Aztec


 * Aztec**

Diego Gunderson Samah Ahmed Divya Joshi
 * Members:**


 * The Cosmology **

Before existance, there were two deities: Ometecuhtli, known as the Lord of Duality, and Omecihuatl, the Lady of Duality. They had four sons, each being a manifestation of Tezcatlipoca: Xipe Totec ("Smoking Mirror"), Tezcatlipoca (lord of the night sky), Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serphent"), and Huitzilopochtli (University of Texas at Austin).

There were four suns that existed before our world and each of those suns were destroyed.

The first sun was Nahui-Ocelotl. At a time when the earth was inhabited by giants, Tezcatlipoca created Nahui-Ocelotl, meaning Four Jaguar (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology). After Tezcatlipoca created the sun, Quetzalcoatl became jealous of his power. Out of jealousy, Quetzalcoatl knocked him out of the sky (University of Texas at Austin). Quetzalcoatl then turned Tezcatlipoca into a jaguar that destroyed the earth (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology).

Quetzalcoatl created his own sun. This second sun was Nahui-Ehecatl, meaning Four-Wind (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology). Tezcatlipoca threw Quetzalcoatl off of his throne and destroyed the earth with a great wind (University of Texas at Austin). The survivors of the great wind were turned into monkeys and fled to the forests (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology).

Tlaloc, created the next sun. This third sun was Nahuiquiahuitl, meaning Four-Rain. Quetzalcoatl destroyed this sun with fire falling from the heavens (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology). The survivors were turned into birds (University of Texas at Austin).

Chalchiuhtlicue created the fourth sun. This sun was Nahui-Atl meaning Four-Water. In time, this world was destroyed as the previous were. A fifty-two year long flood washed through the earth. The survivors of the flood were turned into fish (U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology.).

At the time of the fifth sun -- which was the final attempt -- the gods had a conference to see which one of them would sacrifice themselves for humans to be made (Dils). It was decided that Nanahuatl would sacrifice himself, and so he did, jumping into the fire and coming out as the sun (U.X.L. World of Mythology). Along with Nanahuatl, Tezcatlipoca jumped into the fire, becoming the moon (University of Texas at Austin). The gods were angry, though, at how long this was taking, and they slapped the moon in the face with a rabbit. However, the sun was not moving. In order for the sun to move, each and every god needed to sacrifice himself, thus creating the stars. With this last sacrifice, the earth was born one final time (Dils).

Quetzalcoatl, the serpent god, was the king of the City of the Gods. Quetzalcoatl's brother, Tezcatlipoca, was jealous of him and casted a spell that gave him a human face and upper-body, and thus, recieved all of the desires that affect humans. Quetzalcoatl had a friend who was a coyote named Xolotl, who made him a costume out of feathers and turquoise that made him look like a serpent. Tezcatlipoca again became jealous of Quetzalcoatl, and gave him wine, saying that it was the antidote to his original spell, and he became drunk and raped his sister. Later, Quetzalcoatl felt terrible and decided to kill himself, and told his servants to build a large stone tomb and put his greatest treasures in it. Then, he put on his serpent costume and set his tomb aflame, and out of the ashes, came a rare species of birds (Wilkinson, 108-109).After four days without a dawn, Quetzalcoatl went to Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the dead, to ask for the bones of the dead. When Quetzalcoatl received the bones, he ran away from Mictlantecuhtli because he heard that the dead were not trustworthy at all. While he was running, he tripped and fell, and all of the bones broke into various shapes and sizes, but Quetzalcoatl still managed to get away from the underworld. Once he reached safety, he put his blood into the broken bones, making man and woman. Because the bones were broken into different shapes and sizes, so were the people (Dils). Quetzalcoatl then taught humans how to grow maize, polish jade, weave fabrics, create masks, and the greatest of all, how to measure time. When the next dawn arose, Quetzalcoatl left Earth to become the star "Quetzalcoatl", now known as Venus, thus he is called the lord of the dawn (Wilkinson, 108-109).

After Quetzalcoatl created mankind he realized that he needed a way to feed them. One day, he saw a big black ant carrying a kernel of corn on its back. He thought that corn would be the perfect staple food to feed mankind. Quetzalcoatl turned himself into an ant and followed the black ant. He followed the black ant through a crack in a mountain. Inside the mountain he saw many other foods besides corn. There were beans, peppers, sage, and all kinds of other food. Quetzalcoatl snuck a kernel of corn out of the mountain so that humans could plant it. He then realized, however, that humans would need much more food than the kernel of corn could provide. So he asked the other gods what to do about the mountain of food. The other gods said to split open the mountain and give the other food to mankind. One god did this, and angered Tlaloc, the god of rain. Tlaloc then stole the food from the mountain with his children before the gods could give the food to mankind. To this day, every year at the time of harvest, Tlaloc and his children give a portion of that food to people, some years more than others (Dils).

Through sacrifice and cooperation, but also through pain and loss, this is the story of how the great gods created humans, the earth, the animals and the plants, and the greater beings of the sun, the moon, and the stars.


 * Bibliography **

Dils, Lorna. "Aztec Mythology." Yale-New Haven Teacher's Institute. Yale-New Haven Teacher's Institute, 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2010. .

University of Texas at Austin. "Aztec Cosmology." The University of Texas at Austin. University of Texas at Austin, n.d. Web. []

U.X.L Encyclopedia of World Mythology: Volume 1. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009. Print

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Wilkinson, Philip. Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology. Spain: DK Publishing. 108-109. Print.


 * Diego Gundersen**

Of course, Wikipedia

I found one source from the [|University of Texas at Austin] that explained the Aztec cosmology pretty well

These are my notes from //The Illustrated Book of Myths// and it explains the creation of humans:

- Quetzalcoatl was the serpent god and the king of the City of the Gods. He was very kind and looked like a snake - Quetzalcoatl's brother, Tezcatlipaca was jealous of him and gave him a human face and body, and thus he received all of the desires that affect mankind - A coyote named Xolotl was Quetzalcoatl's close friend and made him a costume out of feathers and turquoise to make him look like a serpent - Tezcatlipaca gave Qutzalcoatl wine, saying that it was the cure, and Quetzatl got drunk and raped his sister After what Samah said: - After 4 days, Quetzalcoatl came back to the land of the living to go to his bones. When he got there, he sprinkled his blood on the bones and created man - Quetzalcoatl taught humans how to grow maize, polish jade, weave fabrics, make masks, and best of all how to measure time - When dawn came, Quetzalcoatl left to become the star Quetzalcoatl A.K.A Venus, thus he is called the lord of the dawn


 * Samah Ahmed**

I looked in a mythology encyclopedia: Wilkinson, Philip. //Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology//. Spain: DK Publishing. 108-109. Print. It had a lot of information about Aztec gods including the creator gods (I'll put that up when I bring home my notes), and a really short summary on one myth explaining why the Aztecs chose thier capital city to be Tenochtitlan.

I also looked at the book Diego referenced (//The Illustrated Book of Myths)// the rest of the story is: - Qutzalcoatl felt terrible and resolved to die - he told his servents to build a stone box for him to lie in for 4 days - after the four days he told his servents to put the greatest treasures in the box and seal it up - he then put on his serpent costume and set fire to himself so that only ashes were left, and from his ashes rare birds rose into the sky (more, but I didn't get to it)

I found a source that gives a very good summary of the Aztec people and talks breifly about a creation myth [] (divya also posted this but the link doesn't seem to be working)

I'm not sure if this is an entirley reliable source, but it comes from someone studying archeology who has talked to several professors/ archeologists. Please check it out: []

I'm going to get //Fifth sun : Aztec gods, Aztec world// by Burr Cartwright Brundage from the library when it comes in.

^^good idea -Divya


 * Divya Joshi**

Ok so I found a little on aztec mythology in the mythology encyclopedias, but I didn't get the citation down (I'll write it down next time we go to the library). --> male : Ometecuhtli --> female : Omecihuatl --Divya
 * Ometuecuhtli (first deity)
 * children: Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totec (they were the creator gods)

So this one looks good, because it is from a liberal arts college so it is probably written by someone who's studies are focused on aztec mythology/myths in general, although its a little short: Pacific Lutheran University
 * four previous worlds that had been destroyed and they were created in the fifth world
 * myth of the five sons: ongoing cosmic war between Texcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl
 * Quetzalcoatl created people by gathering bones of previous men and mixing a paste using cornmeal and his own blood

Also, I found this one, and it is written by a teacher at Yale: Yale 1st attempt: 2nd attempt: 3rd attempt: 4th attempt: fifth sun, final attempt: creation of mankind: creation of animals:
 * took four attempts at creating mankind and earth before the gods got ir right on the fifth attempt
 * Tezcatlipoca changed himself into the sun (at the time when earth was inhabited by giants)
 * Quetzalcoatl was jealous at his power, so he knocked him out of the sky
 * Tezcatlpoca, angry at Quetzalcoatl, morphed into a jaguar and destroyed the earth
 * Quetzalcoatl took over and created people who ate pine nuts
 * however, Tezcatlipoca took over and destroyed the world with a great wind
 * survivors were turned into monkeys
 * Tlaloc (rain god) became the sun
 * Jealous, Quetzalcoatl sent a flood which killed nearly all of mankind
 * survivors were turned into birds
 * Chalchiuhtlicue (water goddess) took over the sun
 * earth was once again destroyed by a flood
 * survivors became fish
 * gods had a conference and decided that one of them would sacrifice themselves for humans to be made
 * one of them did and became the sun
 * however, in order for the sun to move, all the gods needed to sacrifice themselves
 * Quetzalcoatl went to the lord of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli, to ask for bones of the dead
 * when he recieved them, he started to run because he had heard the that dead were never to be trusted
 * he slipped and fell, and all the bones in the bag broke into various sizes and shapes
 * he was still able to get away from the underworld
 * once he was safe, he mixed his blood into the broken bones, making humankind (both man and woman)
 * because the bones had broken and were different shapes and sizes, so were the people
 * Quetzalcoatl realized that the humans needed food
 * he saw an ant which was carrying some corn and realized corn was perfect to feed mankind
 * so, he turned himself into an ant and followed the former ant to see where the corn was coming from
 * he was led to a a mountain, where he saw that not only corn was available, but also all others kinds of food
 * he snuck out a kernel of corn so humans could plant it
 * however, he realized that humans need much more food than this
 * all the gods met and decided that they were going to split open the mountain
 * when they did, Tlaloc, the rain god, got angry and stole all the food in the mountain before the other gods could get to it
 * to this day, the rain god and his children still have posession of all the food, and each year they give some of it to humans and some of it to tohers, some eyars more than others

--Divya

hey guys i organized the wiki a little more (even though it was already pretty organized)

Ok so like since we have informations and sources, let's just group them into the categorythings we need to cover for the cosmology so its easier to write the actual thing? -Samah

Cipactli was the chaos out of which the cosmos was created. Cipactli was said to be a monstrous creatue (alligator, shark) that lived in the ocean. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca assumed the form of serpents and coiled around Cipactl as she lay on the surface of the sea. They squeezed her and entered her deflated body through her navel. Four demigods then helped the two gods raise her upper part to become the sky. The lower part became the earth. The demigods then placed two two trees under the sky representing Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, and went to the four corners to hold up the sky. From the hair of Cipactli the gods made trees and tall grasses, from her skin they made flowers and short grasses, from her eyes they created springs, from her mouth there came rivers, from her nose there were valleys, and from her shoulders there formed mountains.
 * Origin of universe and earth**:

[this myth contains information about the creation of plants and I think it tells us the stucture if the cosmos is sea and sky] From //The Fifth Sun// (samah)

This is from the U.X.L. Encyclopedia of World Mythology: < Put citation in the bibliography please :)

- There were four suns (worlds) that existed before our world, each time, those worlds were destroyed - Tezcatlipoca created the first sun, called Nahui-Ocelotl meaning Four Jaguar. It ended when Quetzalcoatl made Tezcatlipoca a jaguar and he killed all of the people. - Quetzalcoatl created the second sun, called Nahui-Ehecatl meaning Four-Wind. Tezcatlipoca threw Quetzalcoatl off his throne, and he and the sun were carried off by a hurricane, and the people turned into monkeys and fled to the forests. - Tlaloc, the rain god, created the third sun, Nahuiquiahuitl meaning Four-Rain. Quetzalcoatl desroyed the sun with fire falling from the heavens. - Chalchiuhticue, the rain goddes, created the forth sun, called Nahui-Atl meaning Four-Water. It was destroyed by a fifty-two year old flood, and the people turned into fish. - Quetzalcoatl gave life to the people of the fifth sun, called Nahui-Ollin meaning Four-Movement, by sprinkling his blood on the bones of the man and woman who survived the flood. It requires blood to keep the world turning. One day, the fifth sun will be destroyed from an earthquake. - The earth was a flat disk divided into north, south, east, west, and a center, and each one is associated with a color, gods, and days. - One myth tells how the world was quatered. Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl made the earth by getting a woman from the sky and pulling her into the shape of a cross. Her body became the earth which devoured the dead, because of her rough treatment. - In the beginning of one world, there was darkness. The gods gathered and made a fire, and Nanahuatl jumped into the fire and came out as the sun. Before he could move through the sky, the gods had to give their sun blood. Therefore, Aztecs believed that they must sacrifice to make the sun go around. - One myths tells how the sky was made. After the forth sun was destroyed, the sky collapsed. Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl became trees ,one at each end of the earth, and pushed the sky up as they grew. (--Diego)

__Taken from yale website:__ (-Divya)
 * Origin of animals and plants:**
 * Quetzalcoatl realized that the humans needed food
 * he saw an ant which was carrying some corn and realized corn was perfect to feed mankind
 * so, he turned himself into an ant and followed the former ant to see where the corn was coming from
 * he was led to a a mountain, where he saw that not only corn was available, but also all others kinds of food
 * he snuck out a kernel of corn so humans could plant it
 * however, he realized that humans need much more food than this
 * all the gods met and decided that they were going to split open the mountain
 * when they did, Tlaloc, the rain god, got angry and stole all the food in the mountain before the other gods could get to it
 * to this day, the rain god and his children still have posession of all the food, and each year they give some of it to humans and some of it to tohers, some years more than others

__There were five attempts at creation of mankind-__ 1st attempt: 2nd attempt: 3rd attempt: 4th attempt: fifth sun, final attempt: __Man and woman were created together when-__ (taken from divya's info from Yale)
 * Origin of humans (noting if men and women were created together or separately and how): SO THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS WE FOUND OF THIS STORY**
 * Tezcatlipoca changed himself into the sun (at the time when earth was inhabited by giants)
 * Quetzalcoatl was jealous at his power, so he knocked him out of the sky
 * Tezcatlpoca, angry at Quetzalcoatl, morphed into a jaguar and destroyed the earth
 * Quetzalcoatl took over and created people who ate pine nuts
 * however, Tezcatlipoca took over and destroyed the world with a great wind
 * survivors were turned into monkeys
 * Tlaloc (rain god) became the sun
 * Jealous, Quetzalcoatl sent a flood which killed nearly all of mankind
 * survivors were turned into birds
 * Chalchiuhtlicue (water goddess) took over the sun
 * earth was once again destroyed by a flood
 * survivors became fish
 * gods had a conference and decided that one of them would sacrifice themselves for humans to be made
 * one of them did and became the sun
 * however, in order for the sun to move, all the gods needed to sacrifice themselves
 * Quetzalcoatl went to the lord of the dead, Mictlantecuhtli, to ask for bones of the dead
 * when he recieved them, he started to run because he had heard the that dead were never to be trusted
 * he slipped and fell, and all the bones in the bag broke into various sizes and shapes
 * he was still able to get away from the underworld
 * once he was safe, he mixed his blood into the broken bones, making humankind (both man and woman)
 * because the bones had broken and were different shapes and sizes, so were the people

__Other version: (__//Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology)// -Quetzalcoatl was the serpent god and the king of the City of the Gods. He was very kind and looked like a snake - Quetzalcoatl's brother, Tezcatlipaca was jealous of him and gave him a human face and body, and thus he received all of the desires that affect mankind - A coyote named Xolotl was Quetzalcoatl's close friend and made him a costume out of feathers and turquoise to make him look like a serpent - Tezcatlipaca gave Qutzalcoatl wine, saying that it was the cure, and Quetzatl got drunk and raped his sister - Qutzalcoatl felt terrible and resolved to die - he told his servents to build a stone box for him to lie in for 4 days - after the four days he told his servents to put the greatest treasures in the box and seal it up - he then put on his serpent costume and set fire to himself so that only ashes were left, and from his ashes rare birds rose into the sky - After 4 days, Quetzalcoatl came back to the land of the living to go to his bones. When he got there, he sprinkled his blood on the bones and created man (This is where we insert the story above with the details on the creation of man) - Quetzalcoatl taught humans how to grow maize, polish jade, weave fabrics, make masks, and best of all how to measure time - When dawn came, Quetzalcoatl left to become the star Quetzalcoatl A.K.A Venus, thus he is called the lord of the dawn (--Samah)

im not sure about this BUT it seems to me like the hierarchy is as follows: gods > humans (male and female) > animals (--Divya) Actually I think the question was asking more about the structure of the cosmos, like sky, earth, water, and i think that it might be sky and water (samah) o.O
 * Structure of the universe (are there any hierarchies?):**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These are the nine ﻿levels of the underworld: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. River <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Clashing high mountains <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Obsidian mountain <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4. Icy winds <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5. Flapping flags all over <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">6. Arrows shot at soul <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">7. Ferocious beasts eat hearts <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">8. Narrow passages between hard rocks <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">9. Darkness and rest

This is the social structure: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1. Nobility <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Rulers (tlatoque): supreme rulers of major political bodies <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Chiefs (tetecutin): high military and governmental positions <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Nobles (pipiltin) children of rulers and chiefs, occupied by governmental, religious, and military positions

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2. Intermediate positions <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Merchants (pochteca): merchants that are organized into guilds and trading over long distances <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Luxury artisans (toltecca): artisans of crafts such as gold and featherworking

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3. Commoners <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Free commoners (macehualtin): agriculturalists, fishers and utilitarian craftsmen <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Rural tenants (mayeque): commoners who worked on the private lands of the nobility. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">- Slaves (tlacotin): attained their status through gambling, economic necessity, or a criminal act

This is from the University of Texas one. <--- Cite this too (--Diego)

Cyclical and constantly changing, this is why they have separate calendars for different things (sacred calendar, yearly calendar) -from //The Fifth Sun// (Samah)
 * Process of the universe (time):**

ok i think we have enough info we can start putting it into a story? and it should be pretty easy b/c we already organized it. --Divya YES. I think the part about the creation of the world should be first and then maybe about the creation of humans. Starting with all the attempts at making makind. Then where do we put in the answers to the questions about the process of time, the structure of the cosmos? -Samah

Here let's start our bibliography: (We can edit this list later)

In-text Citations: .........(Dils). .........(Pacific Lutheran University) .........(Wilkinson, 108-109) .........(Brundage)