Aztec Symbols

Aztec gods were extremely revered by the Aztecs. They feared and worshipped their gods. To thank their gods for everything they had supplied, the Aztecs erected temples and offered sacrifices to them. Before and after conflicts, they conducted sacrifices to satisfy their gods, which sometimes involved human sacrifices. There were gods of war, water, the harvest, and a variety of other things. The Aztecs spent a significant amount of time worshipping their gods.

Aztec mythology is the body or collection of myths associated with Central Mexico’s Aztec culture. The Aztecs were Nahuatl-speaking peoples who lived in central Mexico and shared much of their mythology with other Mesoamerican cultures. Legend has it that the numerous clans that would become the Aztecs landed in the Anahuac region near Lake Texcoco from the north.

The location of the target valley and lake is obvious – it is in the middle of modern-day Mexico City – but little is known about the Aztecs’ origins with certainty. Their origins have been attributed to a variety of people. According to legend, the Mexica/Aztec forefathers came from a site called Aztlan in the north, the last of seven nahuatlacas (Nahuatl-speaking tribes, from tlaca, “man”) to make the voyage southward, hence their name “Azteca.” Others claim they came from Chicomoztoc, “the land of the seven caves,” or Tamoanchan (the legendary origin of all civilizations).