Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Aztecs and figures from Aztec mythology feature in Western culture. [186] The name of Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent god, has been used for a genus of pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatlus, a large flying reptile with a wingspan of as much as 11 meters (36 ft). [187] Quetzalcoatl has appeared as a character in many books, films and video games.
The Aztecs would often adopt gods from different cultures and allow them to be worshiped as part of their pantheon. For example, the fertility god, Xipe Totec, was originally a god of the Yopi (the Nahuatl name of the Tlapanec people), but became an integrated part of the Aztec belief system. Further, sometimes foreign gods would be identified ...
The fire then was taken all over the city to celebrate because the sun would return. People would cut their ears and put their blood in the fire. Thus the New Fire Ceremony started the new cycle and ensured the sun would return each day for another 18,980 days. [3] [2] The New Fire ceremonies were not limited to the Aztecs.
Sacrifice was a common theme in the Aztec culture. In the Aztec "Legend of the Five Suns", all the gods sacrificed themselves so that mankind could live.Some years after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a body of the Franciscans confronted the remaining Aztec priesthood and demanded, under threat of death, that they desist from this traditional practice.
The cultures of Mesoamerica were well-known for making skeletal modifications and the Aztec certainly practiced these as well. [1] [2] Book 8 of the Florentine Codex speaks of a practice that the Aztec used in ritualistic ceremonies in which "children were grabbed by the neck to make them grow tall". [3]
During the Spanish Conquest, Christianity was imposed on the Nahua people, which prohibited many traditions and celebrations linked to Aztec gods, including Netotiliztli. Netotiliztli survived because the Nahua shifted the dance's meaning from a spiritual tradition of celebration and worship, to a dance solely for pleasure.
This category and its subcategories contain articles relating to the belief systems of the Aztec/Nahua cultures of the Postclassic period in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, incorporating aspects such as mythology, religion, ritualised ceremonies and observances.
Aztec society can trace its roots to Mesoamerican Origins. Their language, lifestyle, and technology were all impacted by contact with neighboring cultures. But, while they were impacted by various sources, they developed their own distinct social groupings, political structures, traditions, and leisure activities.