Primal Religion:Aztec and Mayan

Location 

Mexico

Cosmological View.
The future as a very important thing and uses human sacrifices to please the sun.The Aztecs linked the human condition to cosmology. The human body, mainly the head and heart, were regarded as nourishment for the sun and cosmos.

Sacred Symbols 

• Pyramids:The Mayans made their pyramids in similar ways but were made for different reasons. The first pyramid was made so that the priests could make their sacrifices to the gods and the second pyramid was built to a god
• Calendars: The Mayans have two types of calendars; a religious and a solar calendar. The Aztecs also had two different calendar; one fore tracking religious ceremonies and festivals, and the other was used to track time.
• Writings:The Mayans used a system  of writing called hieroglyphics which was similar to what the ancient Egyptians used but different at the same time. The aztecs wrote using pictographs since they didn't  have an alphabet.

Sacred Locations
Teotihuacan is sacred because its identified to be the origin of the entire cosmos. The pyramids are also sacred because they were built basically for the gods that they worshiped.
 Important gods

Aztecs:

• Huitzilopochtli - The most fearsome and powerful of the Aztec gods, Huitzilopochtli was the god of war, the sun, and sacrifice. He was also the patron god of the Aztec capital city of Tenochtitlan. The Great Temple in the center of the city was built in honor of Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc. His name is thought to mean "left-handed hummingbird". He was often drawn with feathers and holding a scepter made from a snake.

• Tlaloc - Tlaloc was the god of rain and water. While Tlaloc helped the Aztecs much of the time by sending rain and causing plants to grow, he also could get angry and send thunder storms and hail. Tlaloc was worshiped at the Great Temple in the city of Tenochtitlan and also at the top of a tall mountain named Mount Tlaloc. He was often drawn with fangs and big goggle-like eyes.



• Quetzalcoatl - Quetzalcoatl was the god of life and wind. His name means "feathered serpent" and he was usually drawn as a serpent which could fly, very much like a dragon. When Cortez first arrived at the Aztecs, many thought that he was the god Quetzalcoatl in human flesh.



• Tezcatlipoca - Tezcatlipoca was a powerful god associated with many things including magic, the night, and the earth. He was a rival god to Quetzalcoatl. According to Aztec mythology, he was the first god to create the sun and the earth, but was struck down by Quetzalcoatl and turned into a jaguar. There was a large temple built to him in the city of Tenochtitlan just south of the Great Temple. His name meant "smoking mirror".



• Chicomecoatl - Chicomecoatl was the Aztec goddess of agriculture, nourishment, and corn. She was often drawn as a young girl carrying flowers or a woman using the sun as a shield. Her name meant "seven snakes".

Mayans:

• Itzamna - The most important Maya god was Itzamna. Itzamna was the god of fire who created the Earth. He was ruler of heaven as well as day and night. The Maya believed that he gave them thecalendar and writing. It is thought that his name means "lizard house". 
• Kukulcan - Kukulkan was a powerful snake god whose name means "feathered serpent". He was the primary god of the Itza people in the latter part of the Maya civilization. He is often drawn to look like a dragon. 
• Bolon Tzacab - Also known by the name Huracan (similar to our word for hurricane), Bolon Tzacab was the god of storms, wind, and fire. Maya mythology said that he caused a great flood to come when the Maya angered the gods. His name means "one leg". 
• Chaac - Chaac was the god of rain and lightning. He had a lighting axe that he used to strike the clouds and produce rain and storms. 

Totems, Fetishes, and Taboos?
The Mayans had animal totems. The aztecs used knives and bodies as fetishes.
Shamans
To the Mayans, the shaman is able to bridge into the other world and bring forth the magic power of that world
 Rituals.

1. Human Sacrifices: The heart was offered to the nourishment of the sun and the head was offered to the sky. Sacrifices were done at least once every 20 days.
2. The Priests: Priests were used to perform the rituals to keep people in the favor of the gods. They would predict the future, work miracles, build tabernacles,etc.

Sources:
http://www.mayanshamanism.com/about.html
http://web.mesacc.edu/dept/d10/asb/ancient_religion/pages/mayan_center.html
http://www.ducksters.com/history/maya/pyramids_and_architecture.php

Primal Religions Chapter Review

1. They tended to come before the major/popular religious traditions. A characteristics is that they practice their own unique tradition.
2. The ancestors gave shape to landscape and created various forms of life. They put people into tribes, specified their locations, and to determined the languages and everything.
3. The ancestors presence
4. A totem is an entity that symbolizes an individual or group and it has special significance for the religious life of that individual. Taboo is a system of social ordering that dictates that specific object and activities.
5. Its only through rituals that the sacred power of the Dreaming can be accessed and experienced.
6. The Ancestors in the Dreaming taught the first humans the rituals.
7. They awaken young people to spiritual identity and redefine their social identity within the tribe
8. The first initiation is when a boys tooth is pulled out and buried in the ground and the other is circumcision.
9. Nigeria, Benin, and Togo
10. Its where the Yoruba believe that the god Orisha-nla began to create the world
11. They believe that reality is divided into two separate worlds:heaven and earth. Heaven is where all the god and ancestors and earth is where normal experiences happen.
12. He is the supreme god and they believe that he is the primary source of power.
13. They are lesser deities but they are sources of sacred power
14. Orisha-nla is the one who is said to have created earth and Ogun who is the god of iron.
15. A mischievous supernatural being
16. Family ancestors gained a supernatural status by doing right and are praised by their own families. Defied ancestors are those who are worshiped by a large number of people.
17. They facilitate communication with the appropriate deity or ancestor.
18. Its when ones future can be learned and its essential because it tells you how to proceed with your life.
19. twenty thousand to thirty years ago
20. Its a representative of American Indian religion and is a model
21. It means most sacred and refers to sixteen separate deities
22. the Lakota trickster figure
23. They believe that four souls depart from a person at death, one which journeys on the Milky Way where an old women decides whether it can go to the other world or return to the earth as a ghost and the other spirits are reborn into children.
24. spiritual power that will ensure greater success
25. its a dark and airtight hut made of saplings and covered with animal skin and represents the universe. its used for spiritual and physical purification.
26. a message is often communicated or a guardian spirit
27. a medicine man
28. its the axis or center of the universe and for the Sun Dance, its a tree that is carefully selected
29. they believe that giving their bodies is the only suitable sacrifice
30. They were a highly developed civilization and they predated catholicism
31. Present day mexico and extended to the Honduras, nicaragua, and costa rica
32. Quetzalcoatl;Teotihuacan
33. He was known for creating the sun
34. the fifth sun and its supposed to be the last sun
35. they thought they had four quadrants extending outward from the center of the universe
36. because of the potency of the divine forces
37. they could communicate with the gods and make offerings through language
38. Cortes came and looked like the main god that they thought was going to return
39. its held at the end of October and joins the living and the dead through festive and spiritually meaningful rituals
40. all-encompassing nature of religion, change, and the supernatural and human worlds

Baptism Video

Penance Video

I Confess

Look up Alfred Hitchcock's biography and find some articles about his Catholic faith. How do you think his faith informs his view of the cinema? Give examples from "I Confess" (or other Hitchcock movies) to make your case. Alfred Hitchcock was born in London, England. My sources say that his parents were very strict Catholics. Some people might not like this and rebel against it but Alfred Hitchcock did not; he embraced it instead. He went to mass every week and went to and graduated from a Catholic prep school. After graduating, he kept up with his beliefs and married Alma Reville who converted to Catholic beliefs. They also attended mass every week just like Hitchcock’s parents. Not only did they attend mass but they donated a lot of money to their church and their daughter even married and Archbishop from Boston. Hitchcock even had his funeral in Catholic tradition. Hitchcock’s Catholic ways definitely rubbed off in his movie “I confess”. The movie is about priest named Father Michael Logan. In the catholic faith, people go to confession which is when you tell a priest your sins and you are forgiven for them. In the movie, a caretaker named Otto, tells the priest that he was trying to steal from a lawyer and ended up killing him. Of course, all priests have made a promise never to tell the sins of someone who goes to them no matter what. They are supposed to be martyrs and even if it comes to death, they aren’t supposed to tell a soul. Coming to death is exactly what happens in the movie. People find out about the murder and start to question everyone including the priest. Of course he doesn’t tell the police any information and they start to suspect that he is the one who committed the crime. He is almost found guilty but isn’t and Otto is determined to be the killer. In this movie, you can tell how strictly Hitchcock believes in the Catholic faith. He understands that the priests are serious with what they do and most people would think that the priest would say something but in Hitchcocks head, the priest does exactly what he is supposed to do and almost dies living up to his duties. I feel as though if Hitchcock was the priest then he would’ve been the same way. His teaching ad beliefs also show in his other movies as well and I think its really good that Hitchcock kept to his beliefs even as a director.