Aztec Religion and Belief

Temple Mayor

• ritual center

• twin temples, Tlaloc (blue and white to represent rain and water) and Huizilopochtlu (represents war and sacrifice)

• place where offerings and rituals take place

Templo Mayor as Axis Mundi

• axis of the earth

• entire world was encompassed by water

Huizlipochtli

• god of sun and war

• related to hunting

• led on migration

Tlaloc

• he who is the embodiment of the earth

• god of water and rain

soothsayer

• wise man

• owner of books and writing

good soothsayer

• reads the day

• examines

• remembers

bad soothsayer

• deceiver

• mocker

• false speaker

• hypocrite

• scandalous

what did Diego Duran say about the Ancient Calendar

• north - directions lay in the underworld

• south neither considered good or bad

• east was the most important, shown in green - this was the most fertile, fruitful and abundant

what did Garcia Garagarza say about religion

• world as a living entity, assimilated to the physiology of the human body

• gods were hidden due to this phenomena

• human life was framed by a series of performance rituals