The civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many gods and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs.
Aztec culture is generally grouped with the cultural complex known as the '' Nahua '' because of the common language they shared. According to legend, the various groups who were to become the Aztecs arrived from the north into the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco . The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear – it is the heart of modern Mexico City – but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec.
There are different accounts of their origin. In the myth the ancestors of the Mexica/Aztec came from a place in the north called Aztlán , the last of seven ''nahuatlacas'' (Nahuatl-speaking tribes, from ''tlaca'', "man") to make the journey southward, hence their name "Azteca". Other accounts cite their origin in Chicomostoc, "the place of the seven caves", or at Tamonachan (the legendary origin of all civilizations).
The Mexica/Aztec were said to be guided by their god Huitzilopochtli , meaning "Left-handed Hummingbird " or "Hummingbird from the South". When they arrived at an island in the lake, they saw an Eagle which was perched on a Nopal cactus full of its fruits (''nochtli''). (Due to a mistranslation of an account by Tesozomoc, it became popular to say the eagle was devouring a snake, but in the original Aztec accounts, the snake is not mentioned. One states that it was eating a bird, another indicates that it was only perched in the cactus, and a third just says it was eating something.) This vision fulfilled a prophecy telling them that they should found their new home on that spot. The Aztecs built their city of Tenochtitlan on that site, building a great Artificial Island , which today is in the center of Mexico City . This legendary vision is pictured on the Coat Of Arms Of Mexico .
According to legend, when the Mexicas arrived in the Anahuac valley around Lake Texcoco , they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all, but the Mexica/Aztec decided to learn, and they took all they could from other peoples, especially from the ancient Toltec (whom they seem to have partially confused with the more ancient civilization of Teotihuacan ). To the Aztec, the Toltecs were the originators of all culture; "Toltecayotl" was a synonym for culture. Aztec legends identify the Toltecs and the cult of Quetzalcoatl with the legendary city of Tollan , which they also identified with the more ancient Teotihuacan.
Because the Aztec adopted and combined several traditions with their own earlier traditions, they had several Creation Myth s; one of these describes four great ages preceding the present world, each of which ended in a catastrophe. Our age – ''Nahui-Ollin'', the fifth age, or fifth creation – escaped destruction due to the sacrifice of a god ( Nanahuatl , "full of sores", the smallest and humblest of the gods) who was transformed into the Sun. This myth is associated with the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which was already abandoned and destroyed when the Aztec arrived. Another myth describes the earth as a creation of the twin gods Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl . Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in the process of creating the world and all representations of these gods show him without a foot and with a bone exposed. Quetzalcoatl is also called "White Tezcatlipoca".
- Chalchiuhtlicue (also ''Chalciuhtlicue,'' or ''Chalchihuitlicue'') (She of the Jade Skirt). (Sometimes ''Acuecucyoticihuati'') - the goddess of lakes and streams, and also of birth; consort of Tlaloc .
- Ehecatl (also ''Ehecatl- Quetzalcoatl '') - the god of the Wind and creator of the earth, heavens, and the present race of men. As god of the west, one of the Skybearer s
- Huehuecoyotl (also ''Ueuecoyotl'') - a trickster god of indulgence and pranks. A Shapeshifter , associated with drums and the coyote
- Huehueteotl (also ''Ueueteotl'', ''Xiuhtecuhtli'', ''Xiutechuhtli'') - an ancient god of the hearth, the fire of life. Associated with the pole star and the north, and serves as a Skybearer
- Huitzilopochtli (also ''Mextli'', ''Mexitl'', ''Uitzilopochtli'') - the supreme god of Tenochtitlan , patron of war, fire and the sun
- Huixtocihuatl (also ''Uixtochihuatl'') - a goddess of salt and saltwater
- Malinalxochitl - sorceress and goddess of snakes, scorpions and insects of the desert
- Matlalceuitl (also ''Matlalcueje'') - goddess of rainfall and singing. Identified with Chalchiuhtlicue .
- Mayahuel (also ''Mayahual'', or ''Mayouel'') - the goddess of Maguey , and by extension, alcohol
- Metztli (also ''Metztli'', ''Tecuciztecatl'', ''Tecciztecatl'')- lowly god of worms who failed to sacrifice himself to become the sun, and became the moon instead, his face darkened by a rabbit.
- Mextli - a god of war and storms
- Nanahuatzin (also ''Nana'', ''Nanautzin'', or ''Nanauatzin'') - lowly god who sacrificed himself to become sun god Tonatiuh
- ''Omacatl'' (see Tezcatlipoca )
- ''Omecihuatl'' (see Ometeotl )
- ''Ometecuhtli'' (see Ometeotl )
- Ometeotl (also ''Citlatonac'' or ''Ometecuhtli'' (male) and ''Omecihuatl'' (female)) - the god(s) of duality, pregenator(s) of souls and lord/lady of heaven
- Quetzalcoatl (also Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli) (quetzal-feathered serpent) - creator god and patron of rulership, priests and merchants. Associated with Ehecatl as the divine wind
- ''Quilaztli'' (see Ilamatecuhtli )
- ''Tecciztecatl'' (see Mextli )
- Temazcalteci (also ''Temaxcaltechi'') - goddess of bathing and sweatbaths
- Teoyaomicqui (also ''Teoyaomiqui'')- the god of dead warriors
- Tepeyollotl - god of the heart of the mountain, associated with Jaguar s, echoes, and earthquakes
- Tepoztecatl (also ''Tezcatzontecatl'') - god of Pulque and rabbits
- Teteoinnan - mother of the gods
- Tezcatlipoca (also ''Omacatl'', ''Titlacauan'') - omnipotent god of rulers, sorcerers and warriors; night, death, discord, conflict, temptation and change. A sinister rival to Quetzalcoatl . Can appear as Mixcoatl or, more often, as a Jaguar
- Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli - destructive god of the morning star (venus), dawn, and of the east. One of the Skybearers
- Tlaloc (also ''Nuhualpilli'') - the great and ancient provider and god of rain, fertility and lightning
- Tlaltecuhtli - goddess of earth, associated with difficult births
- Tlazolteotl (also ''Tlaelquani'', ''Tlazolteotli'')- the goddess of purification from filth, disease or excess
- Tloquenahuaque - a creator god or ruler
- Toci (also ''Temazcalteci'') - grandmother goddess, heart of the earth and mother of the gods. Associated with midwives and war
- Tonacatecuhtli - the aged creator and provider of food and patron of conceptions
- Tonacacihuatl - consort of Tonacatecuhtli
- Xochipilli - the young god of feasting, painting, dancing, games, and writing. Associated with Macuilxochitl and Cinteotl
- Xochiquetzal - goddess of female sexuality, prostitutes, flowers, pleasure, craft, weaving, and young mothers
- Xocotl - star god associated with fire
- Xolotl - canine companion of Quetzalcoatl and god of twins, sickness and deformity. Accompanies the dead to Mictlan
- Yacatecuhtli (also ''Yactecuhtli'') - the god of merchants and travelers
- Ahuiateteo (also Macuiltonaleque ) - five gods who personify excess
- Cihuateteo (also Civatateo) - souls of women who died in childbirth who lead the setting sun in the western sky. Also night demons who steal children, and cause seizures, insanity and sexual transgression. They also accompany warriors to heaven.
- Centzon Huitznahua - southern stars, children of Coatlicue
- Centzon Totochtin (400 rabbits) - gods of Pulque
- Skybearers - associated with the four directions, supported the vault of the sky.
- Tzitzimime - star demons of darkness that attack the sun during eclipses and threaten the earth
- Ahuitzotl - a man-eating water-dwelling dog-monkey with a hand on its tail
- Cipactli - the Caiman at the foundations of the earth
- Cihuateteo -the spirits of human women who died in childbirth (mociuaquetzque.)
- Nagual - a tutelary animal or vegetable spirit
- Nahual - a shapeshifting sorcerer or witch
- Tlaltecuhtli - a toad goddess
- Popocatepetl - legendary warrior who died in battle and was changed, along with his grief-stricken lover into mountains.
- ; late 19th C. compendium of some Aztec mythological texts and poems appearing in one MS. version of Sahagun's 16th C. codices.
- Aztec history, culture and religion B. Diaz del Castillo, The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico (tr. by A. P. Maudsley, 1928, repr. 1965)
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