Death And Afterlife Of The Aztec: Death And Afterlife

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Aztec: Death and Afterlife
Contrary to the majority, the Aztecs did not believe that one's afterlife was determined by the way they lived. Rather they believed it was determined by the way one died. Aztecs believed that there were different realms you would go to depending on how you died. Growing old was not seen as a great achievement, therefore those who died a normal death would go to the underworld called Mictlan. The Aztec underworld consisted of nine levels. A person would start off on the top level and have to endure trials and rough terrain in order to get to the final ninth level where their soul would finally be at peace.
Dying in battle or through sacrifice was considered honorable therefore they would go either to a paradise …show more content…

The Aztec believed they would be assigned jobs in the afterlife where they would continue to play their part in the cycle.
One of the main things the Aztecs are known for are their human sacrifice rituals. They believed that life and balance would not be possible without offering sacrificial blood to the gods since the gods sacrificed themselves to give them the sun. Burying the dead was seen as an act of feeding the earth. The Aztecs preformed two rituals for the dead, the first being for children and the second being for adults. The ritual for adults put special focus on warriors who died in …show more content…

Then the dual god Ometecuhtli/Omecihuatl who was both bad and good, male and female created itself. It then gave birth to four children who represent the directions; the god Xipe Totec (north), the god Huizilopochtli (south), the god Quetzalcoatl (east), and the god Tezcatlipoca (west). These gods then go on to create water and other gods. One of the gods they created was named Cipactli, a sea monster who was part fish and part crocodile. Eventually everything the gods would create would fall into the water and be eaten by Cipactli, because of this the gods decided Cipactli needed to be destroyed. The gods attacked Cipactli pulling her in all four directions and destroying her. In doing so Cipactli became the universe. The four gods used parts of her to form the earth such as the forests, rivers and moutains. Her head held the thirteen heavens, the underworld was at her tail and the earth was in the

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