Teotihuacan Religion

Worship of Climate and Natural Features

- The main Temples of the city being the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the moon.

- Elaborate murals found painted all throughout the city in a room or building depict deities who appear to produce life in the form of water and twisted plants.

- Aside from the monumental remains, religious artifacts such as pottery and clay statues have been discovered which depict storm Gods.

- These elaborate artifacts appear to be associated with the ritualistic patio platforms found within each neighborhood. This signifies the appearance of everyday worship.

Astral Worship

Further evidence of a naturalistic Teotihuacan religion comes from the positioning of the temples. Their direct alignment with the stars and planets leads to the possiblity of a state religion focusing on the sun, moon and venus, a religious practice that was widespread in MesoAmerica.

Evidence of Household Worship/Cults

In addition, many ceremonial masks made of onyx marble and greenstone have been unearthed in Teotihuacan possibly indicating an association with funerary cults.

The image above is of a stone incense burner. These appeared to have been used in commercial and household shrines.

Statures and minature figurines such as the ones above have been found depicting two gods, the fat God and the flayed God, amongst the household shrines. This tells us that there seems to have been a household cult of the hearth and a ritual commemorating the dead.

The Storm God

- Identified by his distinct facial mask and often depicted holding a lightening bolt, the Teotihuacan Storm God was one of the two main deities of the city.

-The Storm God was associated with the sorrounding mountain's life-giving rain and lightening as well as the god of War.

- The Palace of Quetzalpapalotl has engraved murals of the God.

A vessel depicting the Storm God. Gift of the Austen-Stokes Ancient Americas Foundation, 2012

Also known as 'the Spider Goddess' she is found in many grand murals and statues.

Goddess of fertility, water, earth and creation.

A recent excavation by Dr Veroica Ortega explored the Goddess' temple (moon pyramid) and found multiple statues, canals and cavities that resembled pools.

In the beside mural she is pictured with a grand tree, possibly the tree of life, and water flowing from her hands.

From this excavation, Dr Ortega was concecrated around the Goddess due to her associaton with rivers and lakes, surronding features which would have made Teotihuacan a prized loaction

The Great Goddess

The Featherd Serpent

- The significance of this deity is known from the sculptured representations present on the side of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.

- The serpent was a dual natured deity with feathers symbolic of it's divine nature.

- The serpent is of human nature.

- The significance of this deity is known from the sculptured representations present on the side of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent.

The side of the Temple of the feathered serpent which is decorated with what were once brightly coloured sculpted heads depicting the serpent. Note the apperance of the Storm God interchanged between the Serpent.

Human Sacrifice

Excavations conducted by Saburo Sugiyama and Leonardo Lopez Luja found that human sacrifices conducted in a variety of ways.

One burial had the remains of three adult males adorned and one youth. All had their hands bound behind their back and the remains of ropes and gags were found near by. A greenstone figure, other small figuriens and numerous obsidian blades were also found.

37 burials were excavated in the pyramid of the moon and all individuals were males and bone analysis indicated that they were of foreign origins. Most likely war captives.

The above is a mural depicting human sacrifice found at the site of Teotihucan. Along with these murals, artefacts which hold clues about the sacrifices were found throughout the burials. For example arefare was often displayed through weapons, warrior paraphernalia and caged animals signifying military institutions.

The Moon Temple

6 burials were excavated under the temple of the moon. Many of the bodies had been decapitated with cuts indicating that it was a ritual process. The majority of the bodies appear to have been treated with extreme violence during the concecration ceremonies.

In one particular burial, three individuals were all seated facing west with crossed legs, a position associated with gods or people of high political status. This indicates that they were buried alive showing that human sacrifice was conducted in ways differing on the social class of the individual.

The Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent

200 sacrifical burials were excavated as part of the worship in the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent. Similar to that of the Moon temple, the males were found accompanied by weapons and necklaces of human teeth, an indication of warefare related sacrifice.

The symbol of the Feathered Serpent is believed to be a celebration of warfare. This aligns with the belief of the sacrificial burials being that of warriors, war captives and the elite

'...analyses indicates that many of the victims spent most of their lives outside of Teotihuacaìn. . .I think it more likely that they represent foreigners in the service of a Teotohucan ruler" Source: George L. Cowgill, Ritual Sacrifice and the Feathered Serpent

Animal Sacrifice

The appearance of animals with the human burials in the temple of the moon signify that they had key importance in sacrifical worship.

Animal remains have been found in many of the sacrifical burial grounds with one having the skulls of 18 decapitated animals, namely wolves and pumas.

Archeologist Sugiyama who directed one of the excavations, believes that these animals are evidence of militarism connotations in the burials as the animals are believed to be symbols of warriors in iconography Teotihuacan

The sacrifical animals usually include pumas, wolves, jaguar, rattlesnakes and even birds.