Throughout history, civilizations have sought to clarify and justify the world around. In the Mesoamerican region that encompasses the majority of present-day Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, the Aztecs and Maya developed the concept of the “cosmovision”(Lopez Austin). The cosmovision was derived from the notion that a cosmological force was driving the all aspects of community, religion, communication, family, life etc., which was a driving force in the interactions between the hierarchies. It was a means to incorporate space and time into a unified entity. Overall, the cosmovision is defined as a structured group of ideological systems that have gradually evolved to meet the need of the society (Carrasco 2012: p. 211). The cosmovision is …show more content…
The process consisted of three distinct phases: the preparation period, the ceremonial sacrifice and the acts of nourishing the gods and the community. Prior to any sacrifice, “there were extensive purification techniques, embowering, songs, and processions of deity impersonators to different temples in ceremonial precincts,” (Carrasco, 1990 p. 67) which exemplifies the precision and delicacy of such an act; there were special implements such as obsidian knives that were reserved for such occasions. Overall, there were elaborate musical and artistic components that unified these …show more content…
This included bloodletting, which were a non-lethal and commonly practiced ritual, sacrifice of non-human creatures and the donation of precious objects to the religious centers. It was believed that “the human body was the potent receptacle of cosmological forces, a living, moving center of the world” (Carrasco, 1990: p. 86). The elite classes in society to bring the ancestors and deities and the time of myth into the realm of humans to nurture agriculture, empower a lord at the time of his enthronement, or prepare a community for war often performed