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| omnipoetics:nahuatl_aztec_language_-_gods_and_symbols [2025/03/05 22:03] – [Works Cited:] heather | omnipoetics:nahuatl_aztec_language_-_gods_and_symbols [2025/03/05 23:03] (current) – [Works Cited:] heather |
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| **Flowers as Symbols** | **Flowers as Symbols** |
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| Flowers were pivotal in Aztec culture as they were used as offerings to both deities and royalty, such as Moctezuma ("Aztec Flowers"). Aztecs kept pleasure gardens, also known as xochitla ("Aztec Pleasure Guards"). | Flowers were pivotal in Aztec culture as they were used as offerings to both deities and royalty, such as Moctezuma ("Aztec Flowers"). Aztecs kept pleasure gardens, also known as xochitecpancalli ("Aztec Pleasure Gardens"). Dahlias and marigolds were common flowers in these gardens ("Aztec Pleasure Gardens"). The gardens themselves were kept by nobility ("Aztec Pleasure Gardens"). Xochitla, or the general garden, were kept by commoners and were common fixtures in Aztec cities ("Aztec Pleasure Gardens"). As Doris Heyden describes in her text Mythology and Symbolism of Flora in Pre-Hispanic Mexico, flowers symbolized much of Aztec daily life and mythos, such as friendship, gods, creation and humans ("Aztec Pleasure Gardens"). |
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| | **Huitzilopochtli** |
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| | Huitzilopochtli, as the god of the sun and war, served as one of the major deities in Aztec religion (Cartwright). As the god of war, Huitzilopochtli is associated with warriors and rulers (Cartwright). Despite his spirit animal being an eagle, this sun deity also goes by the names "Blue Hummingbird on the Left" and "Hummingbird of the South" (Cartwright). The Aztecs paid homage to him through offerings of quail eggs and flowers (Cartwright). Bernardino de Sahagun refers to the feast of Huitzilopochtli in his "Offering of Flowers" ("Huitzilopochtli"). This was partly because of Huitzilopochtli's close association with Xochipilli ("Huitzilopochtli"). |
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| | **Xochipilli** |
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| | Xochipilli is the deity of flowers along with the rising sun and reproduction (Romero). Other names that Xochipilli goes by in Aztec religion is "Main One in Charge of Giving Flowers" and "Nobel Flower" (Romero). Common depictions of Xochipilli include marigolds, tobacco, and dahlia (Romero). However, Osiris González Romero contends the Xochipilli was also associated with use of psychedelic plants (Romero). |
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| "Aztec Flowers." //Aztecs and Tenochtitlan//, [[https://aztecsandtenochtitlan.com/aztec-civilisation/aztec-flowers/]] | "Aztec Flowers." //Aztecs and Tenochtitlan//, [[https://aztecsandtenochtitlan.com/aztec-civilisation/aztec-flowers/]] |
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| "Aztec Pleasure Gardens." Mexicolore, https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/aztefacts/aztec-pleasure-gardens#:~:text=When%20the%20Spanish%20reached%20Mexico,a%20'horticulturally%20sophisticated%20people'. | "Aztec Pleasure Gardens." //Mexicolore//, https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/aztefacts/aztec-pleasure-gardens#:~:text=When%20the%20Spanish%20reached%20Mexico,a%20'horticulturally%20sophisticated%20people'. |
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| | Cartwright, Mark."Huitzilopochtli," //World History Encyclopedia//, 27 Aug. 2017, https://www.worldhistory.org/Huitzilopochtli/. |
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| De Sahagun, Bernardino. "An Encyclopedia of 16th-Century Indigenous Mexico." //Digital Florentine Codex//, [[https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/|External Link]] | De Sahagun, Bernardino. "An Encyclopedia of 16th-Century Indigenous Mexico." //Digital Florentine Codex//, [[https://florentinecodex.getty.edu/|External Link]] |
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| Famsi. “John Pohl’s Mesoamerica - the Aztecs Pg. 1.” FAMSI, www.famsi.org/research/pohl/pohl_aztec1.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. | Famsi. “John Pohl’s Mesoamerica - the Aztecs Pg. 1.” //FAMSI//, www.famsi.org/research/pohl/pohl_aztec1.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. |
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| | "Huitzilopochtli." //Oxford Reference//. . . Date of access 5 Mar. 2025, <https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095949416> |
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| | “Nahuatl: Language of the Aztecs.” //YouTube//, LangShack, 19 Feb. 2020, youtu.be/9_gp1I5Njig?si=r7UBubyuDIRWqlRb. |
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| Marhenke, Randa. “Maya Codices - Table of Contents.” FAMSI, www.famsi.org/mayawriting/codices/marhenke.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. | Marhenke, Randa. “Maya Codices - Table of Contents.” //FAMSI//, www.famsi.org/mayawriting/codices/marhenke.html. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025. |
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| Read, Kay Almere, and Jason J. González. Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America. Oxford University Press, 2000. | Read, Kay Almere, and Jason J. González. //Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America//. Oxford University Press, 2000. |
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| “Nahuatl: Language of the Aztecs.” YouTube, LangShack, 19 Feb. 2020, youtu.be/9_gp1I5Njig?si=r7UBubyuDIRWqlRb. | Romero, Osiris González. "Xochipilli: Psychedelic Plants, Song, and Ritual in Aztec Religion," 13 Sept., 2024, https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2024/09/xochipilli-psychedelic-plants-song-and-ritual-aztec-religion |
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| Wasson, R. Gordon. “THE ROLE OF ‘FLOWERS’ IN NAHUATL CULTURE: A SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION.” //Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University//, vol. 23, no. 8, 1973, pp. 305–24. //JSTOR//, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41762283. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025. | Wasson, R. Gordon. “THE ROLE OF ‘FLOWERS’ IN NAHUATL CULTURE: A SUGGESTED INTERPRETATION.” //Botanical Museum Leaflets, Harvard University//, vol. 23, no. 8, 1973, pp. 305–24. //JSTOR//, http://www.jstor.org/stable/41762283. Accessed 3 Feb. 2025. |
