[4] See Spence, Civilisation of Ancient Mexico, chap. ii. [↑]
[5] See Civilisation of Ancient Mexico, chap. ii. [↑]
[6] Payne, Hist. New World, vol. ii. p. 430. [↑]
[7] Unknown Mexico, vol. i., 1902; also see Bulletin 30, Bureau of American Ethnology, p. 309. [↑]
CHAPTER II: MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY
Nahua Religion
The religion of the ancient Mexicans was a polytheism or worship of a pantheon of deities, the general aspect of which presented similarities to the systems of Greece and Egypt. Original influences, however, were strong, and they are especially discernible in the institutions of ritualistic cannibalism and human sacrifice. Strange resemblances to Christian practice were observed in the Aztec mythology by the Spanish Conquistadores, who piously condemned the native customs of baptism, consubstantiation, and confession as frauds founded and perpetuated by diabolic agency.
