The Aztecs were an extraordinary ancient Mesoamerican civilization. Their religion and beliefs played a crucial role in politics, culture, and almost all aspects of life. The many unique gods and deities the Aztecs worshiped played a central part in shaping their society. Human sacrifice and their calendar were also key parts of society back then. Learning about all major parts of Aztec culture will help us understand their entire empire. Aztec Gods were very important. The Aztecs had a wide pantheon of gods. This means the Aztecs believed that their gods created and shaped the entire universe. Moreover, they controlled all necessary parts of life including agriculture, weather, the success of crops, warfare, and most importantly, the sun. Two of their most important gods were Tlaloc, the god of weather, and Huitzilopochtli, the god of sun and warfare. Huitzilopochtli was the most revered because the sun’s movement was the most important idea in …show more content…
The Aztecs believed in human sacrifice, which involved tiring out their victim who was usually a prisoner of war or slave to keep them from resisting. They started to sacrifice people due to their belief that the gods, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, have killed a creature known as “Cipactli” and used its body to form the Earth, in the process, the gods lost parts of their bodies and the Aztecs believed that the gods would live off of their sacrifices. Also, the blood of the Aztecs was supposed to fuel the sun's movement to keep peace in their empire. Moreover, if the sacrifices weren’t made, then the creator gods would get angry and wreak havoc on cities like Tenochtitlan. For more background, the sacrifices would be bloodletting, the priests would cut open their hearts with razor-sharp obsidian blades. When the priest would cut the heart open the heart would still be beating. After the ritual was complete, the people would throw the dead bodies into the Templo