Structure and Classes of Aztec Society

 In this frenzy of hurried growth over the next one hundred years, Aztec society had changed from a clan-based system, made up of different extended families, to one based on sectors, or as the Spanish called them, “barrios”.  Tenochtitlan was divided up into twenty sectors, called calpultin (sing. Calpulli). Each calpulli was a semi-autonomous community and each had its own ruler, its own schools, its own temples, and its own military sects. Even guilds and trades formed into calpultin, and much like a labor union, remained practically autonomous.  The head of the calpulli reported to the Uey Tlahtoani, the Revered Speaker, and the demigod-ruler of the city. Aztec society in every part was very close-knit, the primary institutions for socialization being the family, and the schools which all children, commoner and noble alike, attended. Morals, religious rights, songs, and proper ways of living were taught to children of every class.

On the subject of class, it’s important to know how Mexica classes were structured, because law affected every class, even down to the lowliest slave. On top there was the nobility called the pipiltin (Sing. pilli), those men, women, and children of the ruling class. Above them, and ruling the city-state was the Uey Tlahtoani, the Revered Speaker, elected by the twenty heads of the calpultin. Most everything began and ended with him, as he was in charge of administrative matters of state. His second was Lord of the Treasury, the Cihuacoatl. This term literally means “Woman Serpent”, as well as the name of a major goddess, but the title was applied to a man (Macdonald, 17). Answering directly to the ruler was the petlalcalcatl, the chief steward (León-Portilla, 14). The military chiefs came next, the Tlacochcalcatl (Chief of the Armory), and the Tlacatecatl (Chief of Men), and they advised the Uey Tlahtoani (León-Portilla, 65). Then there were the noble warriors, Jaguar, Eagle, and Arrow Knights, and higher ranking officials such as governors and provincial chiefs.

Below the nobility was the priesthood, the teohuatztin. Each priest or priestess could be dedicated to a specific god or goddess, but the function was the same; to ensure spiritual and moral harmony with the gods and the state religion. In many matters, especially matters of war and agriculture, the priesthood outranked the Uey Tlahtoani. Because religion and proper behavior pervaded every aspect of Aztec life, it was the priesthood who decided when and where to pray, when and where to go to war, and when and where to plant and harvest. Anything outside of their ruling was considered dangerous and could cause bad things to happen, like evil spirits entering the city. The priests, and for that matter, the people, ritually operated by the Aztec sacred calendar, the tonalpohualli (Day Count).

The warriors, the yaoyotin (Sing. yaoyotl), came below the priests, as the teohuatztin told them when and where to go to war. In the pre-conquest times, their role changed from an army, garrison, or squad of men tasked with completion of a tactical objective, to individual warriors taking prisoners of war. Each boy from the time he was seven was trained as a soldier, and would offer his services part-time in a time of war. “To be born a male in Tenochtitlan was to be designated a warrior” (Clendinnen, 112).  It was the personal duty of every warrior to serve on the battlefield, and in doing so, either die in combat, or as a sacrificial captive (Clendinnen, 95).

The merchants, the pochteca (Sing. pochtecatl) ranked next in Aztec society. These merchants, often travelers at the head of a human caravan, sought to peacefully secure trade agreements by seeking out lucrative rights to rare feathers, gems, dyes, anything that might be of value to the Triple Alliance. They purchased men as porters to carry their goods and equipment through arduous mountain and jungle excursions. These men could be said to be pioneers in a time where exploration of hostile lands was a daunting task at best.

After the merchants came the commoners, the macehualtin (Sing. macehualli). The men, while not off on campaigns, were farmers, artisans, and laborers. The women ran the household. Some commoners were said to own slaves, but this seems to be a trait of the nobles and the merchants. The common man, a warrior in his own right, could become a noble if he did great deeds in combat (Macdonald, 32).  The laborers, the mayaque, those who cleaned the streets of the city and did the menial work were a step below the commoner.

The slave, the tlacotl, ranked last in Aztec society. A person of any sex or age could become a slave if they were a civilian in a rival province and were captured in combat as a prisoner of war. A person could become a slave as punishment. If a person owed a debt, they could also become a slave (Macdonald, 13). The slave had no rights, and was considered property of the owner. The slaves weren’t used in terms of menial labor (Clendinnen, 38), but were rather servants of the household.*

Aztec Religion and Spirituality

For this section, I shall draw upon my own experiences and explanations of Aztec religion, the state, and spirituality.

The Ancient Nahua Universe

The Nahua of the Valley of Mexico saw the world in four directions, thirteen upper worlds, and nine lower worlds. Colors were associated with each direction, black for the north, red for the east, blue for the south, and yellow or white for the west. These colors were considered sacred, and each deity was identified with a color. In some codices, some deities are represented as having different aspects by being identified with different colors. Tezcatlipoca is usually associated with black and the north, but His guise as the Red Tezcatlipoca, He takes on characteristics of Mixcoatl. Quetzalcoatl as the White Quetzalcoatl takes on His guise of Ehecatl, the Wind, associated with Ce-Acatl Topiltzin's daysign of 9-Wind.

The Nahua saw the universe as having multiple levels. The thirteen upper worlds included the realm of the clouds and the moon at its lowest, and at the highest, the place of Ometeotl (Omeyoacan, the Place of Duality). This is sometimes confused with "Heaven", but since Ometeotl was considered to be unknowable beyond duality, its realm was unknown. The afterlife will be explained.

At the lower nine levels lied Mictlan, the Realm of the Dead, or the Place of the Fleshless. It was ruled by Mictlanteucli and Mictlancihuatl, the Lord and Lady of the Dead, respectively.

The Aztecs saw the unverse as being in constant conflict and change as it and its inhabitants strived to find balance. More will be discussed on this later.

Ancient Nahua Concept of the Afterlife

The Nahua did not have a simple "heaven" or "hell" as the Judeo-Christian system does, nor should the twenty-two universes be confused with any sort of afterlife. People would go to different afterlives depending on how they died. In the heavens of the east, warriors who died in combat or the killing stone as sacrifice passed on to a place called Tlalchitonatiuh (Place of the Sun), and after four years, would return as butterfies or exotic birds.Those who died by drowning, lighting strikes, or illnesses would go to Tlalocan, the Place of Tlaloc in the south, where their souls would find repose by rivers and streams and fruit-bearing trees. Children who died in childbirth would go to a place where they were nourished by a tree that gave forth milk, often depicted as a tree with thousands of breasts suspended from it. The women who died in childbirth would Cincalco in the west, The Place of Corn. They would return on certain days as Cihuateteo, Divine or Spirit Women, leading forth the souls of fallen warriors with the Sun until noon. Tthey were endowed with magical powers that could lead men into misfortune at crossroads, frighten children with terrible omens, and cause bad things to happen to those who were unwary of the daysign.  In my own experience, they can also guard those who seek their help, as well as give visions of what might happen in the future. Usually depicted as women with skulls for a face and claw-tipped hands, they are also beautiful, strong, and wise.

Those who were not to pass on to any of these afterlives would go to Mictlan, where they would endure four years of trials before taking their place in Mictlan. This is sometimes confused with the Kemetic and Neo-Kemetic concept of afterlife. There are some similarities, such as being buried with implements that would aid the deceased in her/his journeys (charms and amulets for the Kemetic dead, and a water jug and offerings for the Nahua dead). However, the Aztecs would burn the body of the deceased, and the Kemetics would preserve the body, as the soul was thought to return to it. In Azteca beliefs, the body was no longer needed; it was the soul that mattered.

The Aztecs believed that people had more than one soul or essence. The first was the nahualli. It usually took the form of an animal, the personification of the person's traits and attributes. Some might confuse this as a "higher self", but it would be more correctly be seen as the "soul of a soul". It was the spiritual twin of a person, not to be confused with the Kemetic concept of "ka". For example, my nahualli is the Ocelotl, the jaguar. It is both guide and soul, secretive, stealthy, strong, mystical. Nahualli is also the word to describe the sorcerors who were both evil and good. Whereas one nahualli would do his/her work to harm people, another would do his/her work to find and punish the transgressor. Conflict, as much as balance, defined the Aztec universe.

The other "soul" was the tonalli, defined as "day" or "destiny". This governed what a person's fate might be according to the tonalli found on the Tonalpohualli (Day Count or Count of Destiny). This was defined by a daysign, with a number and one of twenty symbols. Mine is Ten-Flint, Matlactli-Tecpatl, and the tonalli is one in which one must always be kept sharp, like a flint knife, both a symbol of sacrifice,  and as a symbol to remain sharp in mind and spirit. Warriors who took others as captive would grasp the topknot of hair on the enemy's head, thus denoting surrender to the enemy's fate as a sacrifice on the killing stone or in gladiatorial combat.

The teyolia (that which exists in the heart) was found in the heart, and was considered to be the essence of the person's very thoughts and will, much like the "soul" we know of in Western religions. When it left the heart, the person died.

The ihiyotl (spirit) was thought to reside in the liver, and defined a person's instincts, reactions, and intuition.

"-theisms" and the Aztec universe

It is often argued between scholars, pagans, and New-Agers whether or not the Nahua were monotheistic, pantheistic, or polytheistic. Some explanation of Nahua beliefs is necessary.

The Nahua did have deities, but the word for "god" (teotl, pl. teteo) was not translated directly into "god" as the Spaniards had mistaken. "Teotl" meant that which is divine, wonderful, and terrible. It could also mean "holy", "spirit" or "energy". The Nahua did not regard the spirits as only deities, but also actual living spiritual beings. They were gods. They were spirits. They still exist.

The source of the spirits was Ometeotl, the Divine Duality, male and female. It was simply acknowledged in its existence, and accepting duality as simply a state of being. It applies to everything, almost. Action and reaction, stimulus and response, etc. This did not, and does not limit the Nahua paradigm, but it served as a means to explain events in context. There were no temples dedicated to Ometeotl.

As to the multitude of gods in Nahua religion, it must be understood that many of the deities could be found in the Codices.

For example, Huitzilopochtli (The Hummingbird from the Left/South) was the Mexica's chief personification of warfare. In His guise as "God of War", Huitzilopochtli was elevated from a minor deity to a place on the Great Temple. In the Codices, Huitzilopochtli is said to have led the Mexica to settle in the Valley of Mexico, or Anahuac.

Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpent) is said to have led the Chichimecs from Colhuacan. He would later become diefied as a hunting spirit in Tlaxcala (as Camaxtle) and in Anahuac.

Perhaps the most famous of deified humans is Quetzalcoatl. The image and title of "Feathered Serpent" or "Precious Twin" is said to have come from the Toltecs. The most famous Quetzalcoatl is Ce-Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (One-Reed Our Revered Prince Quetzalcoatl). It is this Quetzalcoatl whom the codices describe as being the monk from Tulla who was tricked by Tezcatlipoca into getting drunk and then sleeping with his sister. In shame, He left for the coast, and set himself on fire. Some of the codices say that he was born in the year 1-Reed, died in the year 1-Reed, and would return in the year 1-Reed.

Only some of the legends noted Quetzalcoatl's return. More modern reconstructionists herald this as the return of His knowledge; he personified wisdom, and the priesthood. He also personified that personal sacrifice required as penance, because Quetzalcoatl did the same for humanity.

Major deities in Pre-Hispanic Mexico included:

Tlaloc-That Which Falls Upon the Earth-Bringer of Storms and Rain

Huitzilopochtli-Blue Hummingbird on the Left (South)- Mexica National God of Warfare and Martial Being

Tezcatlipoca-Mirror That Smokes-Lord of Sorcerors and Seers as well as Warfare

Quetzalcoatl-Feathered Serpent-Personification of Wisdom, Learning, the Priesthood, and Self-Sacrifice

Coatlicue-Serpent Skirt-Earth as Destroyer, Mother of Huitzilopochtli

Cihuacoatl-Serpent Woman-Earth as Life-Giver

Chalchihuitlicue-Jade or Precious Skirt-Lady of Calm Waters

Xochipilli-Flowered Prince-Lord of Music and Art

Xochiquetzal-Precious Flower-Lady of Beauty, Sensuality, and Music

Chalchiuhtotolin-Jade Fowl-Nahualli of Tezcatlipoca, Personification of Sorcery

Macuilxochitl-Five Flower-Lord of Festivities and Games of Chance

Malinalxochitl-Reed Flower-Sister of Huitzilopochtli, Sorceress

Chantico-Place of the Hearth-Lady of the Hearth and Home, Lady of Fire and Volcanic Events

Mictlanteuctli/Mictlancihuatl-Lord/Lady of the Dead-Keepers of Mictlan

Xipe Totec-The Dear One Flayed-Personification of Sacrifice, Lord of the Seedtime, and Lord of That Which Changes

Mixcoatl-Cloud Serpent-Primeval Hunting Lord

Mayahuel-Lady of Octli (Pulque, fermented agave sap), Lady of Drunkeness, Guardian of Children

Patecatl-Medicine Man-Lord of Medicines and Drunkenness

Ometochtli-Two Rabbit-Lord of Drunkenness and Festivities

Ometeotl/Omecihuatl-Two Lord/Lady-Personification of Duality

Itzpapalotl-Obsidian Butterfly-The Female Warrior, Personification of Female Strength

Tlazolteotl-Garbage Lord/Lady-Lady of Sexual Excess and Disease, Eater of Sins, Lady of Childbirth

Note: If the Mexica and other Aztec tribes were truly monotheistic as some movements explain, why the need for so many deities, and temples? I tend to think of it this way. We all have souls, and while our souls might be the same type of energy, they are individual to each person. The Aztec gods are defined by that same principle. Each one has His/Her own needs, His/Her own personalities, and His/Her own soul.

The Nature of Aztec Religion

Aztec religion was more of a state-run institution rather than community-run. The priests were responsible for maintaining the temples and using the Xiuhpohualli (Yearly or Festive Calendar) and the Tonalpohualli (Day Count or Destiny Count) to determine the proper times for rituals, festivals, and agrarian events such as planting and harvesting. It was the preisthood that told the government when and where to go to war, and the people where and when to plant and harvest.

The two most important aspects of Triple Alliance existence could be found in the Templo Mayor, with its two temples. One was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli, who personified warfare and Mexica nationalism. The other was Tlaloc (That Which Falls on the Earth), a deity going back to Toltec times who, with his Tlaloque (cloud-beings that created storm clouds and rain), provided much-needed rain to the farmers. One deity stood for warfare, which brought lucrative trade agreements and prisoners of war to the state, and one stood for rain, that life-giving water fromt the heavens that was part and parcel to a primarily agrarian society.

Sacrifice did, however, play a major spiritual role. The Aztecs believed that it was the duty of a captured warrior or sacrificial victim to give of himself or herself for the greater good. I practice auto-sacrifice, the giving of my own blood, to signify my offering to my gods for what they have given me.