Every year the Aztecs chose a captive young man, gave him 4 beautiful women and revered him as God (7 photos)

The Aztecs are an ancient Indian people who lived in what is now Mexico. One of the most famous and terrible customs of the Aztecs was the practice of human sacrifices, which were performed as honor and gifts to the gods.





During the annual festival of Toxcatl, the chosen man (being a prisoner of war) received 4 of the most beautiful and virgin women, ate the best food, lived in the most expensive palaces and was worshiped as a real God.

However, the fate of this chosen one is definitely not to be envied...

Aztec deity Tezcatlipoca



Tezcatlipoca, whose name translates as “Lord of the Smoking Mirror,” occupied a supreme place in the pantheon of Aztec mythology. He was considered the deity of the night, witchcraft, and the patron of Aztec rulers and young warriors.

According to Aztec beliefs, Tezcatlipoca embodied the forces of nature, being omnipotent and omnipresent - his presence was felt on earth, in the afterlife and in heaven. However, he was also reputed to be a vengeful deity, able to see and punish any evil deed committed by people.

The Aztec rulers were seen as the earthly representatives of Tezcatlipoca. Upon ascending the throne, they were required to worship images and statues of this god, as well as perform various sacrificial rituals in order to gain his support and legitimize their power.

Feast of Tezcatlipoca



The most colorful and impressive ceremony of the Aztec religious calendar year was created in honor of Tezcatlipoca. This was a sacrifice called Toxcatl (translated as "drought"), which was celebrated every year at the height of the dry season from May 5 to 22 and involved the sacrifice of a young youth between the ages of 16 and 20 (usually a prisoner of war).

Aztec priests tried to choose the most physically developed prisoner as Ixpitla (avatar of God Tezcatlipoca). And over the next 12 months, the chosen young man, whose skin was covered with black obsidian paint, personified God Tezcatlipoca himself, walking around the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, accompanied by servants, fed with the most expensive and delicious food, dressed in the most luxurious clothes and taught language, music and religion.



The young man was not only worshiped by all ordinary citizens, but also by the Aztec ruler himself, presenting him with flowers, expensive jewelry and other gifts.

This young man was chosen from among the captives and was treated like a king, with all the trappings of royalty. He was dressed in luxurious clothes and jewelry, and was also married to four women who stood in for the goddesses. For the duration of the festival, Ixiptla was treated as if he were Tezcatlipoca himself, and anyone who encountered him was required to worship him as a god. They offered him food, water and other valuables.

(c) from the Florentine Codex of the 16th century, written by the monk Bernardino de Sahagún

About a month before the start of the Toxcatl festival ceremony, the chosen young man received four of the most beautiful virgins as wives, personifying the goddesses Atlatonan, Huixtocihuatl, Xilonen and Xochiquetzal, who entertained him not only with songs and dances.



In addition, these women had to conceive a child within a month of living together in order to remain alive after the end of the holiday.

The Aztecs considered Tezcatlipoca to be the god of fertility and the natural world, as well as the patron of Aztec kings and young warriors, so conception proved that the woman was chosen by Tezcatlipoca to give birth to a child for the people who would become a jaguar warrior (the elite among Aztec soldiers), or (if it was a girl) a bride for the elite/future rulers.



When the time came for the chosen youth to be sacrificed, he climbed the stairs of the temple pyramid, where the priests forced him to lie down on a large block of stone (sacrificial stone).

One priest cut the chest with a sharp flint knife and pulled out the still beating heart, lifting it to the statue of the god. Then the priest's assistants removed the skin from the body and gave it to the special “god speaker” who performed the ceremony, who threw it over himself and began to dance in front of the statue of Tezcatlipoca to receive his blessing and a glorious harvest.



The children of the sacrificed youth, as we said above, became jaguar warriors (or wives of the most influential Aztecs) - that is, the future elite of the Aztec state.