Teotl () is a
Nahuatl term for sacredness or divinity that is sometimes translated as "god". For the
Aztecs was the metaphysical omnipresence upon which their religious philosophy was based.
As described by James Maffie, "is essentially power: continually active, actualized, and actualizing energy-in-motion... It is an ever-continuing process, like a flowing river... It continually and continuously generates and regenerates as well as permeates, encompasses and shapes reality as part of an endless process. It creates the cosmos and all its contents ''from within'' itself as well as ''out of'' itself."
This is conceptualized in a kind of
monistic pantheism as manifest in the supreme god , as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire.
Similar concepts to existed among elsewhere in Mesoamerica at the time of the
conquest, such as in the
Zapotec term or the
Maya
Maya may refer to:
Civilizations
* Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America
** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples
** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples
* Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
or . Such immaterial energy can also be compared to the Polynesian concept of
Mana
According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...
. In
Pipil mythology (
Nawat
Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nicarao) is a Nahuan language native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan family. It was spoken in several parts of present-day Central America before the Spanish c ...
cognate of ''Teotl'') is known as the creator and father of life.
The gods in the Aztec pantheon, themselves each referred to as a (plural ), were active elements in the world that could manifest in natural phenomena, in abstract art, and as summoned or even embodied by priests during rituals – all these could be called .
Molly Bassett identifies major characteristics of as the term is used in the ''
Florentine Codex
The ''Florentine Codex'' is a 16th-century ethnographic research study in Mesoamerica by the Spanish Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Sahagún originally titled it: ''La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España'' (in English: ''Th ...
'' to get further insight on Aztec religion as described in other codices.
Whereas in most
Nahuatl translations of the Bible and Christian texts, "God" (, Θεός) is translated with the Spanish word ''Dios'', in modern translations by the Catholic Church in the 21st century, the word , which is a combination of and the
reverential suffix ''-tzin'', is used officially for "God".
References
Sources
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* {{cite book , last=van Zantwijk , first=Rudolph , title=The Aztec Arrangement: The Social History of Pre-Spanish Mexico , publisher=Norman: University of Oklahoma Press , year=1985
External links
Discussion on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aztec mythology and religion
Vitalism