Aztec gods: list of important + names

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The aztec civilization has always been one of the most enigmatic populations in Mesoamerica, being considered by many historians as a great compiler of all the ancestral beliefs of the other tribes of said zone. Therefore in this lesson from a TEACHER we will focus on the list of names of Aztec gods to better understand the way of acting of this town, in which human sacrifice was one of the most prominent activities, along with other elements that we will analyze later.

Index

1. The main gods of the pantheon
2. The meaning of human sacrifices
3. The relationship with the Castilians

We begin with this list of Aztec gods names detailing some of the most important names of the deities of the pantheon.

Coatlicue "Goddess of the serpent naguas"

She is the goddess of the earth and mother of the sun, therefore she is the creator of the pantheon. It is one of the main Aztec gods and essential to know. Here we discover a list with the most important Aztec goddesses.

Huitzilopochtli "Left-handed hummingbird"

He is one of the most representative Mexican gods of the Mexica, since he was the god of war, for that reason every time said tribe obtained a victory over another people dedicated it to this, being therefore one of its main "Employers". On the other hand, it seems that he had a great importance within the mythology for being the guide to the valley of Mexico where they would settle and later create their empire.

Tezcalipoca "Smoking black mirror"

Tezcalipoca is a well-known name of Aztec gods of this culture. He is one of the four main gods of the Mexica pantheon, he was the guardian of the slaves, so when he he sacrificed a slave in his honor, for a year he was dressed and treated as a god before being slaughtered.

Quetzalcoatl "Snake with precious feathers"

We can say that he is the best known Mexica god, since it was to this god that the Castilians were assimilated upon their arrival at lands of the Aztecs, who believed that they were an outpost sent by the same god to pave the way for their arrival. He is one of the creator gods and among his attributes we will find the arts, the growth of cities,

Tlaloc "God of rain"

Tlaloc is one of the best known Aztec god names. This god comes from an ancestral culture and was found cultured at all times, whatever the civilization was. He was known as the god of the peasants, because he was the one who brought the rain, so fundamental for the crops. He was a cruel god who demanded very strong sacrifices such as children, men and other animals.

Mixcoatl "Cloud serpent"

He is another of the most important Mexican gods. He was the god of storms, and many sacrifices were required to appease his fury. Thunder and lightning were said to have come from the taps he made with his drum.

Tonatiuh "God sun"

Main God in all pantheons since ancient times, we have to know that for Mesoamericans, the Gods had a birth, life and death, therefore we must know that there were eight suns since the beginning of time. This was due to the fact that the gods of evil managed to enter the universe created by the rest of the gods and they entered into combat to protect their creation. With each victory the world was destroyed and they had to rebuild it and for that they had to sacrifice themselves.

Xiuhtecuhtli "God of fire"

And we finish this review of the gods of the Aztec culture talking about the god of fire that he was represented as an old man and was worshiped since earlier times by most cultures Mesoamerican. Normally it was represented by a hunchbacked old man, on top of that hump he had the fire lit. Their sacrifices were one of the most fortuitous, since their offerings were first anesthetized before being thrown alive into the fire, where they were consumed.

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Now that you know the main Mexican gods, let's talk about one of the Aztec customs more controversial. And, if the Aztec culture is known for something, it is for the bloody sacrifices that were officiated in their temples, knowing from the chronicles of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, tremendous narratives for which the temple complexes were a great slaughter.

As we mentioned earlier in the list of Aztec gods names, whenever the world was left destroyed, the gods had to sacrifice themselves so that everything would be reborn, so the Mexica decided to offerings to their creators and the way they found was to offer people's lives.

In many of the cases those who were sacrificed, previously and depending on the importance of the god, led a good life in which normally for a year they were treated like gods, therefore they lacked nothing. And later they were drugged to later be sacrificed in the temples. Depending on the deity to which they were consecrated, they died in one way or another.

What we have to be clear about dying a sacrifice was an honor for the Mexica people since it was an offering to the gods of the Aztecs. Thus we will find that even the nobles were sacrificed when the time came, in the same way the slaves, the foreigners ...

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There was a legend in the Mexica people by which Quetzalcoatl, which had been expelled to the oceans by Tezcatlipoca, which was the god opposite to this. According to legend, the expelled god warned that he would return and destroy everything built by the gods until then.

In 1520, with the arrival of the Castilians in Central America, there were many those who related these with Quetzalcoatl, because they had never seen anything like it regarding their weapons, animals... Therefore, it is not surprising that the conquest lasted such a short time, because from the beginning we will find that the Mexica leaders themselves favored his stay in his dominions, as was the case of Moctezuma, who even signed on to be Carlos V's vassal, believing that if not all of his people would fall into the chaos.

After the conquest by these, a large-scale evangelization began and for this, the beliefs of Native Americans to assimilate them to the Catholic religion, for this reason we will find a great symbiosis in the religion of that place, finding us today celebrations a so strange that they are closely related to the previous culture, within this the most important will be the cult of the dead.

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