Editing Huītzilōpōchtli (section)

==History==
[[File:Huitzilopochtli, the Principal Aztec God WDL6725.png|thumb|right|Huitzilopochtli, as depicted in the ''[[Codex Tovar]]'']]
Huitzilopochtli was the patron god of the [[Mexica]] tribe. Originally, he was of little importance to the [[Nahua peoples|Nahuas]], but after the rise of the Aztecs, [[Tlacaelel]] reformed their religion and put Huitzilopochtli at the same level as [[Quetzalcoatl]], [[Tlaloc]], and [[Tezcatlipoca]], making him a solar god. Through this, Huitzilopochtli replaced [[Nanahuatzin]], the solar god from the Nahua legend. Huitzilopochtli was said to be in a constant struggle with the darkness and required nourishment in the form of sacrifices to ensure the sun would survive the cycle of 52 years, which was the basis of many [[Mesoamerican mythology|Mesoamerican myths]].

There were 18 especially holy festive days, and only one of them was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. This celebration day, known as Toxcatl,<ref>{{cite book|last=Read|first=Kay Almere|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC|url-access=registration|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|pages=194|isbn=978-0-19-514909-8 }}</ref> falls within the fifteenth month of the Mexican calendar. During the festival, captives and slaves were brought forth and slain ceremoniously.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brinton|first=Daniel|title=Rig Veda Americanus|url=https://archive.org/details/rigvedaamerican00bringoog|year=1890|location=Philadelphia|pages=[https://archive.org/details/rigvedaamerican00bringoog/page/n29 18]}}</ref>

In the book ''El Calendario Mexica y la Cronografia'' by Rafael Tena and published by the National Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, the author gives the last day of the Nahuatl month Panquetzaliztli as the date of the celebration of the rebirth of the Lord Huitzilopochtli on top of Coatepec (Snake Hill); December 9 in the [[Julian calendar]] or December 19 in the [[Gregorian calendar]] with the variant of December 18 in [[leap year]]s.

=== Sacrifice ===
{{Main|Human sacrifice in Aztec culture}}

[[File:Human_sacrifice_(Codex_Laud,_f.8).png|thumb|Human sacrifice depicted in the [[Codex Laud]]]]
Ritual sacrifice and self bloodletting were key offerings to Huitzilopochtli. The Aztecs performed ritual self-sacrifice (also called autosacrifice or blood-letting) on a daily basis.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Self-sacrifice |url=https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/aztec-life/self-sacrifice |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.mexicolore.co.uk}}</ref> The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli needed daily nourishment (''tlaxcaltiliztli'') in the form of human blood and hearts and that they, as “people of the sun,” were required to provide Huitzilopochtli with his sustenance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Huitzilopochtli {{!}} Aztec God of War & Sun Worship {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Huitzilopochtli |access-date=2023-06-20 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> 

When the Aztecs sacrificed people to Huitzilopochtli, the victim would be placed on a sacrificial stone.<ref>[[Bernardino de Sahagún]], ''Historia General de las Cosas de la Nueva España'' (op. cit.), p. 76</ref> The priest would then cut through the abdomen with an obsidian or flint blade.<ref>Sahagún, Ibid.</ref> The heart would be torn out still beating and held towards the sky in honor to the Sun-God. The body would then be pushed down the pyramid where the Coyolxauhqui stone could be found. The Coyolxauhqui Stone recreates the story of Coyolxauhqui,  Huitzilopochtli's sister who was dismembered at the base of a mountain, just as the sacrificial victims were.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carrasco |first=David |title=Quetzalcoatl and the irony of empire: myths and prophecies in the Aztec tradition |date=1982 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226094878 |location=Chicago |oclc=8626972}}</ref> The body would be carried away and either cremated or given to the warrior responsible for the capture of the victim. He would either cut the body in pieces and send them to important people as an [[Human trophy taking in Mesoamerica|offering]], or use the pieces for ritual [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]]. The warrior would thus ascend one step in the hierarchy of the Aztec social classes, a system that rewarded successful warriors.<ref>{{cite book |last=Duverger |first=Christian |title=La flor letal: economía del sacrificio azteca |publisher=[[Fondo de Cultura Económica]] |year=2005 |pages=83–93}}</ref>

During the festival of Panquetzaliztli, of which Huitzilopochtli was the patron, sacrificial victims were adorned in the manner of Huitzilopochtli's costume and blue body paint, before their hearts would be sacrificially removed. Representations of Huitzilopochtli called teixiptla were also worshipped, the most significant being the one at the Templo Mayor which was made of dough mixed with sacrificial blood.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Boone |first=Elizabeth |title=Incarnations of the Aztec Supernatural: The Image of Huitzilopochtli in Mexico and Europe |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=79}}</ref>
[[File:COM_V2_D273_Prisoners_for_sacrifice_were_decorated.png|right|thumb|262x262px|Prisoners for sacrifice were decorated.]]
Warriors who died in battle or as sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli were called ''quauhteca'' (“the eagle’s people”).<ref name=":0" /> War was an important source of both human and material tribute. Human tribute was used for sacrificial purposes because human blood was believed to be extremely important, and thus powerful. According to Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli needed blood as sustenance in order to continue to keep his sister and many brothers at bay as he chased them through the sky.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Michael E. |title=The Aztecs |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2011}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
File:Codex Magliabechiano (141 cropped).jpg|Human sacrifice as shown in the [[Aztec codices#Codex Magliabechiano|Codex Magliabechiano]]
File:Kodeks tudela 21.jpg|''[[Codex Tudela]]''.
</gallery>