WHAT IS THE MESOAMERICAN WORLDVIEW? - HISTORY - 2026

The Mesoamerican worldview refers to the way in which the inhabitants of the cultures of Mesoamerica perceived the surrounding reality. To better understand this concept, it is necessary to know what the terms worldview and Mesoamerica mean.

The worldview refers to all those ideas or images that the human being builds over time to give an explanation to the phenomena that surround him and that affect him, to understand how the universe originated, and to understand the role that corresponds to him in the world you live in.

The term Mesoamerica is not so much geographical, but cultural and historical. It covers the original populations that gave rise to different fundamental cultural manifestations, which correspond to the roots of today's civilization.

Some of these cultures are the Aztec, Mayan, Mexica, Teotihuacan, Tarascan and Olmec, among others. These peoples were generated in the period between 2500 BC and AD 1521 Physically, Mesoamerica includes Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, and part of Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

Despite the fact that they developed in different parts of the territory, all cultures have important similarities, among which the different worldviews stand out.

Most important characteristics of the Mesoamerican worldview

Creator gods

According to the Mesoamerican worldview, initially chaos reigned in the environment, and everything was surrounded by a great ocean.

All Mesoamerican peoples conceive of a very similar beginning of creation, with some differences. For example, the Mayan people speak of a feathered serpent from which three great powers emerged that carried out the creation of the entire universe.

Instead, the Mexica people speak of a dual god, made up of two beings, Tonacatecutli (male) and Tonacacíhuatl (female), who lived in the highest sky above the surface.

According to the Mexica worldview, one of those that best integrated the different notions of the Mesoamerican peoples, then four gods arose, who are attributed the creation of a great lizard (thus they conceived the planet Earth), of the twelve remaining heavens and of the other gods that existed.

Each of the gods was associated with a terrestrial cardinal point and had a representative color. Tezcatlipoca was an omnipresent god, capricious, giving and, at the same time, dispossessing, destined to the north and associated with the color black.

Huitzilopochtli, a god of war to whom human sacrifices were made, destined for the south and associated with the color blue.

Quetzalcóatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent, is one of the most representative gods of the Mesoamerican worldview, associated with vegetation and water, patron of priests, god of morning, death and resurrection. Quetzalcóatl was destined to the east and its associated color was white.

And finally, Xipe Tótec, god of corn and war, to whom the skinning of prisoners of war was offered as an offering. It was related to agriculture, its associated color was red and it was destined for the West.

Earth as the center of the universe

Planet Earth was seen as a large lizard that was surrounded by water, named Cipactli.

All the characteristics of the lizard corresponded to the geographical areas of the planet, which was the center of the entire universe.

The crocodile floated in the ocean. The lizard's protuberances were associated with mountainous regions, its hairs corresponded to vegetation zones, and the hollows of its skin were caves.

Creation of the human being

The Mayan worldview saw a first creation of a man of clay, and then of one of wood.

Since none of these men responded to what they conceived for human beings, a third man emerged, fed by corn; According to the Mayan people, this man was able to communicate with the gods and had the capacity for reflection.

On the other hand, the Mexica worldview poses a different story: Quetzalcóatl had to recover the bones of the last men in the underworld. Eventually he recovers them and bathes them with his blood; after this, human beings emerge in the world.

It is considered that this emergence of men, bathed in blood, is framed in a sacrifice of the gods.

A sky with thirteen levels

It was established that the sky had thirteen different layers, and in each level lived different beings, elements or gods.

The other planets and stars of the universe were at the lowest levels. In the highest heavens lived the god of rain, and in the last heaven, the number thirteen, was the dual god, creator of the world. All levels of the sky had associated gods.

An underworld with nine levels

In the Mesoamerican worldview it was determined that the caves were passages through which it was possible to contact the underworld, which was composed of nine levels.

The underworld was of great importance because it was the pillar that supported the entire universe. This conception was closely related to darkness and chaos.

Likewise, the underworld was considered as the stage in which the dead were found, but also the hidden life, which would eventually take shape.

The Fifth Sun

According to the Mesoamerican worldview, several realities had already emerged, several worlds. Each time it had been lived, it was called age, and the ages were called "suns."

Mesoamericans established that the age they lived was the fifth: the fifth sun, which corresponds to the moment in which human life is generated on the planet.

The four previous suns correspond to the different phases of creation of the universe. In the first sun, the world's inhabitants were giants and were destroyed by jaguars. On the second sun, there was a hurricane that destroyed all life.

On the third sun, the world was destroyed by the action of a rain of fire. And in the fourth sun there was a huge flood after which all beings became fish.

The worldview of Mesoamerica indicates that the fifth sun will conclude thanks to an important earth movement.

References

1. Madrid, J. "The Aztec myth of the thirteen heavens, a metaphor about the composition of the universe" (June 7, 2016) in Más de MX. Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from Más de MX: masdemx.com
2. Séjourné, L. “Cosmogony of Mesoamerica” (2004) in Google Books. Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from Google Books: books.google.co.ve
3. "Mesoamerica" ​​at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from the National Autonomous University of Mexico: portalacademico.cch.unam.mx
4. "The cosmovision in Mesoamerica" ​​at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Retrieved on September 5, 2017 from the National Autonomous University of Mexico: portalacademico.cch.unam.mx