Mexico’s mythology, like its population, reflects a blend of Native American and Spanish influences. Most people in modern Mexico trace their ancestry to American Indians, to the Spanish who controlled Mexico for three centuries, or to both, in a mixed-ethnic heritage called mestizo (pronounced mes-TEE-zoh). In the same way, Mexican religion, myths, and legends are a blend of American Indian traditions and European influences, such as Christianity. The Maya believe, for example, that the chacs, ancient rain spirits, are controlled by Jesus Christ and accompanied in their movement across the skies by the Virgin Mary, his mother. Mexican mythology is thus a collection of diverse older beliefs that were creatively combined over the centuries to produce entirely new myths.
Even before the Europeans arrived, Mexico was a land of varied cultures. Peoples who shared the Nahua (pronounced NAH-wah) family of languages dominated the north, while Mayan languages and culture
Were widespread in the south. Migration, trade, and war brought the different people and cultures of Mexico into contact with one another.
These contacts led to a blending of different religions and mythologies. As the Aztecs of northern Mexico embarked on wars of conquest and built an empire in central Mexico, they absorbed the deities or gods of conquered peoples and made them a part of their own collection of recognized gods, also known as a pantheon. In turn, myths and religious practices from central Mexico filtered south to influence the Maya. The Aztec influence boosted the importance of the god Quetzalcoatl (pronounced keht-sahl-koh-AHT-l)—known as Kukulcan (pronounced koo-kool-KAHN) to the Maya—and of human sacrifice to the gods.
Spain conquered Mexico between 1519 and 1521 and governed it as a colony until 1821, when Mexico won its independence. During the three centuries of colonial rule, European beliefs strongly influenced the indigenous (native) cultures and mythologies. Spanish missionaries and priests worked to convert the native peoples to Christianity and to stamp out their previous non-Christian beliefs. At the same time, some of the missionaries collected information about native beliefs, customs, and myths. Father Bernardino de Sahagun published accounts of the Aztecs that remain valuable sources of traditional legends; Father Diego de Landa did the same for the Maya.
Roman Catholic Christianity did take hold in Mexico, and about ninety percent of Mexicans now practice it. Yet the old ways did not completely disappear. A few American Indian groups, especially the Huichol (pronounced wee-CHOHL) and the Tarahumara (pronounced tah-ruh-hoo-MAH-ruh), remained true to their older beliefs. Many others, however, combined Catholicism with surviving forms of pre-Christian beliefs and mythologies. For example, they identified Roman Catholic saints, whose feast days are scattered throughout the year, with the ancient gods, traditionally honored with agricultural festivals at specific times.
Some myths and legends of Mexico have grown out of the events of the country’s history. Parts of Aztec mythology—such as the legend of how the ancient Aztecs founded their capital of Tenochtitlan (pronounced teh-nowch-TEE-tlan) on the site where they saw an eagle fighting a serpent—have become part of the national heritage of modern Mexico. The Spanish conquest, the fight for independence, and the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920 have also produced legends that have helped shape Mexico’s image of itself as a nation and a people.
World History
