Huitzilopochtli

In the world of Aztec culture, one of the most important aspects was the gods, which at the same time were part of its wide interesting mythology which is at the same time one of the richest and most relevant in all of history. The word comes from the Nahuatl language and is composed of the word huitzilin, which means hummingbird and opochtli , which means left-handed . It is important to mention that this was a god whose dominions were managed to extend from the central part of Mexico toGuatemala being a hated and feared idol.

Huitzilopochtli Characteristics

Some of its most representative characteristics were the following:

• It was also known as the surdo hummingbird or southern hummingbird .
• He was in charge of guiding the Mexicas when they had to leave Aztlán .
• When the mission of taking his people began, he took the form of a hummingbird and through his song he gave instructions to the people so that they could advance safely.
• He was the most important god of the Aztec State.
• He occupied a position within the Four Tezcatlipoca where he reflected his mythical identity.
• After Tenochtitlán fell, ecclesiastical documents , encyclopedias and other religious documents or treatises were in charge of representing this god as a medieval Judeo-Christian demon .
• We Aztecs made human sacrifices to him , generally prisoners who had been captured during the war.

History

The story of this god begins in the mountain of the serpent, where Coatlicue lived, who was the goddess of fertility . One day she was looking and found a parrot feather which she decided to keep in her left breast , when she finished sweeping the feather it was gone and she was pregnant . When Coyolxauhqui realized that she was pregnant, he took it upon himself to convince his brothers to kill her because for him, she had disgraced the lineage.

Due to this situation, Coatlicue was afraid for her life but at that moment the son she had in her womb spoke to her and filled her with tranquility and told her that he would protect her . When her children arrived to kill her, Huitzilopochtli hummingbird from the south was born, but she was born as an adult and was also armed with a shield of eagle feathers and was putting the fire serpent Xiuhcóatl in her hand .

Using this weapon, he managed to cut off the head of his sister and then he threw it into the sky with such force that it transformed it into a moon and he gave chase to his southern brothers from the top of Coatepec until they reached the foothills of the mountains where he massacred them. eventually, those who managed to survive became stars . With the passage of time, the Pilgrimage Strip took place , at which time Huitzilopochtli gave the order to the town of Aztlánto find a new place to live, a land full of natural wealth and that would also give them power over other peoples. He also told them that the sign they should look for to find that place would be an eagle devouring a snake on top of a cactus pad . The arrival to this place occurred after 210 years, in the year 1318 and then they founded Mexico City -Tenochtitlan , a place that later would also be the capital of the Mexica Empire .

What was god of

Huitzilopochtli was the god of war and at the same time the most important guide for the Aztecs since they began their pilgrimage until they managed to settle permanently in Tenochtitlan. It was also a deity that was related to the sun . For the Mexica mythology , it also represented the young Sun who was the son of the old Sun.

What role did Huitzilopochtli play?

This important god fulfilled many functions within the Aztec pantheon . He was in charge of directing the Mexica people to Tenochtitlán , a city that would later be the seat of all the power of the Aztec empire. He was also the god of war according to history, the dawn of creation stopped to await his arrival.

When he died

Although the Aztecs considered that this god had a lot of power, they did not consider him an invincible god and recognized that at some point the god of war would end up falling and that when this happened the Aztec empire would also end .

Can

According to the narratives, it had the power to destroy peoples and even men . During wars he was a fearsome god for all his adversaries and also had the ability to cast fire through his mouth and transform into different types of birds and beasts .

How Huitzilopochtli is represented

Huitzilopochtli was represented by means of a hummingbird placed in a helmet in which there would also be feathers on his head, in the lower part of his left leg he had a snake , a mirror and a war shield . It is believed that the helmet that this god had could have been one of the reasons why the Aztec culture accepted the Spanish very easily. Good helmets that they wore were very similar to those of Huitzilopochtli.

Temples

The main temple that was had for him was located in Tenochtitlán , right at the top of a pyramid next to the god of rain . This also represented the need that the settlers had for both the sun and the rain because without this they could not exist, in the internal part of the temple stone skulls could be found on a background painted in red.

Another of his temples was the Templo Mayor de Teopanzolco , in which, on a mound he had placed a great pyramid towards the west and in the upper part it had several worship temples to his honor, this pyramid was also surrounded by several platforms, some of them towards the east and in its later part a smaller pyramid dedicated to another god had been built.

Symbols

When he played a warrior role , Huitzilopochtli was the sun in which his celestial circuits symbolized the pattern that all life cycles follow , these included the cycle of men, periods and also the epochs. As an inhabitant of the earth it was the solar eagle that was devouring the tail of a serpent and seen from this point it was the emblem of darkness . It also symbolized the hummingbird which was the soul of a warrior who had passed away and also a snakewhich was the symbol of the people who had managed to reach the promised land . When he was a nocturnal being , his symbol was a Tzitzimil , and that was a terrifying appearance that he made in the form of a skeleton .

Importance of Huitzilopochtli

For the Aztecs, Huitzilopochtli was an uncle of great importance the total dominance of the central part of Mexico. He was the one who served as a guide for them to leave Aztlán and thanks to his prophecy they managed to reach Tenochtitlán . He was a vitally important god in the conquest of neighboring peoples. For the Aztecs, this god was important and it will be the maximum representation of the war and also a tribute as part of the entire economic support of the region.