Sacrifice In The Aztecs

Introduction

How far would you go for your god? The Aztecs would probably do almost anything. Picture a man begin strapped to a post and then repeatedly shot all over the body with arrows. Once the man is covered in arrows he is taken to an Aztec priest where he is to be skinned. After the victim was done being skinned he would be decapitated and his head wold be placed on a stick, sometimes the Aztecs would cut up the entire body. They then would wear the victims skin around while performing this sacrifice and the ritual to appease the gods. Could you imagine what it would be like to be a part of that ritual everyday? Or to wear someones skin as a favor to your god? It is absolutely disturbing. The Aztecs had many ways of sacrificing

people. It often deepened on which god they were performing the sacrifice for.

Each and every one of these sacrifices were completely brutal. They would take their own people and put them through a series of torturing techniques in order to please their gods. They sacrificed men and women of all ages. Many times they would sacrifice young children, because that is what the gods required. But could there be logic behind the horrible things that the Aztecs did to there now people? Although human sacrifice was extremely brutal, there could be some logic as to why it was done. Often when people thing of human sacrifice they think about death and that the victim is always killed in the end. However, many of the Aztec human sacrifices that were performed didn’t end in death. They were still very brutal to the victim, for example having one method of sacrifice was bloodletting. This was when an Aztec would use self harm in order to loose a generous amount of blood for a god, but not enough blood to die. Aztecs used human sacrifices because they wanted to appease their gods, they wanted to prevent the universe from crumbling, and they believed it was an

honorable way to die.

Body

Sub-Argument 1

The appeasement of the gods was the main focus of human sacrifice. The beliefs that the Aztecs had and the way they viewed the universe was the reason that they performed these brutal rituals. For them, human sacrifice was a part of their culture. Culture refers to ones way of life. More specifically, culture is the traditions and customs that are learned in ones culture. These traditions help to shape the beliefs and behaviors of a certain group of people. In this case, the Aztecs beliefs about the gods shaped the way they acted in order to lease them. The Aztecs believed that, with human sacrifice, they could nourish the gods and provide an opening between their world and the world of the gods.
The sacrifices that they performed were centered around their core beliefs.

Aztecs would use human sacrifice as a way to nourish the gods. They believed that they owed everything to the gods because the gods sacrificed themselves for the people. An important belief to the Aztecs was the “Legend of the Five Suns.” In this legend it was believed that the gods all sacrificed themselves for the human race. There are many different gods that the Aztecs believed in, and each of those gods required a different form of sacrifice. Some different sacrifices were women should be skinned, men should be burned, ones heart should be extracted, a maid should be sacrificed, one should be drowned, or one should be starved. This is only a short list of the many methods Aztecs used to provide a sacrifice to the gods. This type of behavior can be compared to religious practices seen in today’s society. Many religious people today have at least one god. In order to keep their god happy they go to worship and pray to that god habitually. Of course this isn't as violent and brutal as what the Aztecs did but we must understand that is what they believed in. They believed that their gods wanted sacrifices so that is what the Aztecs gave them. Today many people also believe that their actions will determine whether they will be blessed by their god or granted entry into heaven when they die. The Aztecs had beliefs similar to this as

well.
The Aztecs believed that the sacrifices that they performed provided an opening between their world and the world of the gods. This opening wasn't just a one way street. It allowed for the gods to come to Earth as disguised people and it allowed for the people to enter into the heavens after death. This opening was known as “the crack between walls.” Aztecs believed that extremely bloody and violent sacrifices would provide these openings. If they wanted access to the gods and for the gods to have access to them, then human sacrifice was the answer. The same goes for praying today. Today many people pray to their god for answers or for guidance. They go to worship in order to assure that they will go to heaven or be granted a good afterlife. There are so many ways that people form good relationships with their gods, it isn't something that is right or wrong, it is something that is believed and practiced by different people in different ways.

Sub-Argument 2

Aztecs strongly believed that if that if they did not perform human sacrifices the universe would collapse. The gods sacrificed everything for the people, therefore the gods controlled everything for the people. There are many ways in which the Aztecs believed their world could end. They believed that gods controlled the sun, fire, weather, one’s destiny, plague, rain, and much more. They also believed in something called the “52 year cycle,” which was an event that potentially brought the end of the world.