ask an aztec polytheist!

[Sarkana night]

okay, I now I've been here at this forum for a little while, but I haven't made any threads yet. this is my first, and.... yeah, the reason was that I didn't knew how to make threads, but now I know! (thanks to dumuzi for learning me )

well, I've been asked to start an " ask a____ thread", so here it is! ask an aztac polytheist (me) and I'll do my best to answer

[Dez]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

Ok, I'm jazzed about this, especially because we don't have many people involved with mesoamerican anything wander through here

For starters, I've been reading a lot lately that implies a connection between folk saints older deities. In Mexican culture, the implications seem to be that there is a link between the Virgin and Guadalupe and the purification goddess Tonantzin as well as ties between Santa Muerte and Mictecacihuatl. Both of these are vehemently denied by anyone who is devout Christian and practices a form of syncratism, however, there seems to be some merit. Do you have any experience with this? I've been very interested in particular because it seems like it's getting ready to produce a moral panic in America, similar to the sexual abuse panic in the 80's.

Which deities do you primarily work with?

Do you have holidays that you celebrate?

Aztec cultures seemed to have an emphasis on blood offerings, how do you navigate that?

How much do you rely on archeology? Texts written by Europeans like the various Codices?

Aztec and Mayan texts both seem to have left a lot behind in terms of herbal lore...do you implement that in your practice in any way?

[Sarkana night]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

I have many experiences with people confusing some ancient gods with christian-mexican folklore. I understand that it could be very confusing to somebody (even me when I started getting into this religion) but I try to keep them split, so that Tonantzin is just Tonantzin, and not the Virgin of Guadalupe, and so on. My beliefs is about the ancient gods of mexico, not the folklore myths that came after the spanish conquest.

My primary deities are Tonatiuh and Tlaloc. If you don't know who they are, just tell me, and I'll explain.

I have a festival calendar called "Xiuhpohualli" which incluses (of course) the aztec festivals. here's a good site http://www.amoxtli.org/cuezali/festivals.html

though it may seem disgusting or wierd to someone, I actually practice bloodletting. It's a ritual where you offer the most precious you have - i.e. blood - to the gods to say thank you for the gift of life. In nahuatl it's called "nextlaoaliztli" which means "the giving of what is right".
it is very varying from person to person how much blood you give, some might even not give anything because they find it too disturbing and don't want to hurt themselves. this does not mean that I make myself bleed every evening or our or something, again, it is very varying from person to person.

since I'm studying to become an archeologist, I have learned something of what sources are believable and what are not. but mostly I like to get my information by asking someone who really practice the religion. not someone who thinks that the whole religion is just some savage crap!

yeah, I know a little about the mesoamerican herbal lore. But the most thing I've learnt about herbal lore is from my mom, and i'm pretty sure she use another kind of herbs than the ancient mesoamerican cultures.

hope that was enough answer

[Pellethie]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

Meaning no offense, but personally I do not think large scale civilization and big centralized religion worked out all that well for the indigenous peoples of this hemisphere. It alienated them from the mother.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

I know many religions were reinterperated when Christians arrived in ares, (or Romans, or other large dominating conquering presence.) Do you ever find it difficult to sift through information that was written down? I know alot of things survived, but alot of things were destroyed as well, and in alot of cases all we have are invading accounts of a particular belief or practise, is that a common problem you encounter?

[Sarkana night]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

I know many religions were reinterperated when Christians arrived in ares, (or Romans, or other large dominating conquering presence.) Do you ever find it difficult to sift through information that was written down? I know alot of things survived, but alot of things were destroyed as well, and in alot of cases all we have are invading accounts of a particular belief or practise, is that a common problem you encounter?

I've been in a lot of those situations, actually. Situations when you don't know if the source is believable or if it's just subjective things vritten by conquistadors who have a different view than the ones who actually practice the religion, or even someone who don't know much about the religion writing their meanings. It's quite annoying cause then i'm going to think over the things an exstra time every time i learn something new about my religion. is that trusable? who wrote this? is he a good source? does she know her stuff?... things like that.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

I imagine that by studying archaeology you have access to fun bits of information that is not available to everybody. Is that where you are focusing your field of study as well? Are you finding that there is more concrete information out there than you thought that there would be or less?
Also I diddnt ever focus on native cultures in school, so I really dont know much about the Aztec Society. Was religion part of society and daily life or was it a bit more separated? Was it a situation where everything you did was for the gods, or more like something you did when you were supposed to and daily life was not reflective of it? (or is it impossible to know?) Did they really do alot of human sacrifice? was it willing or peoples that they conquered? Is it all exaggerated as much as I imagine it must be?
And do you need me to shut up for a moment and stop asking silly questions?

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cause I have a few more....

[Sarkana night]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

of course you don't need to shut up. I'll gladly answer your questions;

Religion was a big part of Aztec society and they held a lot of festivals and ceremonies all the year around, but otherwise the Aztec family life was very similar to many modern day cultures. For example, the husband was primarily responsible for supporting the family and the wife’s role was to provide the family with clothing and food. As such, the Aztec daily life for many of the men was to farm or engage in craftwork. The female Aztec life, on the other hand, mainly consisted of weaving and cooking. I do not know much about if the things you did was for the gods, but i've heard something about that the world was a reflection of happening in the otherworld, like a mirror, so some of the actions humans or other animals did was a reflection of some of the actions of the Gods. (I don't really know how i know this)

And yes! they did do a lot of human sacrificas, but I can tell you, the victims was willing. In terms of the sacrifice everyone thinks about when they think of the Aztecs – you know, the blood-letting, the heart-ripping, the kicking-down-the-pyramid-stairs sort – it wasn’t always a negative experience for the sacrificee. In fact, it was seen as a great honour to die this way, especially if you were a warrior (it was seen that a warrior, to have the most honourable death, needed to die in battle or be sacrificed) or a chosen physical representation of the God or Goddess. For example, for the festival of Toxcatl, a youth who impersonated the god Tezcatlipoca for a year was sacrificed; the year previous to his demise, he was spent being pampered, trained, and given four sacred wives to satisfy his needs. He was treated as a living embodiment of Tezcatlipoca, and as he danced through the streets with his bells and playing his sacred flute, citizens came to be blessed by this godly avatar.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

If I remember correctly you are from northern Eurpoe, that does'nt seem like it would lend itself well to Aztec culture. I see you don't note that you are a reconstructionist, so I imagine dressing the part isn't insanely important. Do you have the same fascination with the culture itself as the religion, or are they separate things to you? Without knowing exactly where the Aztec sphere of influence ranged to, Have you visited the areas where the Aztec peoples lived?

[Sarkana night]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

If I remember correctly you are from northern Eurpoe, that does'nt seem like it would lend itself well to Aztec culture.

Yes I am from Denmark and insanely as it might sound, my mothers religion is asatru and my father is an atheist from Spain!
By the way, I have always been interested in mesoamerican cultures, so it was what lead me to the aztecs and their religion. My archeologist studies and my mexican boyfriend helps a lot too

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I see you don't note that you are a reconstructionist, so I imagine dressing the part isn't insanely important

I simply don't address my self as a reconstructionist because I don't think I have the right remedies and enough knowlegde to reconstruct aztec religion as close as it can be in modern days.

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Do you have the same fascination with the culture itself as the religion, or are they separate things to you? Without knowing exactly where the Aztec sphere of influence ranged to, Have you visited the areas where the Aztec peoples lived?

Yes I have a the same fascination with aztec culture as their religion, but it had not always been like that. The culture fascination started when I met my boyfriend. And finally, yes! I have been to Mexico. Guess with who
When it comes to the aztec "sphere of influence" as you describe it, here is a map: http://www.google.dk/imgres?q=aztecs...r:2,s:18,i:137

[Maria de Luna]

Re: ask an aztec polytheist!

Thanks! I always have questions, but my brain hurts today, I'll prolly have more later!