Introduction
Understanding Mexican or Aztec religion
The Mexican religion was part of a much older Mesoamerican heritage. The cosmos had lived many ages and remained fragile.
Humans were to nurture relations with divine powers through rite, offering and community conduct.
To be retained
Four essential principles
- The Mexican religion was part of a much older Mesoamerican heritage.
- Tenochtitlan became the center of an empire whose Great Temple associated Huitzilopochtli, the protective god linked to the Sun and the war, and Tlaloc, the god of rain and agriculture.
- Prayers, dances, fasts, plant offerings, incense, self-sacrifice and animal or human sacrifices were part of cosmic reciprocity.
- the Mexican religion sought to support a cyclical universe by demanding reciprocity between humans, gods and natural forces.
Small timeline
A tradition shaped by history
Origins and training
Tenochtitlan became the center of an empire whose Great Temple associated Huitzilopochtli, the protective god linked to the Sun and the war, and Tlaloc, the god of rain and agriculture.
Historical developments
The religious calendar organized festivals, trades, quarters and power.
Ritual life and teachings
Prayers, dances, fasts, plant offerings, incense, self-sacrifice and animal or human sacrifices were part of cosmic reciprocity.
A living and plural tradition
After 1521, official worship was destroyed or banned, but languages, images and practices were re-established in the colonial world.
History and development
Tenochtitlan became the center of an empire whose Great Temple associated Huitzilopochtli, the protective god linked to the Sun and the war, and Tlaloc, god of rain and agriculture. The religious calendar organized festivals, trades, districts and power.
After 1521, official worship was destroyed or banned, but languages, images and practices were re-established in the colonial world.
Worldview, beliefs and practices
Prayers, dances, fasts, plant offerings, incense, self-sacrifice and animal or human sacrifices were involved in cosmic reciprocity. Human sacrifices, well-attested, had specific political and religious meanings; their exact extent was discussed and amplified by some colonial accounts.
The conceptions of the afterlife often depended on the mode of death rather than on universal moral judgment.
Texts, symbols and transmission
Codex Borbonicus, Borgia and Mendoza, Nahua songs, stories collected by Sahagún. Symbols: eagle and nopal, solar stone, feathered snake, butterfly, Tlaloc mask.
What research can and cannot say
Sources often result from a forced dialogue after the conquest. Contemporary study compares indigenous testimonies, material data and colonial bias.
References