Indigenous adaption of new religion
Pre-conquest religion of Natives
consisted of elaborate ceremonies that brought gods and sacred beings to life.
Aztec priests would dress sacrificial victims in elaborate clothing, adornments
and face paint which would be representative of the deity they were making the
sacrifice to. These priests were also thought to have been in charge of guiding
sacred beings into desired paths. Catholic priests however, viewed the gods and
goddesses of the Natives as being demonic deities that had deceived the people
into serving them. Catholic priests were
able to witness, Native shamans taking children, (one after another) laying
them on a round table and cut off their hands and feet. Saving for later
consumption, next, the Native shamans were seen piercing the bodies, taking the
blood, coating the idol and then throwing the lifeless bodies down a set of
stairs where they would land back on the ground.[1] The Spaniards viewed Aztec priests as
sinister figures in black robes, their long hair matted with sacrificial blood.[2]
Friars ultimately prohibited the Aztecs to perform human sacrifices and forced
them to attend mass. As a result of this happening it allowed the adaption
strategy and the encomienda system to
work hand in hand.
|
From the beginning of Spain’s conversion process, many Natives were determined to stick to their ways as much as they possibly could. As a result of this, Aztecs soon realized that in order to salvage their old beliefs and culture they would have to get along as best they could with the Spanish as well as having to cooperate with the friars on a nominal level.[3] This led the Aztec populace to create a middle ground. Natives partook in forms of Christianity that had been altered to their Native languages and culture, all the while preserving their values and partaking in practices of their old ways. For many Aztecs who had created this middle ground, they were regarded as having maintained a revered, idol behind the altars resistance only pretending to convert to Christianity.[4] This syncretism was the most dominant form of Aztec resistance towards Christianity. It allowed the Franciscan friars to believe they had succeeded in their evangelization of the Aztec populace. However, those who were caught still worshipping their idols and participating in old religious practices were tried by the Inquisition and subject to being burned in public. This goes to show that Christianity could be as bloody as the Aztecs religion. Natives who became parishioners of the Catholic faith inescapably had to learn the basics of Christianity such as teachings of the Bible, being baptized, participating in various rituals, festivals, and having to build and maintain their local churches. When Aztecs decided to become full-fledged participants of the Catholic faith, they were able to adjust to certain aspects of Catholicism that could be aligned with their previous beliefs. Louise Burkhart writes, “Natives were able to link Jesus Christ with the sun, the Virgin Mary, they associated with dawn, light, and with flowers.”[5] As a result of many Natives converting to Christianity it allowed their communities to amalgamate themselves to Spanish rule and survive, with the hope of retaining their Native language and ceremonial characteristics of their culture.
|
In order to ensure the survival of native culture and beliefs, Aztecs would have to find a way to balance it with Christianity. The most prominent example of this fusion between Christianity and Aztec beliefs can be found in the Virgin of Guadalupe. While the symbolic representation of the Virgin is Catholic, there are layers of significance to the Aztec people of Mexico. This significance that the Virgin of Guadalupe had on the Aztecs was due to the fact that she had appeared to Juan Diego who himself was an Aztec and a Nahuatl speaker (the language of the Aztecs). Because the Virgin had appeared to an Aztec, it triggered the rapid admiration of the Virgin of Guadalupe amongst the Native populace. Some of the symbolic representations that were significant to the Aztecs consisted of the Virgin’s teal shroud which was the color associated with the divine couple Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl.[6] This divine couple is regarded by the Aztecs as being the supreme creator deity, also known as lord of the duality. The Virgin’s belt was interpreted by the Aztecs as a sign for pregnancy. Lastly the image of the cross was symbolic to the Aztecs as being a sign for the cosmos.
The most profound points of intersection between the Aztecs pre-conquest religion and Christianity are that both believed in divine intervention in human affairs independent of human will. Both practiced a form of monotheism with similarities between Jesus Christ and Quetzalcoatl (also known as Ometecuhtli) as these were the two natures of man and of God as well as both being associated with the cross. As for the Virgin Mary and Tonantzin (Aztec goddess of sustenance), were both seen as mothers of divinity, both associated with the moon. Incense in the mass and the smoke of copal (an aromatic tree resin) and tobacco were viewed as food of the Gods, amongst communion and human sacrifice were seen as offerings to the divine. As a result of the Aztecs fusion, Catholic priests took an intolerance attitude for the ways in which the Aztec populace adapted Christianity to their own preferences and did not completely abandon their old customs.
____________________
[1] Carina Johnson, Cultural Hierarchy in Sixteenth-Century Europe: The Ottomans and Mexicans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Pg. 41, 2011).
[2] Ronald, Wright. Stolen Continents Conquest and Resistance in the Americas. London: Phoenix Press, 1992.
[3] Burkhart, Louise. Aztecs On Stage: Religious Theater in Colonial Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011.
[4] Taylor, William B. Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth-Century Mexico. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996.
[5] Burkhart, Louise. Aztecs On Stage: Religious Theater in Colonial Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011.
[6] Kicza, John. Resilient Cultures: America's Native Peoples Confront European Colonization. London: Pearson Education, 2003.
____________________
[1] Carina Johnson, Cultural Hierarchy in Sixteenth-Century Europe: The Ottomans and Mexicans (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Pg. 41, 2011).
[2] Ronald, Wright. Stolen Continents Conquest and Resistance in the Americas. London: Phoenix Press, 1992.
[3] Burkhart, Louise. Aztecs On Stage: Religious Theater in Colonial Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011.
[4] Taylor, William B. Magistrates of the Sacred: Priests and Parishioners in Eighteenth-Century Mexico. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1996.
[5] Burkhart, Louise. Aztecs On Stage: Religious Theater in Colonial Mexico. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2011.
[6] Kicza, John. Resilient Cultures: America's Native Peoples Confront European Colonization. London: Pearson Education, 2003.