Aztec Gods: Huitzilopochtli

The Aztec Gods, much like the Ancient Greeks, the Aztecs had Gods for many things. And Huitzilopochtli was one of the most important god of all.

Huitzilopochtli, loosely translated to the Hummingbird of the South or the Southern Hummingbird, is the god of war and the sun. He is the son of Omecίhuatl and Ometecuhtli, the female and male aspects of the androgynous god Ometeotl. Huitzilopochtli is illustrated as either a hummingbird or an anthropomorphic figure, covered in feathers and a black face with a snake scepter and a mirror, fully armoured. The snake scepter could be linked to his mother, Ometecuhtli, who was said to wear snakes skin. In almost all images he wore a bright blue feathered headdress. Huitzilopochtli is unique to the Aztecs, mainly because he did not show up in any other Mesoamerican belief systems.

Huitzilopochtli is the reason the Aztecs committed human sacrifice. The Aztec believed that every night Huitzilopochtli would have a battle with the moon and the stars, and every night he would come out victorious. But after the battle was won, the Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli was tired and that he craved human blood to regain his strength. If they did not feed him, the world would end and life would cease to exist. The Aztecs would go the Templo Mayor to commit their sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli. The Templo Mayor was built specifically to show praise and worship him. The Aztecs celebrated and worshiped Huitzilopochtli more then almost any other god, they lived for him and thousands died for him.


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