Huītzilōpōchtli
Huitzilopochtli | |
---|---|
God of war and will, Lord of the Sun and fire.
Patron god of the Mexica Ruler of theTezcatlipocas | |
Other names | Blue Tezcatlipoca, Omiteotl, Mextli, Mexi, Huitzitlon, Huitzilton, Tzintzuni, Huitzi, Huichilobos, Vichilobos, Opochtli, Inaquizcoatl-Tezcatlipoca |
Abode |
|
Symbol | Aztec, (Mexica) |
Festivals | Panquetzaliztli |
Personal information | |
Parents | |
Siblings |
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Children | None |
Huitzilopochtli (
The
Etymology
There continues to be disagreement about the full significance of Huītzilōpōchtli's name.[5] Generally it is agreed that there are two elements, huītzilin "hummingbird" and ōpōchtli "left hand side." The name is often translated as "Left-Handed Hummingbird" or "Hummingbird of the South" on the basis that Aztec cosmology associated the south with the left hand side of the body.[6][7]
However,
The hummingbird was spiritually important in Aztec culture. Diego Durán describes what appears to be the hummingbird hibernating in a tree, somewhat like the common poorwill does. He writes, "It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, ... the little bird is reborn."[8]
Origin stories
There are a handful of origin mythologies describing the deity's beginnings. One story tells of the cosmic creation and Huitzilopochtli's role in it. According to this legend, he was the smallest son of four — his parents being the creator couple of the Ōmeteōtl (Tōnacātēcuhtli and Tōnacācihuātl) while his brothers were Quetzalcōātl ("Precious Serpent" or "Quetzal-Feathered Serpent"), Xīpe Tōtec ("Our Lord Flayed"), and Tezcatlipōca ("Smoking Mirror"). His mother and father instructed him and Quetzalcoatl to bring order to the world. Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans, the Earth, and the Sun.[9]
Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess,
Huitzilopochtli is seen as the sun in mythology, while his many male siblings are perceived as the stars and his sister as the moon. In the Aztec worldview, this is the reason why the Sun is constantly chasing the Moon and stars. It is also why it was so important to provide tribute for Huitzilopochtli as sustenance for the Sun.[13] If Huitzilopochtli did not have enough strength to battle his siblings, they would destroy their mother and thus the world.
History
Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the
There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. This celebration day, known as Toxcatl,[15] falls within the fifteenth month of the Mexican calendar. During the festival, captives and slaves were brought forth and slain ceremoniously.[16]
Every 52 years, the Nahuas feared the world would end as the other four creations of their legends had. Under Tlacaelel, Aztecs believed that they could give strength to Huitzilopochtli with human blood and thereby postpone the end of the world, at least for another 52 years.[citation needed]
In the book El Calendario Mexica y la Cronografia by Rafael Tena and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the author gives the last day of the Nahuatl month Panquetzaliztli as the date of the celebration of the rebirth of the Lord Huitzilopochtli on top of Coatepec (Snake Hill); December 9 in the Julian calendar or December 19 in the Gregorian calendar with the variant of December 18 in leap years.
Sacrifice
Ritual Sacrifice and self bloodletting were key offerings. The Aztecs performed ritual self-sacrifice (also called autosacrifice or blood-letting) on a daily basis.[17] The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed daily nourishment (tlaxcaltiliztli) in the form of human blood and hearts and that they, as “people of the sun,” were required to provide Huitzilopochtli with his sustenance.[18]
When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli, the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone.[19] The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade.[20] The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God. The body would then be pushed down the pyramid where the Coyolxauhqui stone could be found. The Coyolxauhqui Stone recreates the story of Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtli's sister who was dismembered at the base of a mountain, just as the sacrificial victims were.[21] The body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of the victim. He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an offering, or use the pieces for ritual cannibalism. The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors.[22]
During the festival of Panquetzaliztli, of which Huitzilopochtli was the patron, sacrificial victims were adorned in the manner of Huitzilopochtli's costume and blue body paint, before their hearts would be sacrificially removed. Representations of Huitzilopochtli called teixiptla were also worshipped, the most significant being the one at the Templo Mayor which was made of dough mixed with sacrificial blood.[23]
Warriors who died in battle or as sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli were called quauhteca (“the eagle’s people”).[18] War was an important source of both human and material tribute. Human tribute was used for sacrificial purposes because human blood was believed to be extremely important, and thus powerful. According to Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli needed blood as sustenance in order to continue to keep his sister and many brothers at bay as he chased them through the sky.[citation needed]
-
Human sacrifice as shown in theCodex Magliabechiano
The Templo Mayor
The most important and powerful structure in Tenochtitlan is the Templo Mayor. Its importance as the sacred center is reflected in the fact that it was enlarged frontally eleven times during the two hundred years of its existence.
The Coyolxauhqui stone
The
Mythology
Many gods in the pantheon of deities of the Aztecs were inclined to have a fondness for a particular aspect of warfare. However, Huitzilopochtli was known as the primary god of war in ancient Mexico.[29] Since he was the patron god of the Mexica, he was credited with both the victories and defeats that the Mexica people had on the battlefield. The people had to make sacrifices to him to protect the Aztec from infinite night.[30]
According to Miguel León-Portilla, in this new vision from Tlacaelel, the warriors that died in battle and women who died in childbirth would go to serve Huitzilopochtli in his palace (in the south, or left).[31] From a description in the Florentine Codex, Huitzilopochtli was so bright that the warrior souls had to use their shields to protect their eyes. They could only see the god through the arrow holes in their shields, so it was the bravest warrior who could see him best. Warriors and women who died during childbirth were transformed into hummingbirds upon death and went to join Huitzilopochtli.[32]
As the precise studies of Johanna Broda have shown, the creation myth consisted of “several layers of symbolism, ranging from a purely historical explanation to one in terms of cosmovision and possible astronomical content.”[33] At one level, Huitzilopochtli's birth and victorious battle against the four hundred children represent the character of the solar region of the Aztecs in that the daily sunrise was viewed as a celestial battle against the moon (Coyolxauhqui) and the stars (Centzon Huitznahua).[28] Another version of the myth, found in the historical chronicles of Diego Duran and Alvarado Tezozomoc, tells the story with strong historical allusion and portrays two Aztec factions in ferocious battle. The leader of one group, Huitzilopochtli, defeats the warriors of a woman leader, Coyolxauh, and tears open their breasts and eats their hearts.[34] Both versions tell of the origin of human sacrifice at the sacred place, Coatepec, during the rise of the Aztec nation and at the foundation of Tenochtitlan.[24]
Origins of Tenochtitlan
There are several legends and myths of Huitzilopochtli. According to the Aubin Codex, the Aztecs originally came from a place called Aztlán. They lived under the ruling of a powerful elite called the "Azteca Chicomoztoca". Huitzilopochtli ordered them to abandon Aztlán and find a new home. He also ordered them never to call themselves Aztec; instead they should be called "Mexica."[35] Huitzilopochtli guided them through the journey. For a time, Huitzilopochtli left them in the charge of his sister, Malinalxochitl, who, according to legend, founded Malinalco, but the Aztecs resented her ruling and called back Huitzilopochtli. He put his sister to sleep and ordered the Aztecs to leave the place. When she woke up and realized she was alone, she became angry and desired revenge. She gave birth to a son called Copil. When he grew up, he confronted Huitzilopochtli, who had to kill him. Huitzilopochtli then took his heart out and threw it in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Many years later, Huitzilopochtli ordered the Aztecs to search for Copil's heart and build their city over it. The sign would be an eagle perched on a cactus, eating a precious serpent, and the place would become their permanent home.[36] After much traveling, they arrived at the area which would eventually be Tenochtitlan on an island in the Lago Texcoco of the Valley of Mexico.
Iconography
In art and
He always had a blue-green hummingbird helmet in any of the depictions found. In fact, his hummingbird helmet was the one item that consistently defined him as Huitzilopochtli, the sun god, in artistic renderings.[39] He is usually depicted as holding a shield adorned with balls of eagle feathers, an homage to his mother and the story of his birth.[37] He also holds the blue snake, Xiuhcoatl, in his hand in the form of an atlatl.[40]
Calendar
Diego Durán described the festivities for Huitzilopochtli. Panquetzaliztli (November 9 to November 28) was the Aztec month dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; there were ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers, and finally human sacrifices. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, and the people prepared for the whole month. They fasted or ate very little; a statue of the god was made with amaranth (huautli) seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a little piece of the god. After the Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed, while some of the festivities were subsumed into the Christmas celebration.[citation needed]
According to the
For the reconsecration of Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, dedicated to Tlaloc and Huitzilopochtli, the Aztecs reported that they sacrificed about 20,400 prisoners over the course of four days. While accepted by some scholars, this claim also has been considered Aztec propaganda. There were 19 altars in the city of Tenochtitlan.
See also
Citations
- ^ ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ISBN 978-607-16-3216-6.
- ^ "The Teteo". Teochan. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ISBN 978-1-60384-817-6.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-2421-6.
- ^ aunque el término ha sido traducido habitualmente como 'colibrí zurdo' o 'colibrí del sur', existe desacuerdo entorno al significado ya que el ōpōchtli 'parte izquierda' es el modificado y no el modificador por estar a la derecha, por lo que la traducción literal sería 'parte izquierda de colibrí', ver por ejemplo, F. Karttunen (1983), p. 91
- ^ "Huitzilopochtli". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- LCCN 73-88147.
For six months of the year [the huitzitzilin] is dead, and for six it is alive. And, as I have said, when it feels that winter is coming, it goes to a perennial, leafy tree and with its natural instinct seeks out a crack. It stands upon a twig next to that crack, pushes its beak into it as far as possible, and stays there for six months of the year—the entire duration of the winter—nourishing itself with the essence of the tree. It appears to be dead, but at the advent of spring, when the tree acquires new life and gives forth new leaves, the little bird, with the aid of the tree's life, is reborn. It goes from there to breed, and consequently the Indians say that it dies and is reborn.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-514909-8.
- ^ Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 216.
- ISBN 978-0-8061-2649-4.
- UCSD. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
- ^ a b Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 217.
- ^ "The Birth of Huitzilopochtli, Patron God of the Aztecs" (PDF). Porteau High School. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514909-8.
- ^ Brinton, Daniel (1890). Rig Veda Americanus. Philadelphia. pp. 18.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Self-sacrifice". www.mexicolore.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ a b "Huitzilopochtli | Aztec God of War & Sun Worship | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ Bernardino de Sahagún, Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España (op. cit.), p. 76
- ^ Sahagún, Ibid.
- OCLC 8626972.
- ^ Duverger, Christian (2005). La flor letal: economía del sacrificio azteca. Fondo de Cultura Económica. pp. 83–93.
- ^ Boone, Elizabeth. "Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe". Transactions of the American Philosophical Society. 79.
- ^ ISBN 978-0226094878.
- ^ Diego Durán, Book of Gods and Rites
- ^ Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 221.
- ^ Cartwright, Mark. "Huitzilopochtli". World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
- ^ ISBN 978-0226094878.
- ^ Diaz de Castillo, Bernal. The True History of the Conquest of New Spain. p. 206. Diaz says that upon hearing of Cortezes’ victory over the Cholullans he immediately ordered a number of Indians to be sacrificed to the warrior god Huitzilopochtli.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514909-8.
- ^ Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 211.
- ^ Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 204.
- ISBN 9789681661786.
- ISBN 9780806129501.
- ^ Coe, Michael D. (2008). Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 187.
- ^ Read, Kay Almere (2000). Mesoamerican Mythologies: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 193.
- ^ a b Sahagún, Bernardino. Florentine Codex. Miguel Leon-Portilla. Book III, Chapter 1.
- ^ "Who Are the Deities of War and Battle?". About.com Religion & Spirituality. Archived from the original on 2011-09-18. Retrieved 2017-02-11.
- ISBN 978-0-19-514909-8.
- ^ "God of the Month: Huitzilopochtli". Mexicolore.
General and cited references
- Andrews, J. Richard (2003). Introduction to Classical Nahuatl (revised ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. OCLC 50090230.
- OCLC 20141678.
- OCLC 6979651.
- de San Anton Munon Chimalpahin, Don Domingo (1997). Codex Chimalpahin, Volume 2: Society and Politics in Mexico Tenochtitlan, Tlatelolco, Texcoco, Culhuacan, and Other Nahua Altepetl in Central Mexico. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-2950-1.
- Broda, Johanna (2001). Cosmovision, Ritual E Identidad de Los Pueblos Indigenas de Mexico. Fondo de Cultura Economica USA. ISBN 978-968-16-6178-6.
- Carrasco, David (1982). Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire: Myths and Prophecies in the Aztec Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. OCLC 0226094871.
- OCLC 2008901003.
- OCLC 162351797.
- LCCN 73-88147.
- Elzey, Wayne (1991). "A Hill on a Land Surrounded by Water: An Aztec Story of Origin and Destiny". History of Religions 31(2): 105–149
- Klein, Cecelia, F. (2008). "A New Interpretation of the Aztec Statue Called Coatlicue, 'Snakes-Her-Skirt'" Ethnohistory 55(2)
- OCLC 27667317.
- OCLC 29600936.
- Read, Kay Almere (1998). Time and Sacrifice in the Aztec Cosmos. Bloomington: OCLC 37909790.
- Read, Kay Almere; Jason J. González (2002). Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America. Oxford and New York: OCLC 77857686.
- OCLC 276351.
- OCLC 710093. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
- OCLC 29124568.
- Wimmer, Alexis (2006). "Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique" (online version, incorporating reproductions from Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine [1885], by Rémi Siméon) (in French and Nāhuatl).