The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico. They spoke Nahuatl language and dominated the large part of Mesoamerica from 14th to the 16th centuries. There had a very interesting and detailed culture. One of the most interesting things about there culture was there religion. It was like other religions but was unique in its own way.
The Aztec religion was mostly based on keeping nature in balance. If something even minor went wrong, a natural disaster would occur. There was a constant battle in the sky between light and dark and they constantly feared of the battle being lost the sun going out and not coming back on. To fight for the light was the warrior god Huitzilopochtli. He fights for the sun god Tonatiuh. There are many gods like in this religion because it is a polytheistic religion, which means there are more than one god. The main god were the cultural gods. Tezcatlipoca, who is the omnipotent universal power, Quetzalcoatl, god of life, the wind, and the morning star, Tlaloc, god of rain, storm, water and thunder, Mixcoatl, the tribal god of many Aztecs and the god of hunting, and many more. There are also many other gods such as the nature gods, gods of creation, gods of pulque and excess, gods of maize and fertility, gods of death, and tradegods. These gods and goddesses were very important in every day life and the religion of the Aztecs, and they would do anything for to keep these gods happy. Even if this meant sacrificing one of there own people.
Human sacrifices were a big and very sacred thing in the Aztec religion. There were many types of these sacrifices, but blood was the common theme. People thought that they owed a blood debt to the gods and sacrificing people was there way of paying it. Animals and humans were used as sacrifices. Some people would even cut themselves and offer their blood to the gods. There were as many as one thousand sacrifices a year, but not all of them had the full ritual.
