Surprisingly, the old Aztec gods lived on long after the Spanish monks destroyed the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan and imposed Catholic Christian culture and doctrines.
Spanish priests discovered that the defeated Aztecs were quick to take to the new faith. They seem to have seen in the adoration of Jesus Christ a similarity to the worship of the Feathered Aztec Serpent Quetzalcoatl. They also noticed that Jesus’ teachings on brotherly love were in concord with the ancient god Quetzalcoatl’s pious and peaceful views on government. Ironically, the Christian idea of the second coming of Christ resembled the ancient Aztec myth of Quetzalcoatl’s departure and promised return.
The sighting of pale bearded men that arrived from the sea on floating mountains was even believed to be the fulfilment of the promise of Quetzalcoatl’s return. First hand sightings that were reported to the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II mentioned that these beings rode on top of giant deer and harnessed thunder and lightning from staffs. Their skin was described as white, hard and reflected the sun. What else but gods could such beings be?
During the battle for the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, it became clear that these bearded men were not gods and the religion they imposed clearly required the worship of a Supreme Being that seemed one and the same with Quetzalcoatl. In an unlikely matrimony of faiths, the Plumed Aztec Serpent became closely associated with Jesus Christ.
The Aztecs also altered Roman Catholic Christian practices and incorporated them to their old religion. They continued to follow ancient practices by cleverly concealing their meaning from the Christian monks. Old Aztec gods were coupled to Christian saints, Tlaloc the Aztec god of rain was revered under the guise of St. John the Baptist. Traditional practices were also aligned with Christian festivals; the yearly visit to the graves of the ancestors was carried out on All Souls’ Day. This holiday now known as the “Day of the Dead” is yet practiced throughout Aztec lands.
In 1531, a recent convert known as Juan Diego had a vision of a dark Virgin Mary near a temple to the Earth goddess Tonantzin. There, he supposedly received instructions concerning the construction of a church in her honor. The new temple was to be constructed on the very spot where Tonantzin’s temple had stood. Under the name of the Black Virgin of Guadalupe, this hybrid Mesoamerican-Christian deity became and continues to be Mexico’s patron saint.
When it came to religion, Aztecs built upon their known accepted practices rather than replacing them. They were willing to accept new gods and new doctrines as an extension of what they already had, rather than replacing them with a wholly new structure.
Sigi spends his time in remote areas of Mexico looking for pre-Columbian type items. View his collection of Aztec pottery and Maya pottery at www.AncientMexico.biz
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Christian Texts for Aztecs: Art and Liturgy In Colonial Mexico :: Amazon Christian Texts for Aztecs: Art and Liturgy in Colonial Mexico is a cultural history of the missionary enterprise in sixteenth-century Mexic |
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Aztec Christic Magic: Gnostic Kabbalah and Tarot in the American Mysteries (Timeless Gnostic Wisdom) :: Amazon A beautiful explanation of the Kabbalistic wisdom hidden in the Aztec Pantheon. "It is stated that the Toltecs said: Quetzalcoatl, Tula succ |
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