The Aztec Beliefs

The mythology of the Aztec civilization dominated central Mexico in the 1400s and early 1500s,  and described a duality of the universe from flamboyant life to destruction. Worlds were created and destroyed in the myths, gods fought and destroyed one another. Commonly used item;colors, numbers, directions, days of the calendar were associated with these Gods and Goddesses. The religious life of the Aztec people was as drastic in celebration and ranged from keeping statues of the gods in homes to public ceremonies which were on a grand scale.

The Aztecs migrated to Mexico from the north; they were a group who formed an alliance and founded a city called Tenochtitlán.

The area they occupied was populated by civilizations who had developed gods myths and legends of their own and so the Aztecs absorbed Gods, stories, and beliefs from these earlier peoples and from the Maya. Aztec mythology contained religious and mythology of the many groups in Mexico and Central America.

In the Aztec beliefs and most of the myths and legends human life was shaped by forces beyond his control. The gods created people to work for them, they were considered servants of the Gods. These Gods did not protect or bestow gifts upon the people. Humans were responsible for the satisfaction of the Gods.; this was carried by satisfying the needs of the Gods which was in their belief sacrificing humans to feed the Gods the precious elixir of life blood. The need to satisfy the Gods, especially the sun god, depended on human sacrifices.

In the Aztec Creation Myth darkness covered the earth. The Gods gathered together and made a fire. Nanahuatzin, one of the gods, leaped into the fire and came out as the sun. The other gods had to give the sun their blood in order for him to travel to the sky and begin his course. Several myths relating how the gods sacrificed themselves are seen in the Aztec beliefs. The human sacrifices that the people performed were begun by the belief of the sacrifices made by the Gods themselves with blood sacrifices..

Priests conducted ceremonies at the temples, often with songs and dancing the priests offered sacrifices. Spanish explorers reported witnessing ceremonies in which hordes of people were laid on sacrificial altars. The reasoning behind the death of humans for the Gods can be related to the belief of the Aztecs that the world had died and been reborn and that the gods also died and were reborn. This rebirth of the world and the predetermined fate of humans and the world ties in with the myths and rituals of the Aztecs.

Also the Aztecs' calendar, an elaborate system,with two calendars: a 365-day solar calendar, based on the position of the sun, and a 260-day ritual calendar used for divination. Each day of the ritual calendar was influenced by a combination of gods and goddesses.

The 52-year cycle called the Calendar Round was also used and at the end of a Calendar Round, the Aztecs put out all their fires. When it came time for a new Calendar Round, there was a ceremony in which new fires were lit from flames burning in a human victim's chest.

Many Aztec myths are of the story of the five suns. The Aztecs believed that four suns, had existed before ours this was that there were four worlds. Different events had occurred and the catastrophes destroyed the world and it had come to an end.

The mythology of the Aztec people is a rich blend of numerous Gods and supernatural beings which is unique and intriguing. The religious beliefs in particular the Sun God and calendar system for which the are famous for shows a civilization that was advanced and had a superior knowledge of the world that surpassed others of the time period, although they absorbed much from their environment. There are some who believe that the myth of the 5 Suns and the end of the Earth will soon come to pass. The Aztecs have left behind a history of a mighty empire full of joy and despair a duality that persists in some of the world's most widely held beliefs.