An Introduction to Aztec Religion, Philosophy, & their Worldview for beginners - Documentary Lecture

Hello friends, the Mexica were an incredibly advanced society, but their religion and cosmovision is immensely layered and complex. So, in this brief lecture, we'll introduce Mexica philosophy, religion, and worldview. We'll also introduce the most important deities, and talk about which deities are related. Because in many ways, the Aztec gods are really a family history. Although blood offerings are integral to their worldview, the very mention of Aztec sacrifice is usually incorrect, extremely misleading, and distracts from a better understanding of the Mexica. So, we'll learn about the Mexica worldview without offerings. So, to better understand who the Mexica were, let's read an axiom recited to newborn babies. In Nahuatl, this type of dicho is called huehuetlatole, and it reads, You were sent here on earth. Thou came not to rejoice. Thou came not to be content. Thou came that thy bones, thy body should endure pain, suffer affliction, and that will work like a slave. You will labor, and you will suffer weariness here on earth. For this reason, you were sent. Damn! Happy birthday, little one! What is this teaching about the Aztecs? The Mexica are serious people, and although they freaking love their kids, these ancient Mexicans passionately believe in hard work, devout service to the state, service to the god, to the dozens of patron supreme beings they have, complete order, and a sense of duty for everything in their lives. A strong family unit is also crucial, and the punishments for not following these orders were severe. So, here is an Aztec father punishing his child by forcing his 11-year-old son to inhale chili pepper smoke. Strict law and order was also set for females. Again, the Mexica are some serious people. By the way, although the Mexica have strict rules and punishments, they don't punish kids until they're at least 8 years old. Okay, now, the Mexica religion is also heavily invested in concepts like duality, like husband and wife, male and female, like near and far, and dual natural cycles like day and night, like drought and rain, life and death, and rebirth. It's crucial in the worldview, or the idea of death and life and afterlife. Just like you see here, the snake must shed their skin several times a year or it will die. It must be reborn. You must be reborn. There are about 700 species of snakes in Mexico, so it's the perfect metaphor for the Aztec worldview of rebirth, reincarnation. Regeneration is crucial to the Mexica. Rebirth, duality, and natural cycles are abundant in Mesoamerica. And the Mexica are also animalistic, which means they believe all things are connected spiritually. Perhaps even more important is their relationship with the natural environment. And as you can see, the natural environment in Mexico is beautiful, but incredibly dangerous. Even just a quick look shows grasshopper plagues, floods, snows, famine, hailstorms, droughts, droughts, lots of droughts, lots of famine, and earthquakes. Lots of devastating earthquakes in ancient Mexico. There's lots of death by natural events in Mexico. Thanks to Frances Burden in the left corner doing her presentation at LACMA. Life is uncertain in the Aztec world, but death is certain. And it can happen, and it will happen, partly because of their harsh environment. So, as we begin this last part of this lecture, let's talk about the Aztec deities. Now, the Mexica are clearly polytheist, although arguably there are only a few principle gods. There are officially 144 deities with Nahuatl names, according to Manuel Aguilar Moreno. Of these, 66% can be classified as masculine, just like my ex. And the remaining 34% as feminine. But there are a few caveats. For example, Tlallacutli, that you see here, is a deity that can be male or female. Here's the female version, as earth lord, destroyer, and creator. But it's crucial to remember that their version of a god is probably much different than your god or gods. Your god might be very far away, in a place like heaven, or someone that you really can't see. And they might be omnipotent, or all powerful, but not the Aztec gods. Mexica deities can have natural and spiritual powers and forms, like flora or fauna. Mexica gods also have natural and celestial resources, i.e. the term heaven and earth is something that you might be familiar with. So, Aztec gods can have the same essence as ancient Mexicans. They can also have dual or multiple purposes, and many gods can have many different types of purposes. Which is why even the word god isn't a good fit, because they're not the same god or gods as yours. The term supreme beings or demigods work better. Remember, Aztec deities are extraordinary beings that could do superior things, according to David Carrasco. Okay, it's also worth noting that in Mesoamerica, each town had their own patron god. And it's a tradition that still exists today, where every major city in Latin America, generally has a patron saint or patron virgen to look after them. Okay now, what's also very telling about the Aztec world view is the sun stone, which you know as the Aztec calendar stone. I have a lot of other sources to explain this, so we won't go into any great details, but the sun stone is not a calendar. The stone tells the story of four previous ages, how they lived, and how they were destroyed in the creation of the fifth sun. The stone weighs about 24.5 tons, and we're not even sure if it's supposed to be shown upright or laying down, although it's probably meant to be laid down. But what's most telling for this lecture is how the stone is named and decorated. Now looking from the top left above the central figure, let's go counterclockwise, and we go one sun of jaguar, two sun of wind, three sun of fire, and four sun of water. Now these parts of the stone are named after the force that destroyed them, not what gave life to them, and that's very telling about the Mexica. Each era or sun was destroyed by jaguar, wind, sun of fire, and water. And to the Aztecs, the force that destroyed them was more important than the force that gave life to it. Four times! Death and rebirth are crucial in the ancient Mexica world. Okay, this is our last section, and it's about the Mexica pantheon, and it'll be quick, but you can learn a lot. So let's start with Omoteo. Omoteo is a dual divinity, or lord of duality, the Aztec creator god that was both male and female. And from Omoteo, four suns were born as the four directions, the four cardinal points. The black Tezcalapoca is called Tezcalapoca, or smoking bear. The white Tezcalapoca is Quetzalcoatl. He was the dual of Tezcalapoca. The blue Tezcalapoca was Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and war. And the red Tezcalapoca was the god Xipitotec, the god of vegetation and renewal of nature. Now, there are many important Aztec supreme beings, but these are the most important. Let's go over a few, and kind of fast. Remember, this is just an introduction. So we've covered Omoteo and the four brothers. So now, on the top left, Hualicue, the mother of the gods, with her son Huitzilopochtli, who fought off his sister Colchoque. Now, bottom left to right, Tlalocotli, the earth lord. Tlaloc, the god of rain. Xochipilli, the prince of flowers, god of dance and music. Miglantacotli, the god of dead. Tonatiuh, the sun god. Xenthio, the maize god. And Xipitotec, the flayed one, the god of spring and regeneration. And there are many, many more that you have to learn on your own. And how do we know their importance? Because we can look at the most important structure in the Aztec world, or the fifth cardinal point, Cuatopec, Snake Mountain, also known as the Templo Mayor, the main temple. This is the axis mundi, the literal center of the universe. This is where you find all these deities and the most important building. This is the setting for the birth of Huitzilopochtli and his mother Hualicue, when she feared her daughter Colchoque. Again, this is a family history. Mother, son, sister, but there's no dad. It's like Toy Story. There's no dad here. And there's also Aztec demigods that are married. Aww, they're cute. But if you're thinking that they look miserable, remember, they are married. So yeah, we're going to wrap up this lecture. Thank you for listening. Here are a few great sources for future learning, including something that I wrote. You can see it on the bottom left-hand corner. It's called Nearly Everything You Were Taught About Aztec Sacrifices Is Wrong. Please find this great article on Mexico Lore. And let's end with one more quote, which is very, very telling. And I'm going to go ahead and straight reading. This is what Aztec life really was. Life was seen as an ephemeral moment, and earth as a place where suffering, metaphorically expressed as fatigue or physical pain, was the norm. Man was destined to feel hunger and thirst. The proper attitude was forbearance, stoicism, and the faithful performance of one's work and duty. And that is the Aztecs in a nutshell. Thanks again for listening and for watching. And I hope that you have a blessed day.