The Principle Beliefs
The Aztec belief system was originally centred around the concept that human beings were created in order to serve the Gods and everything they did, was for the Gods. It was believed that the Gods controlled all aspects of life; from the birth of a child to the death of an elderly person.Therefore, The Aztecs lived their lives with the strong belief that if they didn't live their life purely and right, the Gods would know and send them pain. They felt that pleasing the Gods would result in good weather and good crops. The Aztecs never took anything for granted and continually tried their hardest to please the Gods to ensure an adequate afterlife.
Another principle belief of The Aztecs was the belief in the afterlife. It was the way in which they died rather than the way they lived that determined whether they would go to the ‘Sun God’ (similar to heaven) or go to the ‘Dark God’ and dismal underworld (similar to hell). The Aztecs were sympathetic about this though and lead the belief that if a women died in childbirth or a warrior died in a battle, they would be sent straight to The Sun God in the sky as they were worthy of a pleasant afterlife. If a human died a normal death, his or her soul would have to pass through the nine lives of the underworld before reaching ‘Mictlan’ the realm of the dead, who would make the decision of which afterlife the individual was deserving of, based on the way in which they had died.
One of The Aztecs most well renowned principle beliefs was the belief in human sacrifice to The Gods. The Aztecs were convinced that to succeed in day-to-day life things such as harvest, the God’s required a sacrifice from the bravest warrior of the Aztec or enemy tribes. They never underestimated the power of the Gods and one of the ways in which the Aztecs tried to please their God’s was through human sacrifice. They believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would rise again the next day. This religion believed that the sun fought darkness every night and rose to save man kind, they wanted to give something back to the sun for doing this and thought that human sacrifice was an appropriate repayment. The sun craved human sacrifice so that it would be supplied with nutrients everyday. The Aztecs believed that the human heart was the most precious item that mortals could offer to the Gods and consequently meant that Aztecs would offer a human heart recently teared from the beholder to the Gods. The Aztecs also believed that sacrifice to the God of rain would bring fertility for their crops, in order for this to occur they sacrificed young children! For this to be successful the child needed to shed tears first, the tears of the child would bring down tears of the sky; the rain that they desperately craved and needed.
These were the three main principle beliefs of The Aztec religion.
FUN FACT The Aztecs also had smaller individual beliefs significant to their religion. Aztecs believed that the earth was completely flat and that there was 13 heavens and 9 hells!
The Aztec belief system was originally centred around the concept that human beings were created in order to serve the Gods and everything they did, was for the Gods. It was believed that the Gods controlled all aspects of life; from the birth of a child to the death of an elderly person.Therefore, The Aztecs lived their lives with the strong belief that if they didn't live their life purely and right, the Gods would know and send them pain. They felt that pleasing the Gods would result in good weather and good crops. The Aztecs never took anything for granted and continually tried their hardest to please the Gods to ensure an adequate afterlife.
Another principle belief of The Aztecs was the belief in the afterlife. It was the way in which they died rather than the way they lived that determined whether they would go to the ‘Sun God’ (similar to heaven) or go to the ‘Dark God’ and dismal underworld (similar to hell). The Aztecs were sympathetic about this though and lead the belief that if a women died in childbirth or a warrior died in a battle, they would be sent straight to The Sun God in the sky as they were worthy of a pleasant afterlife. If a human died a normal death, his or her soul would have to pass through the nine lives of the underworld before reaching ‘Mictlan’ the realm of the dead, who would make the decision of which afterlife the individual was deserving of, based on the way in which they had died.
One of The Aztecs most well renowned principle beliefs was the belief in human sacrifice to The Gods. The Aztecs were convinced that to succeed in day-to-day life things such as harvest, the God’s required a sacrifice from the bravest warrior of the Aztec or enemy tribes. They never underestimated the power of the Gods and one of the ways in which the Aztecs tried to please their God’s was through human sacrifice. They believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would rise again the next day. This religion believed that the sun fought darkness every night and rose to save man kind, they wanted to give something back to the sun for doing this and thought that human sacrifice was an appropriate repayment. The sun craved human sacrifice so that it would be supplied with nutrients everyday. The Aztecs believed that the human heart was the most precious item that mortals could offer to the Gods and consequently meant that Aztecs would offer a human heart recently teared from the beholder to the Gods. The Aztecs also believed that sacrifice to the God of rain would bring fertility for their crops, in order for this to occur they sacrificed young children! For this to be successful the child needed to shed tears first, the tears of the child would bring down tears of the sky; the rain that they desperately craved and needed.
These were the three main principle beliefs of The Aztec religion.
FUN FACT The Aztecs also had smaller individual beliefs significant to their religion. Aztecs believed that the earth was completely flat and that there was 13 heavens and 9 hells!