MYTH-601 Lessons

Today, the floating candles that light the Mythology classroom cast eerie shadows on the walls which have been somehow enchanted to mimic paintings and scenes commonly found on ancient Mesoamerican structures. Students can pick out a variety of images: scenes of a vaguely familiar ball game complete with a stone circle, the figure of a feathered snake-like god, warrior chiefs in resplendent headdress going into battle, and even a rather gruesome depiction of human sacrifice. Many students are so caught up in examining the scenes that they jump when Professor Wessex suddenly comes out of a shadowy area on the left side of the classroom. You suspect she is more amused than she should be. With a wave of her wand, the floating candles’ flames increase in intensity and the classroom is no longer shrouded in so many shadows.

Introduction
It appears you are surprised to see me, class. If you have forgotten, Professor Morgan and I are teaching this year together. Though, we are sticking closely to our own areas of expertise. In addition to my extensive background in the Mediterranean and Middle East -- which will come up very soon in Ancient Runes, for those students who are taking both courses -- I am quite knowledgeable about South America, having completed a handful of expeditions there. As I have stressed in Ancient Runes, knowing about cultures is important for anyone in the field of linguistics, magiarchaeology, and the like. Therefore not only am I well-versed in their glyphs, but also in their gods, their myths, and what little we know about day-to-day life.

For the rest of the year, we will be shifting to focus on Central and South America and some of the most well-known Native American civilizations there: the Aztecs, the Inca, and the Maya. Note that between these three there will be a lot of shared mythological and religious themes. This is part of the reason that they are often confused with each other despite the fact that each group inhabited a specifically defined region and existed at different times. The first group we will be studying today continues our gradual travels further south: the Aztecs.

Brief Background
As you covered the history and range of this civilization with Professor Morgan last year in Ancient Studies, I will only briefly cover the basic facts of this civilization for those that may not have enrolled in the course. As she mentioned, the Aztecs inhabited the very southern portions of Mexico as well as some parts of what is now Guatemala. In truth, this area is very close to where the Mayan Empire sat hundreds of years earlier, which accounts for strong similarities between the two groups, but I digress. This is something that will be covered more during our topic of the Maya. The Aztecs, unlike the Maya, were a very short lived society, appearing in 1427 and ending rather abruptly in 1521 due to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. While it is futile to explore “what ifs”, many wonder exactly what the Aztecs would have become and how long their empire might have flourished if they had not been cut down at their peak.

In general terms, Aztec mythology has strong associations with animals. You may already know about the Jaguar and the Eagle figures as per your discussion on the topic last year with Professor Morgan in Ancient Studies, but I imagine after our repeated mention of Native Americans alongside animal associatiations, you would not be surprised to know that there are far more creatures to be discussed.

Additionally, we have the idea of all-powerful gods that created the world and those on it. In fact, the Aztec pantheon is quite extensive, and we will be getting a brief glimpse of some of the most important beings that feature in it. Finally, we have the common themes like stories to explain a civilization’s beginnings, as well as myths of the afterlife -- in this case an underworld. All of these common themes and archetypes help relate them to the world as a whole and contextualize them against other societies, but it is the details that can tell us the most about who the Aztecs really were, which we will examine now.

Aztec Pantheon
Before we get into discussing the intricate myths of the Aztecs, it is important to familiarize ourselves with the cast of characters -- the gods that play large parts in these stories. The Aztecs were polytheistic and worshipped many gods, but the exact number is still unknown. The difficulty in counting them is due to the fact that some could be combined with others to make new gods, while others had multiple forms like Sekhmet and Hathor or simply had multiple names. However, as a good rough estimate of what we know,the Aztec pantheon numbers near two hundred. Apart from obvious animal associations, the gods and goddesses of this pantheon were also very natural, often related to particular elements, or things found in nature. We obviously will not be going over each of these roughly two hundred deities in class today, but instead will only be covering some of the most important, and ones that feature in the myths we are covering in the lesson.

Huizilopochtli
A powerful figure, he was the god of many different things. He, along with Quetzalcoatl (whom we will mention later) features as one of the main deities of the Aztecs. He was the primary god of war, though many other gods or goddesses were involved in particular aspects of war, or favored the practice. Additionally, he played an important role as the the sun god and was heavily associated with fire, which he often wielded as a weapon in various myths. Finally, Huizliopochtli was also the god of human sacrifices.

Mictlantecuhtli
God of the underworld -- a realm aptly named “Mictlan” -- was not necessarily the only god of the underworld, but rather the most prominent and important. In fact, he was considered the king of the underworld, and lived in the lowest level of it with his wife. He had a number of interesting animal associations, such as the spider and the owl.

Ometecuhtli
Known as both the “Lord and Lady of Duality” or the “Two-Lord,” Ometecuhtli was technically two gods in one. They were both male and female, and thus were able to give birth (or bring the earth and general existence into being) with no other outside influence, or indeed, the existence of any other beings. Ometecuhtli was not worshipped like the other gods and goddesses of the pantheon, as they were seen as  far removed from events on the earth. They represented multiple dualities, such as the combination of good and evil, as well as peace and chaos.

Quetzalcoatl
Another primary and most frequently worshipped god of the Aztec pantheon is Quetzalcoatl, who took the form of a feathered serpent. Students of Care of Magical Creatures will note that the idea of a feathered serpent from the Americas is something we are still familiar with today in the form of the magical creature known as the Occamy. However, due to the embellished nature of Aztec myths, we are unsure what this similarity tells us: whether there was once a real person who kept Occamies as pets, could turn into an Occamy as animagi, or some other association. Whatever the case, Quetzalcoatl was the god of air, wind, and learning.

Tezcatlipoca
Though brothers, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl were fierce enemies who fought often. He was seen as a more sinister counterpoint to the benevolent Queztalcoatl and was the god of many things, some of which include the night (particularly the sky), hurricanes, and ancestral knowledge. He was also associated with jaguars and mirrors.

Tlaloc
Very nature-based, Tlaloc was the god of rain, lightning, and thunder. In a fashion similar to other civilizations like the Norse, Tlaloc was seen as a god of life, growth, and fertility as well as a god of drought and death, as these were seen as two sides of the same coin.

Tlaltecuhtli
Also occasionally called the “Earth Lord” as well as the “Earth Lady,” Tlaltechutli was, predictably, a goddess of earth. She was primarily depicted as a female, though occasionally, she was noted to possess the same duality as the primordial god, Ometecuhtli. In addition to the earth, she was logically associated with fertility. She took the form of a rotund, fanged toad who needed to be satiated with ritual sacrificial blood, especially hearts -- something very common to all Aztec deities, particularly life-giving or warlike ones.

Xipe Totec
Occasionally, this name was combined to “Xipetoltec,” which means “The Flayed One.” Similar to Tezcatlipoca, he was a god of life, death, and rebirth. He was honored alongside the changing of the seasons and, interestingly, was the god of goldsmiths and others who worked with precious metals. While a bit grisly, his status as “flayed” had to do with his life-giving propensities. He flayed himself to provide for humans in a mythological representation of how their most precious food -- maize, or corn -- must lose its outer husk to provide sustenance.

In the Beginning
Now, sensibly, the next thing to discuss is the creation of the world according to the Aztec. Interestingly, the Aztecs believe that time is not as linear as it appears to us. Instead, their creation story implies that the world we live in is simply the most recent of many incarnations -- and that there will be more to come in the future. Before the first age, however, there was simply nothing: a void. It was from this void that the first god created themself. This god -- a god of duality -- was at once both good and bad, both male and female, and they were called Ometecuhtli or Omecihuatl. From Ometecuhtli, four other gods were born:  Huizilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca and Xipe Totec. At this point, Ometecuhtli receded into background and allowed their progeny to create the rest of the world and rule how they saw fit.

Quetzalcoatl and Huizilopochtli immediately got to work sacrificing their brother, Tezcatlipoca, in order to create fire and the  sun. This was not entirely successful, as Tezcatlipoca was immortalized in the sky as only half of a sun, but this was good enough for the time being. After this, they decided to create mankind, though it required the sacrifice of another lesser god -- so unimportant that he was not even named. Over four days, this god’s blood was dripped onto a pile of bones, creating the first man and woman, Oxomoco and Cipactonal. Those of you who paid attention in Year Four will note that the use of blood to create human beings is not a foreign concept and was also done according to Babylonian myths.

Interestingly, it seems that the four primordial gods were so concerned with creating mankind, that they had not yet finished fleshing out the ranks of their fellow gods. They then saw to creating various gods to rule over the skies, the waters, and even the underworld. With all that out of the way, the newly-created gods and humans began to live their lives, and this is where we see the Aztec belief in cycles.

Ages to Come
These events were just the beginning of what the Aztecs called the “First Age.” Each age was associated with and ushered in by a god (and therefore also with a particular element with which that god was related), and the end of each age was marked by the destruction of humankind and the consequent rebuilding.

As an example, the time in which both the Aztecs lived and the current times are considered to be part of the “Fifth Age.” The god that rules over this age is Nanahuatzin, a minor god. Perhaps odd for the Aztecs, Nanahuatzin is quite humble, and a god of familial ties and loyalty. However, this age too, must come to an end, and it is foretold it will be destroyed with fierce earthquakes, at which point the process will start over again, with a new god creating humankind.

Tales of Tenochtitlan
With broad topics like our existence and the destruction of humanity out of the way, we’ll take a brief break and focus more specifically on the origins of the Aztec people according to their mythology and history. While this myth does not entirely outline how the Aztec people came to be, it does detail the founding of their capital and the center of their civilization: Tenochtitlan.

Legend tells that the Aztecs were a wandering people after they were ordered to leave their original home to the North of Mexico -- Aztlan -- by the god Huitzilopochtli. Their migration took quite a long time, though an exact figure is not provided, but they eventually found the spot that their god had intended. The travelers came upon an eagle resting on a flowering cactus that had somehow bloomed on a large rock surrounded by a lake. According to myth, the cactus was able to grow in such a harsh area because Huitzilopochtli’s sister had sacrificed her own son’s heart. The sign was well-received, and the people populated the area, calling it Tenochtitlan.

While it is difficult and to separate fact from fiction in myth, this short tale holds at least a few grains of truth. Tenochtitlan is indeed surrounded by a huge lake, which made for very fertile conditions. Similarly, Aztlan, the homeland of the Aztecs, is likely real as well. While Muggle scholars denounce it as purely mythological, magiarchaeologists have surmised that there is likely a hidden ruined city just waiting to be discovered along the borders of the present day United States and Mexico. However, just why the city needed to be abandoned will remain a mystery until the ruins are uncovered.

The Rag-Picker and the Priest
Before we draw class to a close for the day and leave the topic of the Aztecs behind, it is pertinent to discuss one of the less fanciful myths that focus more on the day-to-day lives of the people. While studying grand creation myths and the founding of nations can tell us much about the overarching beliefs of the people, smaller simpler myths have their own importance to the study of mythology. In the following myth, you should see obvious references to magic and its users in the culture. Be sure to pay attention to these messages, as they will be crucial to one of your assignments this week.

There once was a poor commoner, a rag-picker, who happened upon an elaborate painted book while combing the streets near the temple of Huitzilopochtli. Unable to read it, he brought his find to the priest of the temple, and shared his discovery. Upon reading the glyphs, the priest discovered that it told of great treasure hidden in that very temple, which they decided to split between them.

They uncovered the treasure with ease, finding a wand, other magical tools including a mirror which allowed them to see into the future, and two books: one of astronomy and one of magic rites. The priest, seeing these things, struck a deal with the commoner, saying that they were of no use to anyone but him, and so instead offered him three hundred gold pieces in exchange for what should have been his half of the treasure. The commoner readily agreed and accepted the money, but while the priest was distracted, he grabbed the magic wand, hitting him and killing him before dropping the priest’s body into the lake. The commoner declared triumphantly, “These things are not so hard to use.”

However, he had celebrated too early, as things went downhill from there. He still could not read, so the secrets of the two books remained locked to him. He looked into the future with the mirror, but saw things he didn’t understand, things that frightened him. The magical tools -- the rattle and wand --- caused strange things to happen which also frightened him. Strange spirits and creatures congregated around him, giving him no rest. Finally, the man had had enough. Cursing the magical objects, he threw them into the lake as well, hoping to be rid of the demons that plagued him.

It was then that the priest arose from the lake, completely unharmed. He caught the wand in hand, and hit the commoner with it, killing him and taking the rest of the treasures. For the rest of his life, the priest carried the sacred items with him whenever he went, and they never brought any more harm.

Closing
Food for thought, certainly. More common everyday myths like these are of great interest, as they have much to tell us about a civilization's culture and magical practices. A discussion of the potential nuances and meanings of this tale, in terms of both magic and the mundane, would take far more time than I have, unfortunately. And perhaps this is best, as it will give you a chance to dissect it on your own. In addition to that assignment, I trust you have not forgotten your midterm -- and if you have, ignorance is no excuse! You will not need luck if you have a keen mind and an attention span longer than a Flobberworm. I shall now pass you off to Professor Morgan who will go over the details of your midterm - she’s been hiding at the back of the classroom for some time now! Until next week, students.

Professor Morgan clears her throat as she strides to the front of the classroom, a stack of parchment in her arms.

Hello again, dears! I hope you enjoyed your first lesson with Professor Wessex today  -- she is a fount of knowledge, is she not? I do indeed have your midterms ready to go, so please select your quill and move all other items from your tables to the floor. Your midterm will be in two parts. The first will be a quiz on the materials covered during Lessons One through Four of this year, and the second will be an essay to test your knowledge. Please be aware that there are no retakes for midterm examinations in this class. In addition to your midterms, Professor Wessex has assigned a mandatory essay on today’s materials. Focus, read the questions carefully, and be thorough! Good luck.

Original lesson written by Professor Venita Wessex
Image credits here, here, here and here