motifs of mythology are the eternal struggle of two principles (light and darkness, sun and moisture, life and death etc.), the development of the universe according to certain stages or cycles, man’s dependence on the will of deities who personified the forces of nature, the need to constantly feed the gods human blood, without which they would have died, the death of the gods would have meant a worldwide catastrophe.
According to myths, the universe was created by Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl and went through four stages (or eras) of development. The first era (“Four Jaguars”), in which Tezcatlipoca was the supreme deity in the form of the Sun, ended with the extermination of the tribe of giants who then inhabited the earth by jaguars. In the second era (“Four Winds”) Quetzalcoatl became the Sun, and it ended with hurricanes and the transformation of people into monkeys. Tlaloc became the third Sun, and his era (“Four Rains”) ended with a worldwide fire. In the fourth era (“Four Waters”), the Sun was the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue; this period ended with a flood, during which people turned into fish. The modern, fifth era (“Four Earthquakes”) with the sun god Tonatiuh should end with terrible cataclysms.
Actually, the Aztecs worshiped many gods different levels and significance - personal, domestic, community, and also general Aztec. Among the latter, a special place was occupied by the god of war Huitzilopchtli, the god of night and fate Tezcatlipoca, the god of rain, water, thunder and mountains Tlaloc, the god of wind and patron of the priests Quetzalcoatl (“Feathered Serpent”). The goddess of earth and fire, the mother of the gods and stars of the southern sky - Coatlicue (mother of the sun god Huitzilopochtli, she simultaneously contains the beginning and end of life, she was depicted in clothes made of snakes). The god of agriculture was Xipe. The god and goddess of maize were also revered. There were gods who patronized the art of weaving, healing, and gathering. The Aztecs believed that, depending on the type of death, the souls of the dead went either to the underworld, or to the country of the god Tlaloc, which was considered an earthly paradise, or to the heavenly dwelling of the sun god. This highest honor was awarded to brave warriors, people who were sacrificed, and women who died in childbirth. The Aztecs had a complex system of rituals, consisting of a cycle of festivals tied mainly to the agricultural calendar. Part of these rituals included various dances and ball games.
An important ritual was the offering of human blood to the gods. The Aztecs believed that only a constant flow of blood kept the gods young and strong. Bloodletting was very widely practiced, for which the tongue, earlobes, limbs and even genitals were pierced. The priests resorted to such operations several times a day. Most of all, the gods needed human sacrifices. They took place at the top of the pyramids at the temple of one or another deity. Various methods of killing a victim were known. Sometimes up to six priests took part in the ritual. Five held the victim with his back on the ritual stone - four held his limbs, one held his head. The sixth opened the chest with a knife, tore out the heart, showed it to the sun and placed it in a vessel standing in front of the image of the deity. The headless body was thrown down. It was picked up by the person who gave the victim as a gift or captured her. He took the body home, where he separated the limbs and prepared ritual food from them, which he shared with relatives and friends. It was believed that eating a sacrifice, which, according to the Aztecs, personified God, introduced one to God himself. The number of people sacrificed per year could reach up to three thousand people.
Aztec writing. For recording historical events, calendar, astronomical phenomena and rituals, as well as to record land and taxes, the Aztecs used a writing system that combined hieroglyphic and pictographic principles. The writing was applied with a feather brush to deer skin, fabric, or maguey paper. Several Aztec documents have survived to this day, apparently compiled after the arrival of the Spaniards, these are the codices of Cospi, Magliabechiano, Borgia, Borbonicus, Ixtlilxochitl. History has preserved the names of several dozen poets from peoples who spoke Nahua languages. The most famous was Nezahualcoyotl (1402-1472), ruler of Texcoco.
To calculate time, the Aztecs used two calendars, a ritual calendar of 260 days and a solar calendar, which had eighteen twenty-day months and five more unlucky days. The names of the months in the calendar corresponded to the names of agricultural plants. The combination of the two types of timekeeping gave the Aztecs, like the Mayans, a repeating 52-year cycle.
The Aztec pantheon is also notable for the fact that it was filled with a huge amount, the so-called minor gods. The minor god of the Aztecs in most cases served as the patron of a specific tribe or labor caste, such as artisans or traders. Among the local deities there were also notable creatures, such as the Aztec sun god, the god of fate and the patron god of sacrifices.
Speaking about the pantheon of minor, local deities, it is first of all worth mentioning the god of the Aztecs, who served as a protector of warriors and was known in several guises: Vitzliputzli or Huitzilopochtli - “the southern hummingbird”, the god of war. The Aztecs not only revered this god, they feared him like death, since Huitzilopochtli is also the solar god of fertility of the Aztecs, the patron of the capital of the empire, the city of Tenochtitlan. As far as one can judge, almost all the Aztec deities associated with the Sun were, to one degree or another, associated with fertility, with the basis of life for a peasant, a simple inhabitant of the empire.
Huitzilopochtli was the feared god of the Aztecs.
Huitzilopochtli's mother, like many other Aztec deities, was the goddess Coatlicue, and his father was the great Mixcoatl. The environment of Vitzliputzli, the Aztec god, his family, directly indicates the role and status of this deity. By the way, sister warlike god The Aztecs were the beautiful Malinalxochi, the sorceress goddess.
Legends concerning the Aztec patron of war were recorded in the mythological chronicles of Mexicayotl. According to myths, his sister tried to beat her mother after learning that she became pregnant from feathers. However, terrifying ancientAztec god found out about his sister’s plans and at the right moment, jumping out of his mother’s womb in military garb, killed his sister and four hundred of her henchmen. As a lesson to the other gods, Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec god, threw the severed head of his sister and the other conspirators high into the sky, where they became the moon and stars.
Huitzilopochtli is the Aztec sun god, protector of Tenochtitlan.
The legendary Vitzliputzli was not only a tribal deity, but also a renowned wizard. Initially, his importance for the Indian people was small, however, after the formation of the Aztec empire, significant innovations were introduced into the local pantheon of gods, as a result of which Huitzilopochtli , the sun god of the Aztecs became what he became. According to the myths that arose as an aid to religious reform, the future deity of war, during the struggle for power, was to overthrow the previous Aztec sun god, Nanahuatzin, who held this honorable position for many hundreds of years.
The Aztec god is a tribal patron.
The Aztec pantheon is multifaceted and populous. Total number of gods, including infinite guises supreme gods and local deities, exceeds the mark of several hundred.
Briefly about the article: Gods and monsters of Mesoamerica.
Call of the Jungle
Aztec Bestiary
Religion, art and science are branches of the same tree.
Albert Einstein
In May of this year, we already wrote about the Aztecs - fierce warriors, cunning politicians and natural administrators who built one of the most powerful empires in Mesoamerica. An empire in which religion played no small role in its demise. Belief in supernatural beings made the Indians consider the Spaniards gods and tremble with fear at the sight of conquistadors sitting astride previously unseen horses (which, however, did not stop them from cutting off the heads of horses with one blow of their macuahuitl swords). Many Aztecs could not even imagine that the “return” of Quetzalcoatl - Cortez would be the end of the world for them.
Only fragmentary information has been preserved about the Aztec bestiary. Spanish priests took great care to ensure that the fictional inhabitants of the South American jungle never left the bas-reliefs of the destroyed pyramids. However, even a few pictures in half-worn codices create a picture of an amazing world in which there were more gods than fantastic animals. Meet the fictional creatures who destroyed the real empire!
The Divine Comedy
The opening pages of the Aztec bestiary are dedicated to the history of our world. In the first “sun” (era), the gods were greatly disturbed by the giant Cipactli - a hybrid of fish and crocodile, on each joint of which grew a head with an open, hungry mouth. The gods descended into the primordial world ocean, grabbed the poor monster by the limbs and began to pull in different directions until they tore the poor fellow into pieces. However, Zipactli managed to bite off Tezcatlipoca’s leg, so in most drawings he sports a stump.
The monster's head became the heavens, the body became the earth, and the tail became the underworld (compare with Sumerian myth about Tiamat). The gods populated the earth with giant people. But soon the celestials quarreled with each other, knocked the sun out of the sky with a stone club, and the angry Tezcatlipoca created jaguars and ordered them to devour all the people.
When emotions subsided, the gods created new people - this time small in size. At first everything went well, but then these ungrateful creatures stopped worshiping the celestials, and Tezcatlipoca decided to teach them a lesson by turning them into monkeys. Quetzalcoatlus did not like this, and he blew away all the primates from the Earth, causing an unprecedented hurricane (some of the monkeys, apparently, saved themselves by clinging to trees - this has been the case ever since).
Sipaktli. Even the most “brutal” gods were depicted in human form.
On the third “sun”, Tezcatlipoca distinguished himself by seducing the wife of the rain god Tlaloc (he didn’t have to strain much, since he was dealing with the goddess of sex), who was temporarily acting as the day’s luminary. The latter became so sad that he was distracted from his main work and caused a great drought for the people. They began to pray for rain, but God, out of balance, gave them an asymmetrical answer in the form of a fiery hail that destroyed the entire Earth.
The gods quickly rebuilt it, but the restless Tezcatlipoca upset the water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue so much that she cried blood for 52 years, as a result of which some people drowned and some turned into fish.
Now we are in the era of the fifth “sun”. The Aztecs supported his fight against the night by regularly disemboweling people on the tops of the pyramids. For almost 500 years, rituals have not been observed, but eternal darkness and transformation into some kind of animal (for example, blind moles) do not threaten us. According to ancient legends, the fifth world will perish from terrible earthquakes.
make a wish
Kant believed that a person reveres two things - the starry sky above his head and the moral law within himself. He clearly did not live among the Aztecs, who believed that the stars were Tzitzimime demons. Bony women with claws are trying to extinguish the Sun, and during solar eclipses They come down to earth and eat people. Probably, upon seeing a falling star, the Aztecs, just like us, made a wish. Survive.
An asterisk named Tsitsimime.
On the left is Venus through the eyes of the Romans. On the right is Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, the planet Venus through the eyes of the Aztecs, the cruel and terrible god of the dawn, who loved to hit people from the sky with darts. In this sense, “venereal disease” among the Aztecs was a penetrating wound.
High flying birds
The Aztec bestiary is interesting because it mixed gods and animals. Many higher beings were associated with specific animals or had a zoomorphic appearance. And vice versa - many animals were endowed with divine traits. In terms of the number of fictional creatures, the Aztecs are able to compete with the creators of the Dungeons & Dragons gaming system - they have about a hundred gods alone.
IN ancient legends The Aztecs were dominated by birds. The history of this people begins with herons. At least the name of the legendary ancestral home - Aztlan - is translated as “country of herons”*. From there the Aztecs were led out by a divine hummingbird named Huitzilopochtli (“hummingbird of the left side” or “left-handed hummingbird”), and they founded their capital in the place where an eagle sat on a cactus (and pecked at a snake, according to other versions of the legend - ate a small bird or the cactus itself).
*This fact is controversial, since in the Nahuatl language “land of herons” sounds like “Aztatlan”.
Soon the divine hummingbird transformed into one of the most important Aztec gods. He was born from the goddess Coatlicue - a rather sweet woman who wears a skirt made of snakes and a necklace of human hearts, and has grown claws on her feet for digging up graves. One day, while the goddess was sweeping the temple, a bunch of feathers fell on her. This caused the lady to miraculously become pregnant, which greatly angered her daughter Coyolxauqui. She planned to kill her mother, who had disgraced herself with feathers. Huitzilopochtli, who was in the womb, heard about this and made proper preparations. Immediately before the murder, he jumped out of his mother in full combat gear, cut off his sister’s head and threw her into the sky, where she became the Moon. Even hummingbirds can be dangerous sometimes.
Coatlicue statue.
The rain god Tlaloc looked like a man - except for the owl's eyes, jaguar fangs and snakes on his face. His “subordinate” animals are frogs and snakes. Those killed by lightning, drowned people, lepers and gout fell into Tlaloc's heavenly domain. Every year, in honor of this god, the Aztecs drowned many children.
Eagles were representatives of the solar god Tonatiuh. The name of this deity is associated with “signature” Aztec sacrifices, since blood was considered the “fuel” of the Sun, without which it would stop, go out and destroy the whole world. The number of victims was in the tens of thousands per year, although perhaps they were exaggerated by both the Aztecs themselves (so that neighboring tribes would be afraid of them) and the Spaniards (who wanted to cast a black light on the Indians).
Tlazolteotl, "Eater of Excrement", patroness of debauchery. In years of drought, a man was tied to a table for her and darts were thrown at him. Dripping blood symbolized rain.
Tonatiuh (literally “Sun”) holds in his hand his symbol - an eagle.
At a simpler, everyday level, the Aztecs scared their children with the bird Tkaklo Hork (literally “Bird of Death”). She lived high in the mountains and was strong enough to grab a child and drag him to her chicks in a nest strewn with human skulls.
In the animal world
Near the rivers, Acuizotl, a creature like a black otter or a monkey with dog head, dexterous hands and an additional limb instead of a tail, which it puts out of the water to grab prey. At night, Acuizotl imitates a crying child, luring gullible travelers. The body of the victim, dragged under water, soon floats up. The flesh is intact, not a single scratch on the skin. Only eyes, teeth and nails are missing - these are what this monster considers the most delicious.
The dog can be a biter
In the Dungeons & Dragons monster monster (Fiend Folio), you can meet a demonic Aztec monkey named Acuizotl. She has a dog's head and paws, and a hand grows instead of a tail. In addition, among the Pokemon there is Aipom - a copy of Akuizotl, only without cannibalistic habits.
Acuizotl and his distant relative Aipom.
In the case of Acuizotl, the dog “rummaged” in history. This was the name of the Aztec emperor who reigned from 1486 to 1502. His coat of arms depicted a dog-like creature with a hand instead of a tail. Acuizotl's reign was short and despotic even by the standards of the harsh Aztecs, so that popular memory quickly turned the tyrant into a monster dog.
God Xolotl had three forms: a skeleton, a dog-headed man, or a monstrous beast with legs turned backwards. He served as a guide for souls in the underworld, sending lightning, fire and bad luck to people.
Xolotl and his bald guide of souls.
An ancient breed of hairless Mexican dog (Sholoitzkuntli) was named after Sholotl. The Aztecs believed that Xolotl made these dogs from bone meal mixed with blood from Quetzalcoatl's penis - that is, from the same material as people. The Indians kept these dogs as sacred pets, believing that after the death of the owner they would take his soul to the right place. That, however, did not stop them from serving fried sholoitzkuntli (dog dishes caused no less shock among the Spaniards than the blood-stained steps of the pyramids).
Another Aztec dog is the goddess Chantico, "She who lives in the house." The scope of her metaphysical responsibility is quite varied: the hearth, the ripening of corn and volcanic eruptions. One day, during Lent, this agricultural and volcanic goddess could not resist and ate fried fish with paprika. The use of paprika during Lent was prohibited, so the apostate was turned into a dog. Occasionally she takes the form of a red snake. Chantico can be identified by the crown of poisonous cactus spines on its head.
The Aztecs appointed Coyote as the god of music, dance and fun named Huehuecoyotl. Folk fantasy attached human limbs to the body of a coyote. He can change his appearance and, like the Scandinavian Loki, loves practical jokes. As a rule, the coyote's jokes with the gods ultimately turn against him. Sometimes Huehuecoitl gets bored and starts wars between people.
The jaguar was identified with a god named Tepeyolotl, that is, “Heart of the Mountains.” He lived in mountain caves, filled the earth with his roar (produced earthquakes) and created a mountain echo, and his skin was covered with spots symbolizing the stars in the night sky. In addition, the jaguar was one of the favorite images of Tezcatlipoca - the “smoking mirror”, the sorcerer god, the patron of priests and the destroyer of the world.
God of fire Xicutecutli. The ashes of burned human hearts were dedicated to him.
The second "sun" ended with a hurricane and the transformation of people into monkeys, so it is logical that the wind god Ehecatl is depicted with the body of a monkey. His head is decorated with a red bird's beak, and instead of a tail, a snake moves. This sight may seem unsympathetic to some, but according to legends, Ehecatl brought love to our world, being the first of the gods to fall in love with the mortal woman Mayahual. It was probably then that the stereotype arose that a man should be only slightly more beautiful than a monkey. The main thing is that in some other respects he is not inferior to God.
Huehuecoyotl, "Old, Old Coyote."
Jaguar Tepeyolotl, "Heart of the Mountains."
Mayahual. Became a goddess thanks to rabbits and agave.
One day, Mayahual noticed that a rabbit that had eaten agaves was running around the field in a completely inadequate state. So she discovered the alcoholic potential of this cactus, for which the gods made Mayahual a goddess - the personification of agave. According to legend, she gave birth to Senzon Totochin - 400 rabbits, which became the patrons of intoxication (there is evidence that the Aztecs measured the degree of intoxication on a scale from 1 to 400 rabbits). It is still customary in Mexico to throw a little drink on the floor before drinking pulque as a sacrifice to rabbits.
Subsequently, Mayahual married the god Patecatl, who personified herbs and roots. His name is translated accordingly: “He is from the land of medicines.” The Aztecs perceived the concept of “medicine” in a rather unique way, so Patecatl’s main function was to patronize alcohol.
Pulque. Until recently, it was not bottled and was sold only in Mexico.
Hidden in dry cotton trees are doors leading to the kingdom of Chaneks - peculiar elementals, spirits of nature, protecting it from humans. If necessary, they attack him and “knock out” the soul from the body, after which they take it to themselves deep into the earth. There are rituals that call the soul back, but if they are not performed in time, the body will die. Later versions of the legends describe Chaneks as children with the faces of old men.
One of the characters in Pratchett's Discworld was named Twoflower. And the Aztecs had a god of intemperance, Macuilxochitl, which literally means “Five Flowers.” He was often depicted as a turtle with a human head. At the base of the statues were carved images of psychoactive mushrooms, tobacco, oliluqui (seeds of Turbina corymbosa, a decoction of which was given to crime suspects so that they would tell the truth), Chaimia livofolia (an auditory hallucinogen that changes the perception of sounds and paints the world in yellow-white tones, for which the plant was called “opening the sun”). Other "flowers" are not identified.
Patecatl. Don't pay attention to his appearance. He is from the land of medicines.
Considering this, as well as the fact that Macuilxochitl was usually depicted with his mouth open and his eyes rolled back, scientists draw a conclusion about the “profession” of this god. He patronized not ordinary gluttons or drunkards, but mainly drug addicts. Or rather, to the priests who entered into a narcotic ecstasy, it was like going to their own home.
The full-fledged goddess of flowers was Xochiquetzal, the “Flower Bird” (according to Aztec custom, she was also responsible for things very far from flora - for example, dancing, games and prostitution). Her retinue consisted of birds and butterflies. Unlike other Aztec gods, the flower goddess did not require her worshipers to strangle each other with their own intestines. It was enough for her that people hold flower festivals once every 8 years.
The corn goddess was named Chicometoatl, which meant “Seven Snakes.” In September, a girl was appointed as her, who at the end of the month was beheaded, the blood was drained from the body and watered on the statue of the goddess. The priest removed the skin from the corpse and wore it on himself.
The Aztecs had great respect for snakes and dedicated them to many gods. “White Cloud Serpent” was called Mixcoatl, the patron saint of the skies and hunting. His physical embodiment was Milky Way- a large white “snake” behind the clouds. Previously, he had the appearance of a deer or a rabbit, but later became a serpent-man, shooting lightning arrows and carving heavenly fire with a flint.
Macuilxochitl, aka Xochipilli. What fun - such is God.
Judging by the myths, Mixcoatl's favorite pastime was impregnating unsuspecting goddesses with the help of the most inappropriate objects. He is suspected of the above-described pregnancy of Coatlicue, where the god took the form of a ball of feathers. Another legend says that he turned into a stone knife and fell on Coatlicue, causing it to give birth to the stars and the Moon.
Xochiquetzal. If you want to please her, wear a mask of flowers.
God of Long Knives
The Aztecs deified everything, but among the gods of maize, fog or steam baths, the god of knives Itztli (literally “Knife”) occupied a special place. Stone knives were the main tools of the Aztecs - they used them to do housework, they used them to open victims, and they used them to let themselves bleed for the glory of the gods. Itztli was considered a servant of the villain Tezcatlipoca.
The cutting edge of well-processed obsidian can reach molecular thicknesses unattainable by steel knives.
The hunters worshiped Mixcoatl in the traditional Aztec way - during the autumn festivals they killed a specially chosen woman by hitting her head on a stone four times. Next, the head was cut off, and a specially selected man showed it to everyone present. After that, his heart was cut out himself.
Mixcoatl, Great White Snake.
Snakes can also include Cihuacoatl (literally “Snake Woman”), one of the ancient goddesses Mesoamerica. As her name suggests, Cihuacoatl was embodied in snakes and, less commonly, eagles. She patronizes women who died during childbirth, midwives and steam baths, where the Aztecs most often had childbirth. One of her incarnations was Tonacin - a frog swallowing a stone knife. Cihuacoatl statues usually stood with their mouths open. The goddess thirsted for victims, so every day in Tenochtitlan people were killed for her.
The snake woman's retinue consisted of cihuateteo - the spirits of dead women in labor. Childbirth was considered a type of battle, and in terms of the level of honor, deceased mothers were equated with fallen warriors. The remains of such women could supposedly give strength to male fighters (it is unclear whether they were used as amulets, or whether it was a matter of cannibalism), and their ghosts came out at night at crossroads and did all sorts of nasty things: kidnapped children, drove men crazy or persuaded them to adultery.
Zihuateteo. Looks good for the ghost of a woman who died in agony.
Magic snakes often appear in the aforementioned legend of Huitzilopochtli and Coyolxauqui. For example, the fire snake Xiucoatl served as the sword with which the hummingbird god cut off the head of his sister Moon. Snakes wrap around the arms of the statue of Coyolxauqui - probably so that no one would even think of encroaching on the golden bells that adorned the goddess’s face, or on her bare chest.
Huitzilopochtli holds Xiucoatl in his hands.
The Aztecs paid a lot of attention to fictional insects. These, for example, include the most ordinary flea. Yes, a flea. With the face of a monkey, cat paws and the shell of an armadillo. Other popular mythical characters are the scorpion and the grasshopper. A man named Yappan gave a celibacy dinner, but at the instigation of the evil god Yaotl, he broke it and was turned into a scorpion. Now he hides in shame under stones and pursues Yaotl, whom the other gods turned into a grasshopper.
Divine Yappan.
And above all this disgrace, the butterfly of fate Itzpapalotl flies. Her wings are studded with obsidian blades, her hands have jaguar claws, her feet have eagle claws, and instead of a tongue there is a knife. Scientists do not rule out that the “clawed butterfly” was actually a bat.
Ixtlillion ("Someone small with a black face") was a god of health who specialized in children. When the child first began to speak, a sacrifice was made to Ixtillion. In front of his statue, jugs with “black water” were displayed, which could then be used to treat children.
The good water goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, which literally means “Lady in a Green Skirt,” “superses” the fish, in the creation of which she took a direct part. Water flows from her cloak, in which small children swim.
Chalchiuhtlicue with a water cloak.
Bats, spiders and owls were associated with Mictlantecuhtli - the lord of Mictlan (the underworld), the cutest character in the form of a bloody skeleton. The dog-headed god Xolotl worked as a guide of souls to his world. The entrance to the underworld was guarded by a huge black puma - a god named Akolmistli (“Strong Cat”). Her roar was so terrible that the living did not dare to enter the ground. People who died ended up in Mictlan natural death. Interestingly, one of the ways Mictlanteculi was worshiped was ritual cannibalism, which in the case of people who died of old age and disease, was not a good idea.
Metztli - the Moon, which once had the imprudence to shine as brightly as the Sun. Excessive illumination irritated the gods, so one of them took a rabbit and threw it at the moon. Metztli's light dimmed. The poor animal can still be seen. Moon spots work especially well in a rabbit during a full moon.
Aztec deities according to Lego.
This is interesting
West of the Mexican city of Pueblo is the Pyramid of Cholua. According to legend, it was built by Kelua, one of the giants who inhabited the earth before people and who escaped from the wrath of the gods in the mountains. Cholua is the largest pyramid and the largest monument to humanity, exceeding the volume of the Cheops pyramid by almost 30%.
One of the craters on Io, a satellite of Jupiter, is named after Mixcoatl, as well as a rare species of salamander (Pseudoeurycea mixcoatl) that lives in the Mexican mountains.
The statue of the goddess Coatlicue appears in a dream of the Shadow, the main character of Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods.
In 1978, during the construction of the Mexico City subway, a large round stone was found depicting the dismembered Coyolxauqui. This discovery eventually led archaeologists to the buried ruins of the main temple of Tenochtitlan.
Perhaps the word "Mexico" comes from the name of the moon god Metztli.
Only part of the Cholua pyramid has been excavated from the ground. To date, archaeologists have already explored 8 km of internal tunnels.
Mesoamerica is characterized by an unusually high concentration of divine beings. “Ordinary” monsters like a unicorn or a basilisk are difficult to find here. Many ordinary animals have a supernatural patron - and, who knows, maybe our beloved god was incarnated in that jaguar over there? It's a shame that the Aztec culture was destroyed, otherwise we would have known their mythology better, and the D&D bestiary would have been replenished with creatures with bright feathers and sharp teeth.
In essence, no matter how inhuman the Aztec religion may seem, their bestiary is not much different from the menageries of other cultures. The same motives, the same legends. And lots and lots of blood.
a lion
