Aztec Religion Explained
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2024
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Bibliography:
David Carrasco, "Religions of Mesoamerica," 2nd edition, 2013.
David Carrasco, "The Aztecs: A Very Short Introduction," 2011
Isabel Laack, "Aztec Religion and Art of Writing," 2019.
Michael Smith, "The Aztecs," 1996.
Jonathan Z. Smith, "The Devil in Mr. Jones," in the book "Imagining Religion."
FINALLY made the sequel! Watch "Maya Religion Explained" here: th-cam.com/video/VcBA9e5osxU/w-d-xo.html
Great job on Qetzalcioatl, showing his tangents.
@@MagicJesus❤q
Hmm, very interesting 🤔 I found particularly interesting the concept of tonalli and teyolia, and the fact that serpent lie at the base of the pyramid. I think that the tonalli refers to the fundamental energy of the universe - vibrations of fundamental fields such as electromagnetic, electron, quark fields, etc. That's why they see it in everything. And it's really literally in everything, physics-wise. The serpent, with its wave-like form, represents the waves in these fields, which are the basis of matter, and therefore it lies at the basis of the pyramid, symbolizing the hierarchy of organization of the physical world. And the teyolia is the symbolical representation of a computational intellect of the universe, thanks to which it evolves and takes on various forms.
It is also especially tempting to assume this in view of some similarities with Hindu symbolism. I think all those ancient dudes knew something about the true nature of reality.
"I am human. And nothing human is alien to me."
That really hit hard.
but you’re a bird
@@mrblack8447 Sir, you've made my day. Thank you ^V^
I’m happy to hear xD
MeXica AKA MexIcaN were still breathing were still here !!!!
not even the child molestation then..
As mexican whose birthday is today, this is the best gift, thank you
I hope I did it justice. The scholar whom I relied on the most in this video is Dr. David Carrasco. He's a Mexican-American scholar and an inspiration of mine.
@@ReligionForBreakfast You did, I learned a lot. I particularly liked how these gods are harder to classify than greek or norse gods. When I tried to learn about them I was always confused, for example one source would say Huitzilopochtli was the god of the sun, but another would say Tonatiu was, your explanation helped me understand
I would like you to make more videos about these religions, and perhaps give us your criticism of the movie Apocalipto (which I hate)
My only complaint is that you said that Mexico was in Centro America instead of North America. It feels like if Mexico wasn't worthy of being in the same geographical region as Canada or the USA
Happy birthday :)
Happy Birthday!
hvppy birthdvy ☄️☄️
Correction: Lake Texcoco didn't just dry up, it was drained on purpose in the hopes of creating farm land.
By the colonizers *
@@ferbatdoll5702 I know right, just thinking about how this marvel of nature was destroyed by so called "civilized" people just makes me mad.
How did they dry it up?
@@StallionFernando the lake was drained by the channels and a tunnel to the Pánuco River.
@@MattSinz oh I see, that is a shame, would have been beautiful, assuming it was maintained. Mexicans don't take much care of rivers and lakes, or at least from what I've seen when I visit, so many lakes and rivers ruined by trash and sewer dumping.
It's funny how if you grew up in Mexico you by nature know how to pronounce most of the Aztec names.
Although we don't know the nahuatl language, a lot of cities and town are still nahuatl. So you learn to pronounce them, hence pronouncing other names isn't that hard.
It's no surprising, if you analyze it you will notice that Nahuatl has grammatical similarities with Spanish
@@AngelHernandez-zl5yrthe comment said pronunciation, not grammar
@@AngelHernandez-zl5yrAnd the Mexican regional accents are associated with the indigenous languages that are spoken around the area.
Not just cities, objects, words, a lot of foods. Peanuts, mole, tamales, etc are all basically nahua. Cacahuatl = cacahuate, tamalli = tamale, molli = mole
Im mexican american but once i got older I found out my father speaks nahuatl and his 2nd language is spanish and now he knows english aswell
I am mexican myself, so I grew up hearing many things about the aztecs, however I still feel that I barely know anything about them, and something even more worrisome: we know even less about native cultures that still exist and they are currently mistreated by our modern society.
This is a hard truth. It’s a shame and a travesty that the U.S doesn’t have the history of the land they are on in their curriculums
because the Spanish destroyed every civilisation they came across.
@@sunionbroofastora5474 they have almost nothing in their history curriculums lol.
@@humanity600 For real! 😂😤 It’s pretty infuriating
@@sunionbroofastora5474 😂👌
Props from a mexican for not shying away from difficult pronunciations! Great video as always my man
This comment confuses me
@@callmeswivelhips8229 the names are hard for English speakers to say correctly so we usually butcher pronunciation, the video didn't i suppose
@@tux_duh That's what I'm saying...I speak Spanish, and his pronunciations of Spanish words _definitely_ made me cringe repeatedly
@@callmeswivelhips8229 They're way better than most I've heard, I personally think he did a great job.
@@poison806 I suppose he did at least pronounce all the letters. Just with English phonology instead of Spanish.
As a Mexican I really appreciate this, people often depict aztecs as some vampire culture, it's so widely misunderstood
There is nothing "misunderstood" about millions of people getting brutally murdered in some barbaric ritual because they think the sun won't come up otherwise.
The amiunt of apologists for Aztec savagery makes me lose faith in humanity.
@@nikobitan7294 lol ur Eurocentrism is showing
@@nikobitan7294 What about the crusades?
And the inquisition?
And the blood rituals of ancient hebrewism?
@@cellydude8544 Right, it's very eurocentric to think that humans being tortured and sacrificed to make the Earth krep spinning is immoral.
Somehow I don't feel bad about being "Eurocentric" if the alternative is literally being a sociopath
@@nikobitan7294 Are we just gonna ignore the centuries of Christian torture? The burning and torture of heretics, the Spanish Inquisition, etc. There are examples of torture and killings in the vast majority of religions.
It is perhaps worth mentioning that human sacrifices were quite common in Western history. Think how even Augustus/Octavian sacrificed his enemies to the gods, after some defeats; a practice he abandoned in his later years. We could even argue that the witch burnings and the Inquisition were a sacrifice, despite being in the late medieval times, to appease God so that he forgive their sins (in actual inquisitional speeches the priest and inquisitors literally speak of a "sacrifice for the greater good" because "we all have sinned", and so that society is about to be cleansed).
Yes, in fact human sacrifice is present in Abrahamic religions. Human sacrifice is not just a practice to feed a deity, but also as a ritual purging/purification ritual, which is present in both Christian and Islamic history.
Easily! Who hasn't sacrificed? Really though I wanna know! I don't believe there's one society that hasn't
@@nullvoid6095
Even the idea of ritual cannibalism isn’t alien to Christianity. In this case it’s symbolic instead of literal, but drinking wine in church is meant to symbolize the blood of Christ and bread his body.
The Roman’s only “sacrificed” leaders and monarchs of conquered territory during triumphs, so you’re looking at on average maybe one a year, that’s not comparable to 20,000 innocent people a year man
The Carthaginians also committed human sacrifice as well to increase plant fertility, so much so that when the romans took over they momentarily adopted their practices
Man, this is the best video ive ever seen on any indigenous american religion.
This is a topic I’ll look forward to see! I LOVE to see the representation.
the best one I ever seen is Gemmu Setto Machu Picchu
Same
Right? They did an amazing job on this one.
I love how you used the term indigenous American religion but I would suggest using Mesoamerican religion or Mesoamerican religious traditions
Small note, and very minor at that. But when you mention the Florentine Codex it should be worth noting that most of Bernadino De Sahagun's informants were from Tlatelolco. Why does this matter? Shortly after the founding of Tenochtitlan, a portion of the Mexica nation split themselves off and formed their own dynasty and city-state north of Tenochtitlan. The Mexica were divided into Tenocha and Tlatelolcan, and though they had a shared culture and language they developed distinguished identities.
In 1473 the tlatoani of Tlatelolco, Moquihuix was killed (unclear if he was thrown off a temple or committed suicide), and thus Tlatelolco was made subject to Tenochtitlan. It would no longer have their own ruler but instead the city would be ruled by a governor subservient to Tenochtitlan. And though the Tlatelolcans would help their Tenocha brothers during the Seige of Tenochtitlan when the Spanish arrived, resentment was still high and very evident in many Tlatelocan sources. This is the reason why Moctezuma is portrayed as weak-willed and foolish, while Cuauhtemoc is portrayed rather valiantly and praiseworthy especially when one considers the Cuauhtemoc's mother was related to Tlatelolcan royal family.
I understand this is a lot of context for an admittedly very tiny note, but I feel it should be included as this small tidbit has sort of poisoned the well so to speak about how we engage and interpret the Conquest, especially Moctezuma's character. I'm not going to touch the Quetzalcoatl-Cortes myth, but just know that the political and religious context of Mexico at the time has accidentally created one of the most persistent historical myths that really speaks a lot how cultural/historical narratives are formed, contextualized, and re-interpreted.
Fascinating. Are there any books or other sources you would recommend that deal with this topic?
Interesting tidbit! Having read Bernal Diaz's account of the events, it doesn't paint Moctezuma in the best light either, though he isn't exactly a neutral observer. Overall, it does seem that he attempted appeasement and failed rather spectacularly. Or is there an alternative narrative that I'm not aware of?
@@colinhay1666 Worthwhile readings I personally suggest are:
Camilla Townshed's "Fifth Sun: New History Of The Aztecs." It's not a historian's rundown of the facts, but rather an attempt to use indigenous and quasi-indigenous sources to try and re-contextualize how the Nahua world was like prior and immediately following the Conquest.
Matthew Restall's "When Montezuma Met Cortes" is another worthwhile work. More of a history, but this work focuses more on rather Restall "debunking" various post-hoc narratives about the Conquest.
More quasi-indigenous sources worth reading might be the Codex Chimalpopoca translated by John Bierhorst if you can stomach really obscure mytho-history. Part of the Codex Chimalpopoca is the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, a mytho-history of the Cuauhtitlan nation and their friendship of the Mexica nation up to the Conquest. The author of this section has a very obvious Christian bias, calling every god a "demon" or "wicked sorcerer." And the last portion of the Codex is a version of the Five Suns Myth.
Considerably longer is the History Of The Chichimec Nation by Don Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl. Thankfully recently translated into English the work is a partial mytho-history of the other city state of the Triple Alliance, Texcoco. The work provides a very Texcoco view of the Empire, and as well as glorification of its most famous monarch Nezhualcoyotl. It should be noted that Don Fernando was a Castizo nobleman descendant of Nezhualcoyotl who complained frequently about his dwindling Texocan estate, and his desire to portray his ancestors as equal to that of Rome or Classic Greece. As such still an invaluable source, but keep in mind his potential biases.
@@TraverseTheo Thank you!
Thank you for the additional reading material. :)
It's unfortunate that we often tend to view the native peoples as a monolithic bloc, putting " _the_ indigenous people" against the Spanish, instead of taking their diversity and internal power struggles into account.
The story of Cortez being hailed as a God is often presented with connotations of Aztec ignorance but with the context of their personification of Gods it makes a lot more sense.
He wasn’t “hailed” as a God. He was believed to be the incarnation of a prophesied deity. He fit the description almost word for word and, coincidentally, his arrival on the shores of Veracruz matched the prophecy as well. They assumed he was a God before even attempting to see if he was legit or not. Not anything due to him being “worthy” of it.
@A C Smallpox and other diseases need to be factored in too, but I'm not gonna debate the intricacies of empire collapse and conquest with someone unable (or unwilling?) to differentiate between "steal" and "steel".
That was a european myth, the same hapen with Hawaii.
@@josuemc93 Moctezuma told cortes “your not a god, stop acting as one” albeit a little simplified but it still makes it clear that the Aztecs DID NOT believe cortes was a god.
@mrsniffles5417 This is a lie that has been perpetuated as if it had been true. The Mexica people of the Aztec Empire did not mistake Hernán Cortés and his landing party for gods during Cortés' conquest of the empire. This myth came from Francisco López de Gómara, who never went to Mexico and concocted the myth while working for the retired Cortés in Spain years after the conquest.
That they were gods "is supposed" to also have been said by Hispanic chroniclers who accompanied Cortés, the main "testimony" is given by Bernal Díaz ... except that Bernal was illiterate (which is why many believe that he was a pseudonym of Cortés). There are no Aztec testimonies where it is said that the Hispanics were gods.
Actually the Aztecs did not think that the Spaniards were gods since they had already defeated them in several battles, they had made many of them bleed, even murdered.
During the Flight from Tenochtitlán the Aztecs killed so many Spaniards that Hernán Cortés cried like a baby in the Tacuba tree of which the stump is still preserved.
I'm not Mexican or of Mexican descent, but around when I was in highschool I was thinking of Aztec culture and realized I didn't know anything about it and pop culture doesn't paint a flattering image so I started doing some research on my own starting with a figure I was familiar with Quetzalcoatl and started learning about his stories and relationships to people and other gods. There was a whole lot of misinformation out there and various different interpretations out there that made some things difficult to understand but I am now a firm admirer of Mesoamerican Culture and history and while my friends consider me an expert on the subject I know there's still a lot that I don't know so I am always interested to discover more! Thank you so much for this video!
Proud of you for your critical thinking
This is what happened to me, I’m Guatemalan American and I’ve been subsequently taught how brutal Aztec or Mayans were, granted in some instances they were however it is should not hold them for what they were, people just like you and me who accomplished amazing feats of engineering, astronomy, mathematics and more
Like the end of the video in some ways I carry shame, however over the last few months I’ve been full pride of my ancestry and hope to continue to studying what my ancestors accomplished.
Heck, the Spartans were praised for carrying out infanticide. And you don't even want to think about how many BABIES were actually killed in Rome. (But to say this: Roman didn't believe a baby was actually "alive" until a certain point.) The Greeks like, PLATO, I think advocated for killing the invalid and disabled. If you really look at some of these old cultures, they too were brutal. The Coloseum is just the iceberg.
Just fyi stress in Nahuatl is strongly penultimate. So it's tenochTItlan, TLAloc, NAhuatl, etc.
I may or may not have gotten flashbacks of my very impassioned Mesoamerican history professor insisting that we learn to pronounce eight foot long Nahuatl technical terms like xochiyaoyotl and Huitzilopochtli correctly.
If you're interested in a very approachable breakdown of classical Nahuatl and linguistics, the channel Nativlang has a great video on the topic.
This. Loved the video but some of those pronunciations were a bit rough.
@@jecaurhyn I agree completely. I've believed for some time now that to at least put in an effort into proper pronunciation is to show respect to the culture you wish to learn more about. It's like learning about the history and culture of the people whose language you are learning. You pay it forward.
@@jecaurhyn Tenoschtelitelan! :D
Also represents /w/, and isn't actually a vowel.
@@slayerslayer7623 Good catch!
I'm so happy you did this! I remember recommending you do more indigenous American religions in one of your live streams and I'm super excited to see you finally do it. They are hard to get some good information about and this video is wonderful! Thank you.
@Dylan Manson more like everything was destroyed
@Saadiya Rothschild
Did you even read the comments in the thread?
@Saadiya Rothschild
You still haven’t answer my question.
Do you even read the comments in the thread?
@Saadiya Rothschild
Again. Can you read English?
You still haven’t answer my question. It’s a simple thing to do.
You’re just being tangible on appealing to stone claims.
@Dylan Manson actually there are multiple prehispanic codices. you are just ignorant to history and have an obviously skewed preconceived bias toward my ancestors.
As someone with heritage from one of the countries that make up the Mesoamerica region, Carrasco has summarized my feelings better than I've ever heard before. The mix of shame and pride, and being connected to a whole civilization that's mocked and ignored yet with a history that still deserves respect.
It’s crazy how alot of these religions classified as “polytheistic” religions have multiple gods that are just different forms of one main god in different forms similar to Hinduism
Yes.
Teotl is a concept very symilar to Brahman.
It's also fascinating to note that art, especially music, was considered the most primal form and abode of Teotl.
Not only the gods tho.
Humans, plants, rocks, water and animals were manifestations of Teotl.
Just like how everything in Sanatna dharma is seen as a manifestation of the infinite Brahman
@@subhashishdey4010 There is also GARUDA vs NAGA on our flag.
The C1 haplogroup may have come from Indonesia or a Dravidian or Bengali influence. It explains why Nepalis look like Oto Mangueans
Only Hinduism do we have many gods that are many aspects of one God
In that sense they are more pantheistic than polytheistic
And Aztecs also have cycles.
Do you know what religion have cycles too? Hindus
awesome video and thanks for explaining the difference between Aztec and Nahua and specifying you're talking about Mexica Imperial Religion
Starting with 4 minutes of caveats is my kind of video.
As a proud Mexican myself, I can totally relate to those "Aztec moments, " or better yet "Mesoamerican moments" because the Nahuas were only the last of the great civilisations that rose in the land now called Mexico. The comparison between the ways in which the US and Mexico see themselves couldn't be more spot on. It is exactly right how we are defined as a country by our defeats, our ability to make fun of ourselves and enjoy life. I don't see it as mediocre, but as human. We were brutally invaded multiple times, our temples destroyed, our codices burned, our people massacred, our country mutilated in half, and yet we persist and thrive not having started a single war since independence. Let the party continue with a cold beer with lime juice and chilli (michelada) and some spicy tacos! ¡Viva México!
Right on dude! We got this!
Viva 🙌 🎉
🇲🇽
As a proud Native American, I am honored that my ancestral “Aztec” brothers and sisters of the past are so widely known and discussed continuously. I only wish the Spanish hadn’t erased almost all other Native American tribes/nations in Mexico. The remaining few that are left that almost no one knows about... and all other Native American tribes in the past now “extinct” and unknown hurts my heart deeply 😔
A religious war cult took over another religious war cult....
In regards to human sacrifices, can you imagine what impression the crucifix may had caused upon the indigenous people at their first glance? Literally a representation of a god being tortured in the most horrendous manner.
Though a god taking form in a human body and then getting ritually killed must have been familiar to them, and as actually a good thing.
There is quite a difference between martyrdom and human sacrifice, but the superficial similarities must indeed have been striking.
@@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts Was Jesus really a martyr? I thought that was the followers of Jesus who got murdered and died eagerly to testify about the strength of their belief.
Jesus supposedly died to reconcile god with the humans after the original sin broke that bond with him (I know, the theological idea is really absurd)
@@petrairene The idea isn't absurd. And yes, he was martyred, that was the whole point.
@@EcclesiastesLiker-py5ts One can conceptualize the crucifixion as a martyrdom, but doctrinally it's a lot more crucial to see it as a sacrifice. The important distinction though is that it was a willing sacrifice done out of love (and it was the final, ultimate sacrifice).
Thank you so much for raising up the voices of indigenous peoples. As an indigenous Mexican/Peruvian American, I find it difficult to celebrate my heritage because of how marred it has been, both by colonizers and the colonized. So many people point to sacrifices as the only feature of these religions and, as a result, of the culture and people. I take pride when I learn more about the history of my ancestors, and I hope that I can continue to celebrate my heritage and know it well.
It's good to find pride in your heritage, as everyone should!
@@mike7652 I agree! What is that flag btw? Is that a Forest Finns' flag?
Pride? U find pride in savage iron age society that u call ur culture
@@ishaan7900Listen to yourself. You sound like a savage to me. Killing millions of people in their homeland, enslaving people, killing among yourself by world wars is more savage primal bestial human behaviour.
@@himanshukhichar4185 hey, he is probably a Rice-bag himself, what to expect from him. He will definitely glorify his colonial masters, so as not to sever ties with his supposedly holy ROMAN heritage.
Oh nice! I really like that you're making videos on lesser studied religions. I certainly enjoy the videos on Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc, but videos on more neglected religions really help me gain a better understanding on and combat any stereotypes I may have about them.
That is the goal for 2021. Diversifying the topics. Confucianism series launching in April (-ish).
@@ReligionForBreakfast I'm excited.
@@ReligionForBreakfast Can I expect some Santeria, Voodoo or Candomblé content?
Hatian Vodou currently in the works. Might expand that.
A geuinely positive comment on the internet - wonderful to see.
I completely agree with your point on Aztec gods being best understood as powers or forces of nature. The same could be said of other mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya. Fantastic video, greetings from the Yucatan,
Exactly. The crazy thing is that this has been the most common manifestation of human spirituality across the world since mans existence but somehow these animistic belief systems have been demonized and subordinated by Eurocentric religious interpretations and expressions.like when he describes people dressed as good weren’t acting as them but were them is something I never heard about Aztecs doing but is very easy for me to conceptualize and relate to as possession, coming from a Haitian background. It’s also what comes to mind considering the idea of spirit animals in Native American cultures
"I am human, and I think nothing human is alien to me." - Terence
Europe: "oh my god! Human sacrificing! How barbaric"
Also Europe: "boy, I should take the kids to go see that hanging of a poor person. There's been so little entertainment lately"
Its typical western ideology.
“When they do it it’s horrible, when we do it it’s justified.”
They would go around hunting for “witches,” pulling unsuspecting women and girls out of their own homes and torture/burn them in front of the large crowds, all of this to supposedly lift off the curses on the towns/villages, ie, droughts, famines, etc. This was really prevalent in Europe since the 16th century and lasted for over 200 years after.
Also Europe: I heard that you're a witch
@@insertobject4002 Also Europe: Human sacrifice.
Their sculptures are fascinating to me. There are so many beautiful and delicate details, I wish we had more of them, not only to understand more of them, but also to admire. Amazing video, thank you!
Thank you for this video! The Aztec taking of religious symbols from their neighbours reminds me strongly of the Bronze Age Near East, particularly with the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
The Hittites also did something similar during their conquests. It seems like a pretty smart move for an Imperial power in a culturally heterogeneous, polytheistic context.
Its interesting how certain religious/imperial/cultural practices evolve convergently.
As someone who lives in the Caribbean, and pre-Columbian history is ignore most of the time, this video is pretty informative, it's always good to learn about what was before. Even if they didn't affect the natives in my country
I thank my Dad for still passing down these Legends to me. He made me proud to be Mexican.
keep your culture alive 🇺🇲❤️🇲🇽
Hopefully the Maya are next cuz it’s my favorite MesoAmerican Civilization!
Come to Yucatan and meet us directly :D
@@iluan_ my family is from Michoacán I never been to Yucatán but hopefully once COVID is over I will go there. Hopefully this channel does a video on the Tarascan religion since they were never conquered by the Aztecs.
“Tenochtitlan was on a lake, which over the centuries dried up”. Wasn’t it drained?
Kind of. The lake was partially saline. Much of the water of the lake came from direct rainfall. Drainage systems were built to avoid the accumulation of water in the basin and avoid the reformation of the lake.
Don't believe this white guy. It was a swamp that the Mexica turned into a channelled lake then the Spanish filled it in and drained it
No - it's water still flow in Mexico City today. Mexico City even sinks three centimeters a year.
@@tecumsehcristero well it wasn’t ALL canalized. There still was a lot more lake than man made land by the time Mexico City was formed. Some canals are even still left in the outskirts. But yeah, it definitely didn’t drain naturally.
For centuries the lake was a source of water, edible fish waterfoul and shellfish and even fertile soil, but also a source of water born illnesses and frequent inundations. With time and the growth of the city the water became saltier and dirtier, making it less useful but not less dangerous, between the end of the XVIII century and the end of the XIX century drainage projects began to exist, by the end of the XIX a great excavation give (el tajo de Nochistongo) give the lakes (plural by then) a drainage.
The last great inundation was in 1957, the last great drainage project (ampliación del Drenaje Profundo) ended a few years ago.
Without the drainage projects, the lake would have became increasingly salty and shallower until eventually dried up by itself, but in several thousands of years.
Thanks man. In Mexico we do not get this information during our formative years at shcool. I apreciate this lecture, and hope you keep talking about mesoamerican cultures.
Dude we totally do lol
@@MyMusicSosa
No a mucha profundidad
I did in school. Besides we have hundreds of archeological sites and museums, not to mention the books and the access to indigenous communities. I think you’re failing as a Mexican.
@@ddmddmd I'm a historian now, but no; we do not get this info during primary school. I guess you already failed as mexican if you think our education system is top notch.
@@lideruploader6577 "failing as a Mexican".... is that even possible?
I wonder what spanish missionaries thought when aztecs said to them that teotl means god, given that teos means god also in greek (theology). Cool syncronicity
🤔
Unless....
I don't think they ever made that connection. I'm Spanish, and if you read the primary contemporary sources from the Conquistadors you see that they got all of the native names hilariously wrong. They were more concerned with the human sacrifices and they thought that the bloody Aztec gods were manifestations of the Devil.
@@hullie7529 Well, it's not a great leap. None of them had seen such horrors before, especially not on such a gigantic scale. Also, many of the conquistadores were illiterate themselves.
Theos doesn't mean god in the Judeo-Christian sense just a god singular and Theoi is Gods plural in Greek
Teotl just means a God
I love that you're prefacing your video by describing EXACTLY what you'll be talking about; more TH-cam educators need to do this.
Good video as always. As a Mexican, I sometimes feel those Aztec moments, too. I love Nahua's poetry and I cannot but feel amazed by the recreations of Tenochtitlan in the middle of Lake Texcoco. However, it is difficult to ignore the gruesome rituals. Having studied this framework before, I can understand the idea of spilling human blood, but there are some horrific details of the sacrifices that are simply beyond my comprehension.
Btw, you said there were still Nahua people living in Central America, but they live in Mexico, that is part of North America.
It's no different than the child sacrifice practiced by many other cultures, Carthaginians included. There is a reason why humans thought they needed to sacrifice other humans. Even the Bible depicts Abraham willing to sacrifice his only son. Maybe we need to figure out why that was.
Mr Torres, may I ask you as a Mexican does all the country take pride in its Aztec heritage or is it more associated with the culture of the indigenous groups mentioned at the start of the video ?
@@MP-tj5xv The Bible specifically used that scene to condemm Human Sacrifice. Abrahamic religions have been responsible for their own lot of massacres, and are generally not very tolerant towards other religions. Since their beginning however, they stood out for strongly condemming human sacrifice and infanticide (perhaps one of the reasons they were so succseful), which were very common among polytheistic peoples.
@@coe3408 My point was that is was so common, that Abraham didn't think twice about it.
@@MP-tj5xv My bad. Exactly!
Hello Mark! Thank you for this video! As a Mexican person, you have no idea how many times human sacrifice has been cited to me as proof that Europeans did actually deliver civilization to savages and as justification for messed up manifest destiny ideas. It is great to see a well-documented take on a practice that was very real, but was not the entirety of Mesoamerican culture.
And also not unique! Europe was not without this concept, they just had more convoluted justifications for it
So, basically our world is the fifth in a chain and we live under constant threat of doomsday which could be prevented only by helping vague god-powers through yearly human sacrifices. Sounds like a cosmic horror.
That's about what all religons sound like, but there is more to it than what you described.
@@komododragon6061 I think this person is an anti theist.
One of the most interesting things to me about religion is the adaption of the major/colonially imposed religion mixing with folk practices. Like the fact that on so many occasion people went, “yeah we have something like that too” and just absorbed it is amazing. Something like folk magic and Christianity in Appalachia is a great example of this idea as well.
The merging of the Aztec goddess Tonantzin and the Virgin of Guadalupe are an excellent example of this.
The same thing did Rome with this thing called "Christianity", and the same thing did they with past civilizations like Sumer and Babylon. No surprise nor something amazing there, it's just what happens
Well, all of Christianity's holidays are Pagan holidays. It wouldn't have spread otherwise. For example, to this day, people throw an effigy of the goddess of winter, Morana, into a river, when spring comes. It's especially common in Moravia and Slovakia, but also found among Poles or Bohemians for example.
Yeah, we don’t have much tolerance for syncretism in the US. You are told you Can’t be more than one religion at a time, or you have to follow Christianity the same way your branch tells you too. It’s not like Muslims, Buddhists and atheist in other counties can’t celebrate Christmas one way or the other so why not accept that that option exists?
@@yucol5661 It's ironic how they hate syncretism there, yet the whole of Christianity is just syncretic judaism and paganism with a bizzare confusing theology on top, like God sending his son, who's also not his son but himself, to Earth, to sacrifice himself for our sins, or rather, the sins of our great-great-great-great-great-great-etc.-grandparents, like eating an apple, but he also doesn't sacrifice his life, because in 3 days, he's resurrected and reunites with his father, but also doesn't "reunite", as he is God and always was. And then there's the Holy Spirit, who is that supposed to be?
I would love to see a follow up video on modern Aztec religious practices.
This was gonna be what i went to grad school for for a long time. And most those locations and sites you spoke about like the anthropology museum and the templo mayor I've been to.
I do large posts on Mesoamerican history and have collaborated with a number of History focused channels on the topic: Within the first minute and a half, with your excellent breakdown of Aztec, Mexica, and Nahua as terms, I could already tell this was going to be a great video! I do, however, have some corrections and clarifications. This is a bit out of order, but regarding those skull rack excavations, something I think is important to note, something I wish you did in the video, is that while the excavations do confirm that the Mexica practiced mass-scale human sacrifice, it also almost certainly DECONFIRMS that those scales were as massive as many Spanish or even joint Indigenous-Spanish sources claim: Estimates far the rack's total size as of 2018 is roughly 11,700 skulls. Sounds like a lot, but when you consider that many sources report the Mexica sacrificing hundreds of thousands or even millions a year, roughly 12,000 doesn't really seem like a lot. The underlying skull towers too are being excavated and across a 16 year deposition phase from 1486 to 1502 (which would include the alleged 1487 reconsecration of the Great Temple where 80,000 were allegedly sacrificed in 4 days) for one of the two towers, only roughly 500 skulls, as of this year, were found to have been deposited... 500 across 16 years, that's paltry!
Obviously there's ambiguities here: Skulls were removed from the rack as they decayed (place onto the towers, is my understanding). I'm also under the impression, though I cannot find a source to verify this, that the rack was cleared every 52 years for the New Fire Ceremony. Presumably also, not every victim would have their skull placed onto the rack or towers at all. So this is not to say that the Mexica, across Tenochtitlan's roughly 200 years history, only sacrificed 12,000 people, or that only 500 were sacrificed across a decade and a half.... but it does certainly suggest figures more in the annual ranges of hundreds or thousands, rather then tens or hundreds of thousands... of which you note, the majority were enemy soldiers (though the media reports don't say 75% of the skulls found were men of warrior age, it says rather that 75% of them were from men, and a vague "most" of that 75% was warrior age)
Secondly, you do state in the video that the interpretation of Nahua gods as natural forces (as different forms of Teotl as a monist force) is an interpretation by SOME researchers, but aside from a minor line noting that, you spend a lot of time on that interpretation and I think could have given another disclaimer that it's not universally agreed on; especially since you don';t give that many when you get to the different parts of the human spirit and talking about it in the same sort of context of a of metaphysical energy interpretation. I''ll admit that even i'm not up to date on the scholarly debates and academic consensus on all of Miguel-Leon-Portilla and James Maffie's work (who are largely responsible for that interpretation, especially the latter), especially since I can't read Spanish or Nahuatl and that debate deals with extremely specific connotative wording in 16th century sources I'm at the mercy of flawed translations of, but I do know that it's controversial; even if a lot of what I've read about those proposals make sense, especially how they tie into more universally agreed on concepts of dualism, especially that of life death, and cycles in Nahua thought.etc. To be clear, though, what is in contention (to my understanding) isn't if "Teotl" can refer to some sort of broader supernatural energy in addition to a deity in a traditional sense, that much is mostly agreed on, but rather in just how exactly to interpret that more abstract Teotl concept in Nahua thought. If anything, though, my impression is that Ometeotl, who's existence largely comes from Leon Portilla's work in Aztec Thought and Culture, is even more controversial then Teotl monism, with many researchers now believing that it didn't actually exist, at least as a worshiped deity: While I see debate over both the Teotl-as-a-monist-energy and the existence of Ometeotl, I see more concessions of the latter being flawed with decent frequency even by people who otherwise advocate for Leon-Portilla's work.
Looping back to earlier in the video I think it's important to stress that Tenochtitlan was not conquered merely by Spanish Conquistadors, but by armies (and less often acknowledged) rulers and generals such as Ixtlilxochitl II and the two Xicotencatls, from local city-states and kingdoms. (in the video, you reference the Aztec Empire conquering villages, and while there were small vilages in Mesoamerica, as there were hamlets in Europe and Asia, there were also plenty of larger cities belonging to other Nahuan cultures, or cultures beyond the Nahuas and Maya: The Zapotec, Mixtec, Purepecha, Totonac, Huastec, Otomi, etc) The amount of troops from states like Tlaxcala, Texcoco, Huextozinco, Xochimilco, etc on the "Spanish" side absolutely dwarfed the number of conquistadors present, both individually and especially combined: Some estimates put the combined Mesoamerican armies who particpated in the Siege of Tenochtitlan at a total in excess of 200,000, compared to the roughly 1000 conquistadors present. These were not simply under Cortes's direction, either: the kings and generals of those states were active commanders, in some cases making military maneuvers that were purely to their own benefit of conquering other cities around the valley for their own political benefit, even if it undermined Cortes's directives, who was forced to go along with it given how much he and the other Conquistadors were using the much more numerous Mesoamerican armies as a crutch. It could be argued that it wasn't a "Spanish" conquest at all, just one the Spanish were able to benefit from the most in the end due to a combination of diseases and peculiarities of Mesoamerican geopolitics, namely their reliance on hegemonic political systems where opportunistic secession and rebellions were common, and willingly pledging yourself as a subject or ally of another power (in this case and over the next few decades, namely Spain) and helping them conquer existing political players was key method of political advancement. (NOT "seeking to be free of Aztec oppression", as oft claimed, which was actually fairly hands off, hence the above dynamic existing to begin with... but this is a religion, not a geopolitics video!)
Lastly (I do have some other smaller nitpicks, and a longer tangent about Huitzilopotchli and some informal research I and some archaeologists I speak with have been doing to tie into your aspect point, but the comment was getting caught in a spam filter) even though I largely think you did an great job presenting the information you cover, I can't help but feel that the video's scope itself was perhaps a little misplaced: A significant majority of the video's scope and focus was on sacrifice, or giving the cosmological context to then delve into sacrifice. Towards the end of the video, you bring up that the Nahuas were poets, philosophers, artisians, etc, but you never really delved into, say, poetry touching on the themes of Nahua thought and how that tied into their religion, such as how life's transience is a common theme in such poetry, which in turn ties into the understanding of how life and death are in a cyclical relationship, as seen in cyclical creation myths (and it should be noted that the so called "5 suns" myth is just one of many variations, not all are cyclical), and the act of sacrifice, being another step in the cylical process of the gods creating the world (or being, in a teotl monist perspective), plants and animals consuming the sun's rays, the rain, people consuming animals, and then the gods consuming humanity via sacrifice.... granted that still deals with sacrifice, but hopefully you get the idea, and there were certainly other rituals and elements which focused on offerings of food, non fatal blood letting; or philsophical/ethical themes rooted in religious concepts like Tlazoli (though again, Maffie's teotl monism does tie that into sacrifice in a neat way), etc.
Anyways, I hope none of this came off as overly critical! This is a far better video on Mesoamerican then most on youtube, I just also gave more granular feedback then normal BECAUSE how it's above the usual bar of quality! if you ever decide to revist Nahua religion, I'd be happy to help out!
Great write! This comment should be pinned, add a lot of context to the topic.
This is an essay with how long it is. Why not just make a response video?
@@user-ze3tq9hf9i I don't know how to edit videos or have any experience doing narration. If I did, I'd have my own channel with Mesoamerican history videos.
I maybe remembering wrong, but I think even Leon Portilla has gone back on the idea of Ometeotl. Maybe not, but the idea of it existing is still controversial.
What an interesting culture. Thank you for the informative comment
Mind blowing, very interesting, learned things that even as a Mexican loving our ancient civilizations didn't know, thank you!
This is remarkably well done. Your introduction of the topic with Aztec metaphysics really served to help the listener see the connections that the Aztecs made.
As asides: God-Impersonation reminds me quite a bit of the Catholic belief of In Persona Christi during Confessions. And your point on how Aztec gods were more like forces than anthropomorphic “sky people” mirrors the way that I understand a great deal of religion and mythology.
Great work! I would love to see El Día de los Muertos covered one day.
You are so easy to listen to and the way you organize your videos makes it even easier to digest. Thank you so much
As always, a very informative and well put together video. I especially enjoyed the level of transparency you put forth in this one.
Thank you very much for your content. It's always a very welcome and comfortable form of entertaining education.
I was surprised to see Thor used an example of a “god of ...” because most scholars of Old Norse and of Norse mythology that I am aware of are at pains to point out that, unlike the Greek Gods, the Norse gods are not rulers of discreet areas, but primarily are personalities who have associations, but who’s associations are fluid and also overlapping.
Similar, perhaps, to Aztec gods.
It went by a bit too fast but he introduced that section as "in modern pop culture". The same reservations should be made with regard to the Greek gods - Ares as "the god of war" is very simplistic and not really representative of actual Greek religion (although in a different way than Norse gods).
But it's true for the understanding of the general public, formed by pop culture and introductory history schoolbooks, I think.
Norse gods were associated with certain things, at least when they started interacting with Roman culture and Norse gods were equated with Roman gods (Thor and Zeus for example were equated due to their mutual association with thunder)
@@varana Ares is very much a war God but he does go beyond that
It's NOT Norse mythology it's Old Norse religion or Norse religious traditions and the Norse pantheon aren't personalities like some characters in a book they're living beings who hold dominion over many areas of life each
It honestly saddens me that mesoamerican religions are shoved to the wayside in terms of getting adaptations or representations in media because a lot of it is equally as, if not more, interesting compared to the more popular Norse or Greek/Roman mythologies
Watch Onyx Equinox, an animated show that just focus on mesoamerican religions and mythology.
agree completely, I find prehispanic theology truly amazing, even I think that the egyptian religion is still very overlooked.
@@LuisFlores-tx4ee Sumerian/Babylonian and Aztec Death cults nao!!!1
Let's lay off calling Norse or Greek religious traditions "mythology" because that's a Christian thing to do and these religions are just as valid as Christian or Islam
@@LuisFlores-tx4ee Egyptian religious traditions are more popular than Greco Roman religions almost
I've been reading about this for decades and your presentation was not only clear but made interesting connections that had not occurred to me previously, esp. the Jim Jones angle. Excellent work!
As a Mexican I must say your pronunciation of nahuatl and tenochtitlan is amazing!
Always wanted to know more about this subject! Thanks for covering it!! Love your videos. Keep it up!
This was incredible! It may be one of your best videos yet!
I really love these videos and the way he approaches each religion/ religious movement. Learning about history and religion is something I really enjoy and he makes it easy to understand
Great pronunciation. Congrats. I truly enjoy all your videos and the breadth of your knowledge.
A small thing but I really appreciate you using the term “invaders” when describing the Spanish. That word isn’t used often enough when talking about the Europeans who came over.
True, but the Aztecs were just as much invaders as the Spanish... they didn't rise form the ground in Mexico like plants, and they definitely weren't the first ones there-- they conquered the place.
8:48 "All your gods are belong to us."
Polytheistic religions do seem to be pretty flexible.
Old meme lol
@@mathewfinch because they don’t want to get rid of them despite foreign occupation and demanding of assimilation. The occupier technically didn’t care as long as their own religion was still held sacred abode the knee they considered ‘uplifting’ or ‘primitive’.
What you say?
So glad that I found this channel. Another awesome video.
Your videos always acknowledge and expose the nuances of a topic. That isn't common. I really appreciate it.
Incredibly fascinating as always!
I read a book about the Aztec's when I was about 10 and found it fascinating, it's not really taught in schools in Europe (except in maybe Spain) but the book was very heavy on graphic images of hearts been cut out which was vaguely disturbing, I can still see an image of a bunch of men queueing up to be sacrificed... probably very sensationalised. Incidentally, lots of businesses here called themselves Aztec because it put them in a optimal place on yellow pages (back when it was actually a big yellow book!) right at the top with a noticeable Z.
My Family lives in that Valley, have lived here for 100’s of years it’s name is tzompantli. From what I’m told it’s the place they would hang all the heads from the people that got sacrificed. It’s a farming community but apparently there’s still a few Aztecs because people still are turning up dead.
Which country are You?
Hello
@@migguel3774 Ireland
Yeah it’s crazy
The human sacrifice happened 13 times a year
Which is a crazy small amount when you compare it to the pop culture interpretation of blood thirsty savages practicing sacrifice and vampirism
The reason there are so many skulls and bones is because these things went on for centuries!
There’s similar inhumane treatment all over the ancient world, it takes different forms but it was ever present unfortunately
@@bbqseitan7106 yes and I wonder if some of the sacrificed volunteered or were not unhappy about it ? Maybe they believed they would join the gods and be free of a life of drudgery working in the fields ? The Vikings carried out human sacrifice which was depicted in the television series of the same name. I don't know about the historicity of the depiction but it was filmed rather beautifully and tastefully.
I love all of your videos, Andrew, but this is definitely one of my favourite ones! 🖤
Always informative in matters of religions concerns delivered with open state of mind, love the video guy keep on the good works
As a rule of thumb, when I hear "cannibalism", I have to remind myself that I can't internalise connecting it to a certain culture until I've read decent enough sources
I’m a descendant of Aztec, this is amazing to watch- thank you!
This is the best video I’ve ever seen about Aztec religion. Great job!
You show so much respect towards all faiths and religions. It's so beautiful!
This is why understanding language is so important. Each vocabulary from different times, places, cultures creates reality. Language creates reality. The language of the toltecs/mexicas/aztecs created an expansive reality in which people participated with their lives in the dance of the cosmos and the cycles of Earth. There are people in Mexico and New Mexico who speak Nahuatl. They are usually elders, but some younger people still learn. The day this language dies, if it does, will be a very sad time that wipes out the living memory of our ancestors and a unique and rich reality which includes Smokey Mirror.
Such a responsible and nuanced analysis. Thanks for distinguishing between the state religion of the Mexica of the 16th century and modern, Nahua folk religion. Great channel, thanks again :D
I minored in anthropology, and I was lucky enough to have a professor who was also an archeologist that discovered a lot of mesoamerican artifacts. She was my favorite instructor and had such a passion for the indigenous peoples of central/southern America.
I'm honestly thrilled to see a video of this calibur on the subject available for free, on the internet. Thank you so much for the time that you put into your channel and the quality of your videos.
❤ thank you! It’s too easy to shy away from these topics but this was really well rounded
Oh i can’t miss this! Great work!
I’m excited, and so thankful to you for helping me learn about my ancestors !
Thank you for the hard work and knowledge!
Thank you for making this interesting and informative video. I am completely fascinated w/ old Aztec culture. When I visited Mexico City about 20 years ago they were excavating some of the ruins out from under the Zocalo.
Imagine traveling back in time to see Tenochtitlan in all of its glory. But then you witness a human sacrifice and try your best not to faint.
This is amazing. These vids are the reason I subbed lol
This was a great, informative , well thought out video, of a sensitive topic. Thank you. As a descendent of the Mexica myself I truly appreciate this. Thank you. 🙏🙏🤘🤘
idk why but for some reason I loved the disclaimers at the beginning of the video. I think its great when terms and the viewpoints of sources are made clear before the start.
Great synthesis! Best wishes from Cancún (Kan-Kun=Snake Place), México! CM.
Perhaps one of the most interesting videos in your library. I taught my Mexican students the history of the Aztecs and wish I had this video available at the time. What I missed was A LOT. Thanks again for such a great video and superb series on religions. I am watching all of them!
I love how you start with explaining the whole "Aztec" origins, and your caveats!
This was absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much.
thank you for posting amazing and thorough information on mesoAmerican religions, a topic that is very rarely talked about. especially how most of our modern knowledge of them is filtered through a European christian viewpoint.
As someone of South American decent I would love to be able to learn more about our ancestral religions
I think it's extremely unfortunate this indigenous culture was only taught to american students briefly as "other" and only notable for their human sacrifice. As a mexican american i think the romanticism of europe and the savior complex given to columbus in textbooks contributed to my childhood shame for my heritage :(
I apologize your culture was passed over. However, most European Americans and African Americans arn't even taught that they have a culture to begin with. And if they are taught, it's usually African Americans being taught that their cultures begin with slavery era colonies, and European Americans that we have some "connections" to Europe. It seems no body in the Americas are really encouraged to find out where they come from, or what their cultures were.
Shut the heII up, if you want to study your own history, nobody is stopping you.
But it's not the responsibility of Europeans to teach you your own history
@@HIMYMTR are you brain dead? Your reply doesn't even make sense.
Nice and finally. Great video and thank you.
Thank you so, so much for this. Fascinating stuff!!
Thank you for this. Religion is a central part of Mexican culture and I am glad not only our scholars wish to praise our ancestors but also non-Mexicans have a way of viewing the Aztec religion as more than just the gore everyone knows about. Thank you.
Such a great video, I’d love to hear your take on the syncretism between Mesoamerican religions and Catholicism!
This was excellent! I learned so much.
That Terrence quote is awesome. Great video!
Very insightful and scientifically accurate video, I’d like to know more about the toltec and Zapotec religions, if possible in another one, greetings from Mexico
I always enjoy the Christian videos as I grew up believing that religion and it’s nice to be more informed than I once was. However, this was probably the most engaged I’ve ever been while learning about a religion. Love it!
Oh my god. You are about to get the ONLY compliment I have ever gave to any English native speaker. Great great great video. Really good work, thumbs up from Mexico City
Awesome video that goes in detail and shines a light about Aztecs and clears many misconceptions
It is well worth visiting the Templo Mayor and museum in Mexico City. The Spanish cathedral right across the square, with modern building surrounding feels anachronistic. Like you are seeing all the layers of history at once. The Aztec stone work and sculptures are incredible. The abstract style stands out and looks almost modern
All my life I've yearned to visit Angkor Wat, the pyramids of Giza, Stonehenge, etc.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit Tikal.
OMG! Tikal!
It's been in my geographical back yard, completely overlooked! I've been exploring the ancient structures of the New World, on site or through media, with awe ever since.
I am just new to this channel but loving the comment section so full of people excited to learn
A very interesting and informative video. Thank you!
Well, you are a great one! I haven't seen any really good videos about the Aztec religious practices, or generally Native American. Might there be something mor in planning? I'd love to see more on other also U.S. American tribal religions and practices.
Greetings.
One thing the Aztecs should be remembered for is that they had underground plumbing at a time when Europeans were throwing their waste in the street.
And public schools.
Byzantium has very sophisticated water and wastewater infrastructure.
@@j.obrien4990 Roman sewer system was forgotten for a long time though
@@enesbilgin937 but not in Byzantium
@@j.obrien4990 Byzantium is roman
Excellent explanation. Thank you!