A native people of Mesoamerica, the Aztec or Mexica, endured struggle and strife in a journey south from their original home in Aztlan to a lakebed in the Mexican basin where they would eventually create the capital city of Tenochtitlan in the early 1300’s (Carrasco, 2012). Though they were skilled farmers who created tiered chinampa to manage crops, fisherman, and fierce warriors, what perhaps defines them most is that they were city builders.  The capital city of the Aztec people was modeled on the great city-state of Teotihuacan to the north and while already in ruin, this city was deemed the creation point of the Fifth-Sun, an Aztec era of time, and hence a symbol of great historical power for famous Aztec leaders like Motecuhzoma (Montezuma) (Carrasco, 2012).  From Tenochtitlan, at its greatest a city of over 200,000 people, the Aztec’s radiated their power to communities on the periphery and demanded tribute back (Clendinnen, 2010).

Aztec society was organized into calpulli which were specific linage groups each having a formal leader.  These leaders organized their family groups in service to their tribal deity Huitzilopochtli. A royal speaker, or Talatoani, was selected to represent these family groups and through the distribution of wealth and titles an Aztec aristocracy was born (Clendinnen, 2010).  The caste system in Aztec society was strong, with a clear delineation between nobility and the peasant classes.  

Gender roles in Aztec society were traditional in nature with men expected to be trained in war to protect their people and women expected to tend to the domestic needs of the family.  These roles were instantly reinforced. At birth boys were encouraged to touch a small bow and arrow signifying their warrior destiny.  Girls were given a miniature weaving wheel to delineate their future domestic duties as the keepers of the fire, cooks, weavers and healers (Carrasco, 2012).

Like many societies, the Aztec linked their worship to forces that held power over their lives; the sun and war (Huitzilopochtli), rain (Tlaloc), moon (Coyolxauhqui), night (Tezcatlipoca) and death (Mictlantecuhtli Lord of the Underworld).  To this end, the Aztec people had devised a complex calendar system using a 365 day solar cycle and a 260 day ritual or religious cycle.  Their concept of time was cyclical and well represented using names and images to define where along this cycle they currently were.  This cycle included a new solar era happening every 676 years (Read, 1998).  The interplay of these various cycles drove the religious ceremonies and culture of the Aztec. 

One of the most well-known yet misunderstood religious rituals were those of human sacrifice.  Documented by both the Spanish invaders as well as by the art and archeological evidence from the Aztecs, sacrifices were a key part of divine ritual to nourish and renew the gods.  The Aztec believed that the gods required blood to sustain them in their eternal struggle to prevent the destruction of the world. Blood was the most precious of human offerings, the essence of life, and only it could feed the gods (Tsouras, 2005).  These rituals involved complex rights with autosacrifice being the most common as creation myths involved the sacrifice of the gods themselves. When a human or animal died and was buried or burned, its divine substances were released and returned to the underworld where it awaited the next cycle of rebirth to re-enter the world (Carrasco, 2012).  We will never know the true number of sacrifices, they are still a mystery with stories and evidence in great conflict with numbers ranging from hundreds to tens of thousands.

There are many creation myths, and one central story tells of two volunteers who stepped forward before the sacred hearth where a fire had been burning. Two gods, Nanahuatzin (Pimply One) and Tecuciztecatl (Lord of Snails) prepared themselves for ritual self-immolation. The virile Lord of Snails approached the fire several times but became frightened by the intense heat. The Pimply One then came forward with courageous resolve and cast himself into the fire, his body crackling and sizzling. The other god followed, and the two emerged from the fire in the forms of powerful animals—an eagle and a jaguar—the latter became the patrons of the two main Aztec warrior groups (Carrasco, 2012).  

The myths of sacrifice define a great deal of the Aztec history and fueled the need to mimic these myth stories by sacrificing animals, citizens, and captives as a way to honor the god’s mythological sacrifices.

One of the most well-known mythic and religious figures in the Aztec culture was the wind and air god Quetzalcoatl.  Though he was thought to take on many forms, the form of a feathered serpent is often depicted.  Quetzalcoatl was a heroic figure and a god that brought life and the power of royal legitimacy to his people. Aztec nobles prophesied that this hero god would come from the east and once again walk among them in the flesh (Carrasco, 2000).  

At a young age, all commoner youth, save those few dedicated to the priesthood, came under control of the “House of Youth”, the warrior house in their own calpulli. The most coveted jewels, the richest cloaks and shields could no longer be bought in the market-place. They could be purchased only with valorous deeds. Any male who failed to go to war, even if he were the king’s son, would be deprived of all signs of rank and would live as a despised commoner (Clendinnen, 2010).

Few commoners were ever so successful in battle as to emancipate themselves entirely from such labor. Nonetheless it was war and the prospect of war which fired imagination and ambition of youthful Aztec males. Movement through the ranks of the warrior grades depended on taking alive on the field of battle a specified number of captives of acceptable rank (Clendinnen, 2010).  Among these ranks were the elite Eagle, fearless in battle, and Jaguar warriors, hunter of hunters, which held almost mythological prestige.  Because of this need to capture, the Aztec warrior’s aim would be to stun their opponent and dominate them to claim them as captive.

The Aztec engaged in a variety of warfare types they referred to as Flower Wars and Arrow Wars.  Flower Wars were fought for personal prestige.  Warriors fought to take captives and gain rank along with the honor and more importantly, the wealth that would come with it.  At times the Aztecs felt it was necessary to conquer without regard for the rank of one’s opponent or the honor to be gained and so Arrow Wars were conducted with speed and slaughter (Tsouras, 2005).

One of the most feared leaders of the Aztecs was Ahuitzotl.  He was a noble and tlatoani, young when he took leadership. His exploits in war were fearsome and he grew the power and structure of the Aztec capital.  “For fifteen years Ahuítzotl cut a blood-soaked path through Mexico, taking his conquests boldly up to the borders of the Tarascan Empire in the west and farther up the Gulf of Mexico coast in the east than any Mexica army had ever gone before. He hammered his way through the Mixtec lands and took his invincible armies as far south as Soconosco, along the Pacific coast on the border of Guatemala. No Mesoamerican army had ever traveled so far—a host of two hundred thousand men had marched 2,300 kilometers, and all on foot. Year after year, endless columns of prisoners, loot, and tribute flowed into Tenochtitlan” (Tsouras, 2005).

Mythic Americas: Aztecs and Death

Throughout their history, the Aztec empire made extensive use of human sacrifices; by cutting the hearts out of living victims, spilling copious amounts of their victim’s blood on holy sites and temple altars. The Aztecs also practiced ritual cannibalism.

Human sacrifices were made throughout the year to bless temples, bring rain, avoid famine, and ultimately as a simple matter of survival. The Aztecs believed that the sun god Huitzilopochtli was in an eternal war against darkness and evil. 

In Mythic Americas’ lore, the Aztec fascination with death goes beyond sacrifices, and extends to a thorough immersion in death magics. Powerful Aztec priests and wizards regularly brought those sacrifices back to life, so that the victims could continue to help the Aztecs and their gods in the fight against darkness even after their untimely deaths. As they saw it, if the darkness won then all life on Mother Earth would end permanently and this would mean the end the eternal Balance, which the One had decreed.