2.  Aztec civilization was part of Mesoamerica ◦ Included present-day Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and most of Mexico ◦ Included multiple diverse civilizations  Aztecs = Great civilization with 15 million people  Most Aztecs were urban, living in the city of Tenochtitlan ◦ Present-day Mexico City  Aztecs migrated to Mesoamerica later than other civilizations

4.  Believed the god Quetzalcoatl (Feathered Serpent) created and ordered the world  Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (Our Young Prince the Feathered Serpent) = the god’s earthly devotee ◦ Provided Aztecs with the perfect role model ◦ Waiting for him to return to earth

5.  5 suns and their ages exist in Aztec cosmology  Believed 4 previous suns and their ages had been destroyed  Living in the 5 th and last sun’s age ◦ Similar fate awaited the 5 th sun ◦ The only way to delay the end of the age was to continually nourish the sun with human sacrifices

7.  The human body was believed to have 2 divine forces in the head and in the heart ◦ Regarded as an axis mundi due to the potency of these forces, connecting the earthly realm to the divine ◦ Nourishment for the sun and cosmos ◦ Heart – offered to sun ◦ Head – offered to sky

8.  Aztec language = Nahuatl ◦ Religious power in mastery of language ◦ Specialists could communicate with gods and make offerings through language (alternative to sacrifice) Example: iuh oquichiuque in tocolhuan in tachtonhuan (Thus did our ancestors – grandfathers and great- grandfathers) macamo xiquimilcahuacan in mimiccatzitzintin in otechcauhtehuaque (Do not forget the dead who have left us behind.)

9. Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl had disappeared from earth long ago but was expected to return in 1519 Spanish leader Hernán Cortés arrived in Mesoamerica in 1519 wearing a feathered helmet Aztec king Moctezuma II believed Cortés was Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl and welcomed him Fall of Tenochtitlan in 1521 to Cortés and his army Fall of Aztec empire but Aztec culture lives on today

10.  Syncretism = A phenomenon that occurs when elements from diverse religious traditions blend

11.  Veneration of the Virgen de Guadalupe ◦ Dark-skinned apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to Juan Diego, an Aztec convert, on the outskirts of Tenochtitlan in 1531 ◦ The hill (Tepeyac) she appeared on was considered the sacred place of Tonantzin, the Aztec mother goddess

13.  DÍa de los Muertos ◦ Celebrated by many Catholics to remember/venerate the dead and to join the living with the dead ◦ Based off of Aztec rituals and beliefs

14.  Aztec/Mesoamerican religion and culture = important to the Chicano Movement ◦ Began in the 1960s and 70s; its ideology remains politically, religiously, and academically important today  Re-claim PRIDE in indigenous/Mexican roots and culture; promote UNITY  Protect and promote Chicano rights; create community building

15.  http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon- april-2-2012/tucson-s-mexican-american- studies-ban?xrs=share_fb http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon- april-2-2012/tucson-s-mexican-american- studies-ban?xrs=share_fb  How does the ideology of the Chicano Movement continue to be important today?

17.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6kEruLb YdY&list=PLAB99AC812007FE57&index=49 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6kEruLb YdY&list=PLAB99AC812007FE57&index=49 Video: Peruvian purification ritual

18.  Cosmology – An understanding or theory of the nature, origin, development, and eventual fate of the universe  Transcendence – A state of being that has overcome the normal limitations imposed by the human condition of physical existence (such as through meditation, prayer, and visions)  Axis Mundi – The axis or center of the universe  Syncretism = A phenomenon that occurs when elements from diverse religious traditions blend