Terrifying Aztec Religion Explained

Twitter: Tony4YouYT
#religion #theology #mythology

0:00 Intro
01:15 Aztec Creation Myth
07:33 The Rituals
12:27 Outro

The Aztec gods are some of the most enigmatic aspects of theological understanding. The thought of a belief system so strong you would be willing to send hundreds of your own people to meet their fate in the terrifying death ritual is difficult to wrap your head around. Everyoen knows Quetzalcoatl, but the rest of the Aztec religion is still unknown to many people. What did the Aztecs believe? What is the Aztec creation myth? The native religions of north and south America and especially the ancient Aztecs, are fascinating to learn about and explain. There is much more to the people of ancient Mexico than simple worship of the sun, it goes much deeper than that. The Aztecs and their gods deserve much more recognition than they have now. Regardless of the macabre death rituals of the Azteca, there is a wealth of fascinating lore and mythology to the people of that culture than you might initially think. Of all the pantheons known throughout history, few could match the fame, or rather, infamy, of the Aztec gods. With the many rituals involving grievous bodily harm or even death, this culture has become synonymous with the practice of human sacrifice. With the idea baked into the very creation myth of the Aztec belief system, it was closely tied to everything they did, and the citizens were even happy to volunteer their heads onto the chopping block. Despite the ritualistic slaughter of thousands of their own citizens, drenching the steps of their pyramids with a sea of red, this culture endured and thrived for hundreds of years, so let’s learn what we can about their gods and try to understand just why they underwent such gruesome rituals. Without any further ado, let’s talk about the terrifying Aztec Gods.

[TonyYou]

**God Name Guide**
Huehueteotl the Old god
Itzpapalotl the Obsidian butterfly
Quetzalcoatl, god of life
Huitzilopochtli, god of war
Tezcatlipoca, god of providence
Xipe Totec, God of seasons and agriculture

[hbb]

Mexican historian here 😊. We have multiple creation myths, there's another one in which Coatlicue (The Earth) becomes pregnant with The Sun (Huitzilopochtli) releasing the rage and envy of her older daughter Coyolxauhqui (The Moon) and her 400 (400 equals infinity in the aztec mythology) brothers (the stars) and when The Moon was about to murder her mother she gives birth to Huitzilopochtli who borns out dressed as a warrior and kills his sister beheading her, the battle is represented as the moon phases hence a expression we have here "beheaded moon" when referring to the new moon phase.
As for the willingness of the rituals the actual consensus is that they were not voluntary nor totally accepted by the population, but rather a way of control the citizens, since the aztec society was a heavy theocracy this helped the priests to keep control under the monarchs and the people as well (much like inquisition) there was even a reformist priest called Tlacaelel who was silently killed for suggesting human sacrifices were not necessary and they should be moving away from that practice, this oppressive system was what took the empire down along with the conquerors.
As for the rest, pretty good research work, the effort really shows ❤ and just for adding to the creepiness, is well know that there were priests with such an expertise in taking the heart out that they reached a point where they were able to do it barehanded.
Thank you for sharing this piece of my county's history I really appreciate it.

[TidalVex]

Imagine sacrificing most of your pantheon and then finding out the sun just needed a little push to get moving lol

[tinybee]

It's interesting to see how the concept of sacrifice is ingrained in the Aztec beliefs that even the gods themselves would offer up their lives in order to fuel the sun. From around four hundred of them to suddenly just a handful, I can't imagine what it must've looked like.

[axelded]

1:30 love how the murals for this are literally alien vs predator. 😂

[GioGio]

I love how this man went from Persona videos to videos of mythology and the beings that make it so fascinating. Really love your content g!

[jyojitsukikage]

1:32 Why is there an Alien VS Predator reference? Ah well, they look cool in Aztec art anyway.

[kairos]

As Mexican It's good to see that you aren't flowering the telling of the story. I had heard many telling of the story but most over look or down play the brutality of the old peoples.

[Servings]

Excellent video! Few people know anything about Native American mythology, and there's so much disinformation about how the Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans lived and worshipped. You did great work covering it to the best of modern knowledge.

My favorite part of Mayan mythology in SMT is that Xibalba, which means "place of fear", isn't portrayed as Hell or another dimension in Persona 2, but as a spaceship. Weird and trippy, but the fact is, we have no idea what the afterlife is really like. I'm sure that's on your list for future topics.

[RHolloway]

It should also be mentioned that like all mythology there are various versions of the Aztec creation myth, but the theme of sacrifice still stands.

Love learning about Mesoamerican culture & religion! Thank you!

[emilianojaramillorodriguez]

As a Mexican, I love seeing you covering this culture ❤

[Elite_Teach]

Happy Halloween! 🎃🎃




I’m starting to notice a pattern where we’re in the “worst times” and a time of peace is coming next in religion

[pkmntrainerlewis]

I really liked this video! Just some extra facts, the word Aztec was coined by a German anthropologist (can’t remember their name ) it derived from the fabled land of Aztlan where the Nahuatl/Mexica’s come from.

[renegaderaven]

Lmao, I think that was an Aztec like drawing of Alien vs Predator at 1:30.

[natenamaxisbored]

Nothing like a good lesson from my favorite smt channel

[mirulrs]

I wish there is a subtitle whenever the gods name were mentioned so its easier to follow, eitherway fascinating video!

[ThisIsABadIdeaSrsly]

Those gods are pretty fucking metal not gonna lie.

[Oni_Kami_]

Fun Fact: Dishes from Mexican Culture are based on the combination of both Mesoamerican and Spanish couisine. A lot of things (like "Pozole") were made in aztec's times by using pieces of human flesh and several body parts... Think about that next time you wanna go out and enjoy some good ol' Tacos lol

[xr]

EYYY I love meso stuff, and my birthday was just over the weekend this is awesome! I really hope P6/Whatever the next smt game is has more native mythology in their shadows and demons, I know there’s a few but it’d be dope to see even just one character have something as their main persona

[theratman]

0:07 Disclaimer: Temple of Doom is not accurate to Hindu ritual