Aztec Research

The Americas:
In the culture of the Uto-Aztec tribe, the Hopi, taboos surround owls, which are associated with sorcery and other evils. The Aztecs and Maya, along with other Natives of Mesoamerica, considered the owl a symbol of death and destruction. In fact, the Aztec god of death, Mictlantecuhtli, was often depicted with owls. There is an old saying in Mexico that is still in use: Cuando el tecolote canta, el indio muere ("When the owl cries/sings, the Indian dies"). The Popol Vuh, a Mayan religious text, describes owls as messengers of Xibalba (the Mayan "Place of Fright").

Owls were associated with shamans, who transformed themselves into animals, and with the powers of darkness. They were considered to be a bad omen: their presence and nocturnal calls were believed to announce death or misfortune. Owls served as a messenger for Mictlantecuhtli, the Lord of the Underworld.

Aztec associated owls with death, so Mictlantecuhtli is often depicted wearing owl feathers in his headdress. He is also depicted with a skeletal shape with knives in his headdress to represent the wind of knives which souls encounter on their way to the underworld. Sometimes Mictlantecuhtli may also be depicted as a skeleton covered with blood wearing a necklace of eyeballs or wearing clothes of paper, a common offering to the dead. Human bones are used as his ear plugs, too.

What animals were most important to the Aztecs?

• The Eagle - It represented the God Huitzilopochtli(the sun, the spirit).
• The Snake - It represented materia.
• The Jaguar - It represented the strong form the sun takes in order to beat materia's gravity so he could rise again in a new glorious dawn.
• The Dog - The sun weakened by materia's gravity(evening).
• The Butterfly - The glourious heart of a person who fluorished from this life's battle (spiritualism vs materia, fire vs water) going up to the house of the hearts of jade (heaven).