The Role Of Hutzilopochtli In Aztec Religion

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Huitzilopochtli is the god of sun and warfare and is also one of the principle deities of the Aztec religion. In Aztec mythology, the god is the offspring of the supreme earth goddess known as Coatlίcue (Britannica). The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed “daily nourishment” in the form of human sacrifice, as the “people of the sun” were required to provide the god with blood and hearts for strength. The sacrifice was offered to the sun, or the “eagle who rises,” and burned in “the eagle’s va-se,” (Britannica). Warriors were used as sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli because it was believed that their death would form the sun’s entourage and its spirit would later live in the bodies of hummingbirds. “In a more picturesque homage to Huitzilopochtli,

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