He directed the Mexicas to found a city on the site where they would see an eagle, devouring an animal (not all chronicles agree on what the eagle was devouring, one says it was a precious bird, and though Father Duran says it was a snake, this is not mentioned in any pre-Hispanic source), while perching on a fruit bearing nopal cactus. Aztec (Nahuatl) Name Generator is free online tool for generating Aztec Names randomly. Further, sometimes foreign gods would be identified with an already existing god. All Rights Reserved. Throughout society, each level had their own rituals and deities and played their part in the larger rituals of the community. Here are your search results for Aztec Baby Names.Click on a name to find the name meaning, popularity, origin and other useful information. Ancient Aztec religion hymn: Huitzilopochtli is first in rank, no one, no one is like unto him: not vainly do I sing (his praises) coming forth in the garb of our ancestors; I shine; I glitter. Scholars studying the Aztec (or Mexica) religion have identified no fewer than 200 gods and goddesses, divided into three groups. In the table below, the veintena festivals are shown, the deities with which they were associated and the kinds of rituals involved. Each level is associated with a specific set of deities and astronomical objects. Other deities, such as Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, had roots in earlier civilizations of Mesoamerica, and were worshiped by many cultures under different names. This level involved the large monthly festivals and a number of specific rituals centered around the ruler dynasty and attempted to stabilize both the political and cosmic systems. This level involved the large monthly festivals and a number of specific rituals centered around the ruler dynasty and attempted to stabilize both the political and cosmic systems. The Aztec religion originated from the indigenous Aztecs of central Mexico. Both high priests were called by the title Quetzalcoatl—the high priest of Huitzilopochtli was Quetzalcoatl Totec Tlamacazqui and the high priest of Tlaloc was Quetzalcoatl Tlaloc Tlamacazqui. The Aztecs would often adopt gods from different cultures and allow them to be worshiped as part of their pantheon. Thus as the sun was believed to dwell in the underworld at night to rise reborn in the morning and maize kernels were interred to later sprout anew, the human and divine existence was also envisioned as being cyclical. The main deity in the Mexica religion was the sun god and war god, Huitzilopochtli. Excavations of the offerings in the main temple has provided some insight in the process, but the dozens of remains excavated are far short of the thousands of sacrifices recorded by eyewitnesses and other historical accounts. The lowest layer of the sky was a verdant spring-like place with abundant water called Tlalocan (“the place of Tlaloc”). Macuilxochitl, the god of … The Aztec religious year was connected mostly to the natural 365-day calendar, the xiuhpohualli (“yearcount”), which followed the agricultural year. Aztec: Ahuic: Name of the Aztec goddess of the running water in rivers, streams, and waves: Girl: Aztec: Amoxtli: Book: Girl: Aztec: Anacaona: Golden flower: Girl: Aztec: Apozanolotl: Name of the Aztec … traders (pochteca)) and wards (calpulli) each operated their own lodge dedicated to their specific god. The most important celestial entities in Aztec religion are the Sun, the Moon, and the planet Venus (both as “morning star” and “evening star”). The Great Pyramid of Cholula was built to honor the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, and it is the world’s largest pyramid. Then five priests, known as the Tlenamacac, performed the sacrifice usually at the top of a pyramid. The prominent Aztec scholar Henry B. Nicholson classified the numerous Aztec gods in three groups: celestial and creator deities, gods of fertility, agriculture and water and deities of war and sacrifices. Religion Name Generator is free online tool for generating Religion Names randomly. If you have any suggestions, questions or need help please feel free to contact us. "Aztlan" means "place of the herons" in the Nahuatl language. They put their local god Huitzilopochtli at the same level as the ancient Nahua god, and also replaced the Nahua Sun god with their own. The descriptions of the rites are based on the descriptions given in Sahagún’s Primeros Memoriales, the Florentine Codex, and of Diego Durán’s Of the Gods and Rites—all of which provide detailed accounts of the rituals written in Nahuatl soon after the conquest. ~The Hymn of Huitzilopochtli (trans. The people who were sacrificed came from many segments of society and might have been a war captive, slave, or a member of Aztec society; the sacrifice might also have been man or woman, adult or child, or noble or commoner. Humans were responsible for the sun’s continued revival. Religion included a pantheon of gods, each of which was responsible and tied to the changing seasons and days set out in the Aztec calendar. Continual rebuilding enabled Tlatoani and other dignitaries to celebrate their achievements by dedicating new sculptures, monuments, and other renovations to the temples. Expanding trade spread Aztec influence and also brought new ideas and techniques to the empire. For festivals, temple steps and tiers were also festooned with flowers, banners and other decorations. Choosing an Aztec name for your baby girl or baby boy will give them a unique baby name that is deeply meaningful and rare. These temples were called “Teocalli” which means god houses. His name translates to “Feathered Serpent”. According to legend, Huitzilopochtli had to kill his nephew, Cópil, and throw his heart on the lake. Like other Mesoamerican religions, it also has practices such as human sacrifice in connection with many religious festivals which are in the Aztec calendar. On the state level, religion was controlled by the Tlatoani and the high priests governing the main temples in the ceremonial precinct of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. However, the Aztec religious organization was not entirely under his authority. For generating Aztec Names simply scroll down and click on the Get Male Names, Get Female Names Button to randomly generate 10 Aztec Names. "Aztec" is a term coined in the 19th c. to describe a number of ethnic groups from Central Mexico who spoke the language of Nahuatl and who believed in a common origin in a mythical place called Aztlan. The earth and the underworld were both open for humans to enter, whereas the upper plane in the sky was impenetrable to humans. Gods of Water, Fertility, and Agriculture, AA.VV, 2008, La Religión Mexica, Arqueología Mexicana, vol. Maestri, Nicoletta. Macuiltochtli, the god of drunkenness. For generating Religion Names simply scroll down and click on the Get Religion Names Button to randomly generate 10 Religion Names. Sahagun and Duran describe the pairs of high priests (quetzalcoatlus) who were in charge of the major pilgrimage centres (Cholula and Tenochtitlan) as enjoying immense respect from all levels of Aztec society—akin to archbishops—and a level of authority that partly transcended national boundaries. Some were associated with aspects of nature, such as Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl, and other gods were associated with specific trades. In front of every major temple lay a large plaza. The sacrificial victims were usually warriors but sometimes slaves, depending upon the god and needed ritual. The world, called Tlaltipac, was conceived as a disk located in the middle of the universe. Thus the pyramid-temples of important deities constantly grew in size. The Aztecs were Native American people who lived in Mesoamerica.They ruled the Aztec Empire from the 14th century to the 16th century.. But in the history of humanity, this was not always the case, and it is still not the case in other parts of the world. As a result, the Aztec shared similar gods to these earlier societies. During this, commoners would destroy house utensils, quench all fires, and receive new fire from the bonfire on top of Mt. For the Aztecs, deities of particular importance are the rain god Tlaloc; Huitzilopochtli, patron of the Mexica tribe; Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and god of wind and learning; and Tezcatlipoca, the shrewd, elusive god of destiny and fortune. This included wandering curers, black magicians, and other occultists (of which the Aztecs identified many types, most of which they feared) and hermits. How about having a look and finding a name for your baby boy. Aztec culture involved agriculture, with the primary crop being maize. Reflecting the complexity of ritual in Aztec society, there were deities related to pulque, a sacred alcoholic beverage, but also deities of drunkenness, excess, fun, and games. A person with the honourable charge of impersonating a god was called ixiptla tli and was venerated as an actual physical manifestation of the god until the inevitable end when the god’s likeness had to be killed as the ultimate sacrifice under great circumstance and festivities. Mictlan had nine layers which were inhabited by different deities and mythical beings. Additionally, Sahagun refers to classes of religious specialists not affiliated with the established priesthood. When Cortez first arrived at the Aztecs, many thought that he was the god Quetzalcoatl in human flesh. Below the Tlatoani were the high priests of these two temples. On the feast of Ochpaniztli all commoners participated in sweeping the streets. To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves in order to allow life to continue. That structure was deeply rooted in a widespread Mesoamerican tradition in which concepts of the cosmos, world, and nature were shared across most of the prehistoric societies in the southern third of North America. Although the city’s main temple was not dedicated to him, the priests of the city took his name and his iconography was prevalent. Flowers and offerings (including a great amount of blood) generally covered much of the floors and walls near these images. Other important temples were located in the four divisions of the town. In mythology, this is the name of a god of the sky. But the larger the effort required of the god, the greater the sacrifice had to be. The victim(s) would then take on the persona of the god he was to be sacrificed for. 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. The three levels, heaven, world, and underworld, were connected through a central axis, or axis mundi. Legend has it that this is the site on which the Mexicas built their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Important were the high god Ometecuhtli, the morning star Quetzalcóatl, and the various … For the Mexica, this central axis was represented on earth by the Templo Mayor, the Main Temple located at the center of the sacred precinct of Mexico—Tenochtitlan. Thus grand temples were built throughout the Aztec Empire. ThoughtCo, Aug. 25, 2020, thoughtco.com/aztec-religion-main-aspects-169343. Feasts to Tlaloc and the maize gods, blessing of seed corn, sacrifice of children at Mt. p. 8. The term is often translated as “god”, but it may have held more abstract aspects of divinity or supernatural energy, akin to the Polynesian concept of Mana. The Aztecs, the Late Postclassic civilization that the Spanish conquistadors met in Mexico in the 16h century, believed in a complex and diversified pantheon of gods and goddesses. Those who drowned would go to Tlalocan. The victim(s) would be housed, fed, and dressed accordingly. Tezcatlipoca in many ways represented the opposite of his brother, Quetzalcóatl. His image has black … Macuilmalinalli, one of the gods of excess and pleasure. Bloodletting, burial of the skins of the flayed captives, offering of flowers and roasted snakes to the earth. The cardinal directions were symbolically connected to the religious layout of the world as well; each direction was associated with specific colors and gods. According to legend, the various groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco. The Aztec religion was made up of a complex set of beliefs, rituals and gods that helped the Aztec/Mexica to make sense of their world's physical reality, and the existence of life and death.