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creation
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
The Aztecs believed that time was cyclical and the universe had been created and destroyed four times before. Each era was called a "Sun."
The gods gathered at Teotihuacan in darkness to create a new sun. Two gods volunteered: the wealthy but cowardly Tecuciztecatl and the poor, humble Nanahuatzin. A great bonfire was lit. Tecuciztecatl hesitated four times, afraid of the heat. Nanahuatzin, without a word, leaped into the flames and became the Sun (Tonatiuh).
Shamed, Tecuciztecatl followed him and became the Moon. But now there were two equally bright suns. One of the gods threw a rabbit into the face of the second sun to dim it, creating the moon with the rabbit marking.
Even with the sun created, it did not move. It hung burning in the sky. The sun god demanded payment: "Give me blood, or I will not move." The gods realized they had to sacrifice themselves to set the universe in motion. Ehécatl (wind god) slew the other gods and blew the sun into motion.
Thus, the Fifth Sun, Nahui-Ollin (Movement Sun), began. But it is prophesied to end in earthquakes. To prevent this, humanity must continuously offer sacrifice (newtork) to repay the debt of the gods.
Four worlds destroyed by jaguars, wind, fire, and water. Nanahuatzin jumps into the fire to become the sun. The gods sacrifice themselves to make the sun move.
The central justification for Aztec human sacrifice: avoiding the end of the world.