Beliefs and religion

The temple of death

The temple of death (top right picture) is a pyramid on which two towers sit upon, surrounded by a serpent wall carved with rattlesnakes. The first tower represents tlaloc, the god of rain and good food. The second tower is the temple of Huitzilopochtli, the god of war. There are altars in front of each for sacrifices.

A drum continuously booms throughout the sacrifice. The prisoners that were captured from wars are led to be sacrificed. To the victims, it is an honor to die this way. Inside the temples are giant idols. Priests climb ladders and pour human blood and hearts over them. The prisoners are beheaded and their heads are placed on a rack to show power of the Aztecs. The torsos are used to feed the palace animals . Their hands are a great delicacy and brought to the chiefs and cut into little pieces so they can swallow the power of the victims.

The Volador Ceremony

The volador ceremony is a kind of religious entertainment for the Aztecs, it imitates the flight of the gods. Four men dress up as birds and and attach themselves by ropes to a platform on top of a pole. They wind the ropes around the pole then jump off, as the ropes unwind they go spiralling to the ground (pictures to the left).

Gods

Cihuacoatl- goddess of childbirth

Coatlicue- Earth goddess, mother of Huitzilopochtli.

Huitzilopochtli- Warrior god, sun god, national god of the Aztecs.

Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl- the first gods, god and goddess of creation.

Quetzalcoatl- god of the wind, god of the creation, god of twins, god of learning.

Tezcatlipoca- god of sorcery and darkness.

Tlaloc- god or rain, his name means ‘he who makes things grow’

Tlazolteotl- eater of filth, penitents confess their sins to him.

Tloque Nahuaque, lord of everywhere.

Xilonen- goddess of the young maize plants

Xipe Totec- god of fertility

Yacatecuhtli- god worshipped by the merchants