Why is it that particular pantheons get over looked? Obviously Norse and Celtic pantheons have massive connections for us here so people follow them because of ancestry or are just drawn to them. Others follow Egyptian or Native American ways because they are drawn to them. So why is it that in all the years I've been online and in all the books I've read, especially the eclectic Pagan ones, no-one in the modern pagan (UK or USA) world follows the Aztec Gods? Why? Questzalcoatl helped to create the cosmos and instigated the system of universal death and rebirth. As an agricultural God he could be credited with being the God of chocolate too, thanks to the Aztecs But given the numbers who follow the Celtic paths with its unprouncable names, the Aztec names can't be that difficult in comparrison surely to put people off? Is it that the Aztecs believed their Gods demanded heavy blood sacrifices and therefore gave them until the steps of the temples literally ran with the blood? Many of our own Gods in times past demanded blood sacrifice, (although no where near as much as the Aztecs gods did) but our practices and sacrifices have changed today for the Gods we follow, so surely therefore so would the practices of someone following the Aztec Gods. So why is it that no-one seems to follow this? Why aren't people drawn to it? Or does anyone here know of someone who does follow them?


(There are obviously other Pantheons out there but the Aztecs is one I've read about over the years so therefore know a little about This also means I know bugger all enough to refer to another pantheon by way of example )

Although i have only recently learned to pronounce that name, kwet-za-coat-el, thanks to my 3 year old

It's definately the blood sacrafice that put me off, I realise that many of the gods demanded these at some point but maybe it's because the Aztecs were so widely publisised for their killing that it's stuck in peoples heads more than others.

Great thread, perhaps it's because no one has really highlighted it and made it a high profile pantheon? Also it's so far away is it more likely that people in this country anyway would be more drawn to something 'local'?

I alos wonder is it something we actually ahve enough information on too. Maybe Im wrong, and am quite willing to be corrected here.. but is it not true that lots of their histories remain a mystery? We know the braod basics, but are there not a lot of questions unanswered?

BTW.. God of chocolate.. love it!

I guess we are all drawn to something local or that resonates with our ancestral line. Although I take inspiration from the mythology around Graeco-Roman, Mesopotamian and Egyptian pantheons I don't work with them. I just don't feel any connection at all with Asian or South-American pantheons

I was on another forum a few years back and it was US based - and there were people on it who worked with the Aztec and Mexican pantheons - actually, there were a few of them (people who worked with them that is), so perhaps there is a geographical resonance depending on where you're from? Mind you (she said, blowing her own argument out the water) that doesn't really explain the Egyptian or Native American Indian followers...

Mmmmm, I think you are more connected to the ones you know, basically. And think about how many S American people you have met online in this and other groups - I can think of two, and both related to art, not paganism. Maybe there are flourishing pagan groups in S America, we just havn;t come across them online?

I must admit that personally the ripping out of several hundred live hearts in a single incident is rather offputting

Chocolate - the chocolate gene has passedme by - eat it about three times a year, take it or leave it. Rather have a nice naval orange

Cheers
Finvarra

Thanks everyone

Finvarra

Oh no, make it a nice Terrys chocolate orange

Xalle

There seems to be a huge part of their histories still unknown, I've found with many of the more obscure deities the same happens even though they are local to us here (Celtic), Nantosuelta is missing from the majority of Pagan and Goddess books, which implies that her history and the people who worshipped her and Sucellus are also missing in history, although a shrine to him is believed to be around York ... somewhere. It's quite odd.

Pomona

Ah, it's good to hear that there are some followers out there. I assumed that it must because we're here (UK) and we're more drawn to local deity, yet some are drawn to pantheons to which they have no connection whatsoever, and are hundreds of miles away from its normal place of worship/basis. But yes, it doesn't explain the Eqyptian followers or Native American followers who have no connection to those paths yet follow them. So whilst we do follow what we're drawn to I find it odd that those drawn to pantheons to which they have no connection are never drawn to the Aztec ones. Surely butchers would be perfect for that pantheon?

I've done some study on the Aztecs, because I wanted to learn more about human sacrifices and that their 'Pagan' religion came after Christianity.

Perhaps it's because the other Pagan beliefs, such as Celtic, Greek, Egyption etc are more romantic. The Aztec, if I'm not mistaken was a fairly new path starting somewhere in the 14th century. There are some scholers however, who theorize they may be the decendents of the Anstazi Indians. And The Aztecs did go into heavy human sacrifice, long after others have given up the practice because they believed the Cosmos or Sun was forever in motion and blood was always in motion, so they offered human sacrifice to appease the Main God, this was usually done to prisoners or enemys. It seems also, that the Aztec were male dominated. Male boys at the age of 15 went to learn warrior skills and women were not taught how to read or write, but taught crafts and how to support a husband.

They had a complicated society and treated some slaves better than the European conterparts. One could sue for freedom from a judge. Children of slaves were free and even slaves could have slaves. Although I think it's an interesting path, due to warrior status and a lack of balance between male and female treatment, It's not something I would be interested in following.

I don't know about anyone else but there's nothing about the Aztec Gods that resonate with me

Because they're damned scary?



No, really, actually...

Dryad

I'd hazard a guess that its because their civilisations were swept away and not subsumed in the manner that some other faiths were.

With the Celts in Ireland, when they converted it was via a marriage of sorts with the formation of the Celtic church. The Romans just switched and so to did the heathen peoples.

Oh it wasn't an overnight jobby but the change was driven by similar peoples.

Over in south america you had the natives conquered by a foreign and arguably alien force. The two peoples were so different where as over in europe the differences were mostly of culture and less of appearance.

Howmany people in the western world cant trace their ancestry back to something celtic or norse and as such 'find' a kinship. Even the middle/near eastern gods seem familiar due to the spread of the Roman empire.

How many can trace back to Inca, Mayan or Aztec?

And lets face it the western world is in the driving seat of popular identity.

Then again, may be it was something to do with all that red stuff.

Kev -who really is much to tired to type any morzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz