Feature Writer: Tomas Vergazo

Feature Title: Uniqely Evil

Link: Quora / 22.08.2020 / Tomas Vergazon’s

Thanks: BannedBooks777 (who sent me this link)

Uniquely Evil?

Were the Spanish conquestadors evil or products of their time?

Aztec calendar had 17 “months” (plus five special days at the end), with specific rituals assigned to each. See if you can spot the pattern; it’s a bit subtle, so pay attention:

1. Atlacacauallo (from February 2 to February 21): Sacrifice of children and captives to the water deities
2. Tlacaxipehualiztli (from February 22 to March 13): Sacrifice of captives; gladiatorial fighters; dances of the priest wearing the skin of the flayed victims
3. Tozoztontli (from March 14 to April 2): Human sacrifice via extraction of the heart; burying of the flayed human skins; sacrifices of children
4. Hueytozoztli (from April 3 to April 22): Sacrifice of a maid; of boy and girl
5. Toxcatl (from April 23 to May 12): Sacrifice of captives by extraction of the heart
6. Etzalcualiztli (from May 13 to June 1): Human sacrifice by drowning and extraction of the heart
7. Tecuilhuitontli (from June 2 to June 21): Human sacrifice by extraction of the heart
8. Hueytecuihutli (from June 22 to July 11): Sacrifice of a decapitated woman and extraction of her heart
9. Tlaxochimaco (from July 12 to July 31): Sacrifice by starvation in a cave or temple
10. Xocotlhuetzin (from August 1 to August 20): Sacrifices to the fire gods by burning the victims
11. Ochpaniztli (from August 21 to September 9): Sacrifice of a decapitated young woman to Toci; she was skinned and a young man wore her skin; sacrifice of captives by hurling from a height and extraction of the heart
12. Teoleco (from September 10 to September 29): Sacrifices by fire; extraction of the heart
13. Tepeihuitl (from September 30 to October 19): Sacrifices of children, two noble women, extraction of the heart and flaying; ritual cannibalism
14. Quecholli (from October 20 to November 8): Mass sacrifices of captives and slaves by extraction of the heart
15. Atemoztli (from November 9 to December 18): Sacrifices of children and slaves by decapitation
16. Tititl (from December 19 to January 7): Sacrifice of a woman by extraction of the heart and decapitation afterwards
17. Izcalli (from January 8 to January 27): Sacrifices of victims representing Xiuhtecuhtli and their women (each four years), and captives; New Fire ritual
18. Nemontemi (from January 28 to February 1): Five days at the end of the year, no rituals, general fasting

Say what you will of Conquistadores, when they came they were only after your posessions, at worst your labor. When Aztecs came, they were going to kill you, full stop. The only thing that was left to be decided was the manner of your death, if you were lucky enough to avoid being burned to death or starved in a cave somewhere, you were probably being saved for the next Quecholli, when thousands (records say tens of thousands, but are probably an exaggaration) would be brutally murdered in the manner depicted in the image above.

Remember all those child sacrifices? They weren’t exactly suffocated in their sleep either. Many of the children suffered from serious injuries before their death, they would have to have been in significant pain as Tlaloc required the tears of the young as part of the sacrifice. The priests made the children cry during their way to immolation: a good omen that Tlaloc would wet the earth in the raining season

The estimate was that one in five children born to Aztec subject was sacrificed in a religious ritual that apparently involved torture and making children cry so their tears would water the earth. Then they would be burned alive for good measure.

No, Conquistadores were not uniquely evil. They ended a civilization that can be described as such however.