AZTEC TATTOOS
Common misstakes of an "Aztec-Tatt"
Imagine you have decided to make a tatto but you do not know what art or where you want to place your new tatto.
Imagine you are a real bad ass - You rule Hell - And you need a tatto to show the world that you are "THE MAN"
And now to the fun part
You come in to your lokal tattoer, your new jacket with no arms are on (your tattoer quivers, thinking -This must be one of those Bad ass mother fu*k*r i heard about)........ you are cool!
You look the tattoer deep in hes eyes and with your puberty voice change you say: Give me an Aztec tatt.......
Your tattoer quivers even more when he gives you some examples of "Aztec-Tatts" that you ,seem to like. The tattoer try to explainn the trouble you are in but you would not listen to him!!!
The story ends (or start) when you leave the parlor that day.......... WITH A XOCHIPILLI tatto!!!........ HaHaHa!!!
Now you are thinking... Is that fun??
Yes.. Xochipilli: The god of love, games, beauty, dance, flowers, maize and song in Aztec mythology.
"THE MAN" (you) is walking around with The God of Maize on hes shoulder...... Hahahahaaaaaaaaa!
If you're in the market for a new tatto, Pleace do yourself a favor...
- Do a research BEFORE committing to a tatto design!!
- DONT ink butterflies, dragonflies, flowers or Celtic knots on your body if you dont know there meaning
Aztecs have great mythology, which is where Aztec tattos and their meanings come from.
Aztec tatto art is popular
One of the oldest traditions of tattos, the Aztec tatto art is popular and flourishing, even in today's times. The aspect of spirituality, which is associated with the art of tattoing in Aztec culture, gives it a completely different meaning and touch.
The Placement of an "Aztec"
The Aztec people used to wear tattos to show their devotion to a particular god. The chest, wrist and stomach were the body parts where people used to sport the Aztec tattos.
The origin of the Aztec tatto
The origin of the Aztec tatto is in Mexico.
The Aztec civilization
The Aztec civilization was dominant in central Mexico from the 14th to 16th century. Spanish colonizers are said to be the destroyers of this civilization. It is however very difficult to say whether today's Mexicans derive their ancestry from the Aztecs.
The Aztec people
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
Aztec (Aztecatl, "people from Aztlan")
Aztec (Aztecatl) is the Nahuatl word for "people from Aztlan", a mythological place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time, and later adopted as the word to define the Mexica people.
Mexica people of Tenochtitlan
Often the term "Aztec" refers exclusively to the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan (now the location of Mexico City), situated on an island in Lake Texcoco, who referred to themselves as Mexica Tenochca or Colhua-Mexica.
The Aztec Empire
Sometimes the term also includes the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan's who together with the Mexica formed the Aztec Triple Alliance which has also become known as the "Aztec Empire".
The Aztecs had many beliefs.
- They believed the sun fought darkness every night and rose to save mankind.
- They believed the earth was flat.
- They believed that if they fed the sun blood, it would rise.
- They also believed in 13 heavens and 9 hells.
- The Aztecs respected their gods very much.
They put their greatest efforts into making strong, beautiful temples to please their gods.
Their arts had a part in their religion.
They drew pictures that told about their gods. They recorded religious events with hieroglyphics and even number symbols.
The Aztecs worshipped about 1,000 gods!
But they worshipped the sun god the most. Religious ceremonies took place in a temple called a teocalli. This temple had sacred pools for ceremonial cleansing, gardens, living quarters for a priest, and racks to hold the skulls of victims.
Religion played a great part in Aztec life.
Sacrifice was one of the main events in the Aztec religion. Priests made human sacrifices to make the sun god happy. Aztecs fought in wars to capture men to sacrifice.
On God's Feast Day, they killed their slaves for the gods. Human sacrifices were offerings to the sun and earth so that food would grow.
On the night of the O' Nothing Days, O' priests would dress up as the supreme gods and wait on the top of an extinct volcano.
When the evening star reached the top of the sky, the priests would stretch the captive over an altar, or a special stone. Then the high priest would light a fire on the victim's heart and tear it out.
After the heart is cut, the priest would hold the heart to the sun, then put it in a sacred dish.
Finally, the bodies were rolled down the temple stairs to lie in a heap.
Even after that, most victims were happy to die because they thought they would go straight to heaven.
The Aztecs strongly believed in the afterlife.
It was the way the Aztecs died rather than the way they lived that determined whether they would go to the sun god or go to the dark and dismal underworld. If a person died a normal death, his or her soul would have to pass through the nine lives of the underworld before reaching Mictlan, the realm of the dead.
A warrior who died in battle or a woman that died in childbirth would go straight to the sun god in the sky.
The head of the gods was Huizilopochtlid, god of war and god of sun.
This god had told the Aztecs to wander until they found an eagle with a serpent in its mouth perched on a cactus growing from a rock. When they found this, they claimed the area around it, which is now known as Tenochtitlan.
The Aztecs worshipped Tlaloc, the rain god, in the main temple. This god was very important to farmers because drought was a threat in the area. Quetzalcoatl was a feathered snake who represented arts, crafts, and self-sacrifice.
Priests and priestesses were very important people.
- They acted as doctors
- They taught science, art, writing, music, dance, history, and counting
- They also had to know astronomy and astrology
- They had to perform difficult ceremonies.
Religion played an very important part in Aztecs' lives, and human sacrifice was used to pay homage to their gods.