Table of Contents
Aztec is a
name used to describe the Nahuatl-speaking people who thrived in central Mexico
circa the 14th and 16th centuries as an empire
and dominated large parts of Mesoamerica. Variously, the Aztecs had different
names. They are known as Aztlan (which means ‘White Land’), the Tenochca (a
name adopted from one of their ancestors called Tenoch), and the Mexica, which
was a derivative from Metzliapan (which stands for ‘Moon Lake’).
Ancient
Aztec religious beliefs and practices were tied to their understanding of the
world; the people were deeply amazed by the thought of the unknown, the
universe and the end of time. These thoughts arouse some curiosity and
awareness to understand better their world and how it came about.
I used the
term ‘theogony’ to describe the Aztecs’ generations of gods however, not in the
context of Greek mythology where the ‘primordial deities’ were the first gods
and goddesses created from the nothing of Chaos but from the
context of cosmogonies, that is the gods and goddess creating the earth.
For the
Aztecs, they believed that it took the gods five tryouts to create the world as
if the gods were testing the suitability of a perfect world for humanity. No!
That was not the case. There were a series of god rivalries going on among the
gods. In other words, there were begrudging and seemingly infightings among the
gods as they gathered to either elect a sun god as well as create the earth for
humanity. I will proceed to write about the distinctive Aztec gods with open
interpretations.
Tezcatlipoca
The first
creator was known as Tezcatlipoca, also a ‘Sun god’. The name Tezcatlipoca
means ‘Smoking Mirror’. He was also known as the god of night and sorcery. He
was a god that lived above and a creator god indeed.
Tezcatlipoca was toppled by another god known as
Quetzalcoatl. As a result, Tezcatlipoca turned into a jaguar and destroyed the
world.
A coup d’état
by the gods? We all know that a coup d’état is the removal of an existing
government from power. Did the gods remove the first creator, Tezcatlipoca from
being only a creator or did they take away his power as a god? We do not know
but what we do know is that Tezcatlipoca turned into a jaguar and destroyed the
world. What a shameful thing for a god to do?
To be a
god-creator, the god must participate in the rounds of becoming the sun. The
gods gathered and decided that one of the gods would offer themselves to become
a new sun for all.
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl
became the next god. The name Quetzalcoatl means ‘feathered serpent’. He was
also known as the god of the “once and future king” figure, a god that lived
above and a creator god too. He was the second sun god in the second Aztec
mythology.
His light did not shine for too long because as
traditional tales had it, the paw of the jaguar was the weapon that brought him
down.
Even though
Tezcatlipoca was toppled by Quetzalcoatl, and yet he was so powerful as a
jaguar that he used his paw, as a weapon, to bring a reigning god down.
Tlaloc
The third
sun god was Tlaloc. He was the rain god. It appears as if the first sun god,
Tezcatlipoca had not finished with the gods. He was very envious and
mischievous.
Tezcatlipoca stole Tlaloc’s wife. This left Tlaloc
grief-stricken as a sun god that when the people prayed for rain, in his fury,
he sent them fire which burnt the entire world.
What a
misdirection of anger! How could the gods punish humans for their inadequacies?
Was Tlaloc not strong enough to exert revenge on Tezcatlipoca instead of humans?
Should humans blame the gods for the mishaps and catastrophes happening in
their world today?
Chalchiuhtlicue
Eventually,
the gods decided and chose a goddess as a sun goddess. The name Chalchiuhtlicue
means ‘Lady of the Jade Skirts’ and is a goddess for childbirth.
Chalchiuhtlicue was the only goddess among the Aztec sun gods. It happened that
Chalchiuhtlicue was married to Tlaloc. Chalchiuhtlicue was a remarkably kind
and good-natured goddess. Tezcatlipoca was not yet satisfied with his attack on
Tlaloc.
Tezcatlipoca repeatedly attacked the goddess for her
kindness and magnanimity, and she was bitterly wounded. She wept to the extent
that her tears turned into a deluge that swept the earth.
Even the
good-natured goddess could not escape the vengeful vendetta against humans.
When a god does something bad, humans pay the price. The first creator, the sun
god was at war with all the gods and each wounded god visited its venom on
earth.
Nanauatzin
At the end
of the Chalchiuhtlicue age, the gods once again gathered to choose another sun
god. This time, the god would offer himself in a balefire.
They chose Nanauatzin, an old and sick god. Fair enough,
he was old and sick, perhaps good for nothing. The gods had no more use for
him. He leapt into the fire.
The fifth
sun god was consumed in a bonfire. Metaphorically, it may mean that Nanauatzin,
being a sun god is shining upon humans for eternity.
From the
above chronicle of the sun gods, it seemed that it was only Nanauatzin who did
not destroy the earth or world but itself. It was self-immolation.
Cosmic Order – The Balance
Nanauatzin
was a permanent sun god because he killed himself and was the last sun god;
meaning there was no other god/goddess after him. The ancient Aztecs had a
conception of their calendar and the sun interweaving. They strove to see
balance in nature. They believed any unguided steps could bring catastrophes like the moon's inertia. The possibility that the moon could stop moving.
For them, there was a constant battle going on between light and darkness in
the sky. As such, the warrior sun also known as Huitzilopochtli (the war god)
required a blood sacrifice to defeat the darkness. The blood of the sacrificed
would form invisible battalions fighting with the warrior sun or the one who
fights with the sun god. Hence, the gods and humans (that is, human blood) meet
to conquer darkness.
It is pertinent to note that the ancient Aztec world was
divided into four equal parts and the centre was called Tenochtitlan (or their
city). The heavens were divided into 13 ascending wheels within wheels and the
netherworld into nine descending wheels within wheels.
The heavens
were not so much removed from the earth because the heavens and earth
crisscrossed at the temple at the centre of the city.
The ancient
Aztec religion was a cult of gods/goddesses commingling with the affairs of
humans, though the gods came up on top. At the same time, the gods might be
construed as begrudging one another and there were continual infightings among
them. Notwithstanding the weaknesses or shortcomings of the gods/goddesses,
they managed to create the ancient Aztec world and held it in balance.
Sources
“Aztec Sun
Gods List” in Aztecs & Tenochtitlan - https://aztecsandtenochtitlan.com/aztec-gods/aztec-sun-god/ (accessed
December 22, 2020).
The Editors
of the Encyclopaedia Britannica – “Aztec People” in Britannica
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Aztec (accessed
December 20, 2020).
‘Ancient
Aztec Religion’ in Aztc-History.com - https://www.aztec-history.com/ancient-aztec-religion.html (accessed
December 10, 2020).
Maestri,
Nicoletta. "The Aztec Religion and Gods of the Ancient Mexica."
ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/aztec-religion-main-aspects-169343 (accessed
December 27, 2020).
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