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Find out moreDid the Aztecs have a term for religion?
ORIGINAL QUESTION received from - and thanks to - Kurt: Did the Mexica, or the Aztec Empire collectively, have a term for the state religion or religious traditions in general? I’ve not found a mention of this anywhere, nor have I been able to find a word relating to ‘belief’, ‘worship’, or ‘religion’ in Nahuatl. Thanks for maintaining such an informative website (Answered by Ian Mursell/Mexicolore)
Excellent question! We think you’re right, there WAS no Mexica term for religion/belief/worship, just as there wasn’t a term for ‘human sacrifice’ as we use the phrase. There’s a lot of argument over this, and we’re far from being experts. It’s clear that the Aztecs practiced both private worship in their own homes as well as public religion in open plazas at the foot of temples. There IS one all-encompassing term that many scholars refer to in this ares, namely teotl, which we could translate as soul/spirit/life force/energy. There’s plenty of evidence that the Mexica believed there is teotl not only in humans and animals but also in flowers, plants, trees and indeed in inanimate things too - from stones and pots to mountains and rivers. Hence their tremendous respect for the natural environment in which they lived.
We have two excellent explanations of this idea on our site: the first link is an ‘easy’ introduction, the second is superb but a helluva lot harder to understand...!
Comments (1)
Kurt
11th Sep 2016
Hey Ian, thanks for such a speedy and thoughtful reply (as well as the links to further reading on your site)! I’ve been searching for references in nahuatl to things like religion and similar concepts for months but all I’ve ever found are what appear to be (at least to me) colonial neologisms like ‘tlateotoca’ or ‘tlateomatiliztli’. Again, thanks for taking the time to answer my question.
Mexicolore
You’re very welcome, and thank you, Kurt, for sharing such an interesting question with our community...
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