The Aztec religion, polytheistic and
based on nature incorporated the main god of tribes they conquered. This,
however, gave them such a large amount of gods that it became impossible to
worship them all. Which led to the formation of separate cults which worshiped
one god supreme and others as minor gods. This can be compared loosely to the
many separate branches of Christianity such as Protestant, Catholic, Lutheran,
or in particular, to Catholicism and the Saints.
Aztec legend of the
creation of mankind and the origins of the Aztec tribe tie directly into
reasons for human sacrifice. The main points in these legends is that the gods
sacrificed for humans, thus, humans must sacrifice for the gods. Furthermore,
the gods depended on humans for the precious liquid chalchihuatl, -- human
blood to sustain themselves. In Catholicism Christ was crucified to pay for
human sins, in turn, Catholics sacrifice during lent, but also throughout the
year. There is a close parallel between the Aztec gods need for blood and
Catholic communion: the Catholic priest who is the representative of god is
always the first one to drink the communion wine, the symbol of blood.
Another parallel
is the legend of the creation of the Aztec tribe and the creation of the god
Huitzilopochtli, one of the most important Aztec gods.
Huitzilopochtli was conceived spontaneously by a ball of down touching his
mother. In Catholicism the Virgin Mary was visited by an angel with feathered
wings to tell her that she was to give birth to the Messiah. |
Moreover, Huitzilopochtli the god of the
sun made the Aztec his chosen people in the same manner that the Hebrews where
God's chosen people in Judaism. Since Christ the Messiah was Jewish, the
followers of Christ became the chosen people of god. Another very similar
characteristic between the two religions is the fact that they both had
saviors. Jesus Christ came to earth to teach humans religion and proper
behavior; the god Quetzalcoatl also came to teach people this. They both said
that they would come again. The Aztecs view of death was similar to the
Christian view. They believed that there was a hell called Mictlán and a
Heaven called Tlalocán. Mictlán was ruled by the god
Mictlatecuhtli and Tlalocán was ruled by Tlaloc the rain god and
Huitzilopochtli the warrior god in the same manner that Satan rules hell and
Jesus and God rule heaven. The world of the dead was composed 9 levels below
and 13 levels above the earth. The period in hell was not permanent but
considered a 4 year journey, during this time the family of the deceased made
many offering and sacrifices to make the journey easier. The remnants of this
Aztec belief is the present day Mexican celebration of Día De Los
Muertos where people set up altars for the deceased and make food offering. In
preparation for De Los Muertos candy skeletons and skeleton bread are sold
throughout Mexico, this has grounds in the fact that Mictlatecuhtli the Aztec
god of the dead was a skeleton. The Aztecs' belief in how to arrive in heaven
are very different from most main stream religions. They believe that entrance
to heaven is based on the amount of suffering during life. For instance a new
born baby would go to hell for he had not suffered enough during life. In
Catholicism a baby would go to limbo if not baptized prior to death for Baptism
in the catholic faith is the washing away of original sin. Limbo is a midway
point between heaven, hell and earth. But if a baby is baptized before death,
he is immediately guaranteed entrance in heaven. The people who had suffered
such as warriors, sacrificial victims, mothers who died giving birth and slaves
were to enter heaven, just like good people do in the Catholic religion.
Furthermore, stealing was considered bad as where most things looked upon as
sins in Catholicism. The Aztec temples were a place of worship like a church.
The Spanish priests were quick to see these parallels
and made use of them. The priests used the already existing religion and made
changes. For instance they might change the savior's name from Quetzalcoatl to
Christ they might change the virgin from Coatlicue to Mary and the method of
virgin conception from a ball of down to the speaking of a Feathered angel.
These changes made it easy for the Aztecs to switch religions. One of the most
important factors was that by converting to Catholicism the Aztecs were given
the opportunity to place themselves on the social ladder with the Spanish. This
means that Mexico started to form a new culture mixed with both the Spanish and
Aztec in both blood and ideals.
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