Blog 27

11.20.2019
Serena Low Period 1
Blog 27

Creation Story Presentation Day 2

Aztec Creation Story presented by Team Trojan War

Background: 

The Aztecs were also known as the Mexicas. Indigenous inhabitants of the southern Mexico region, the Aztecs established a huge empire by the 15th century centered at their capital city, Tenochtitlan. Their calendar followed the solar schedule, with 365 days. 

Their religion focused on nature and balance. The Aztecs believed strongly in balance. An imbalance in society would lead to a natural disaster. There was a constant battle between light and darkness. In addition to their strong sense of balance, they also believed in human sacrifice; the sun, central to their religion, would need blood to rise daily and, therefore, human sacrifices occurred on the daily. 

Like other religions, the Aztecs believed that there were levels in the Underworld and heaven. While a soldier who died in battle would be stationed on the highest level of heaven, a person who drowned accidentally would stay on the lowest level in the Underworld.

The Beginnings:

It started with a dual god, the supreme creator, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, who was both male and female. Much like the Three Pure Ones in the Taoism/Daoism Creation Story, the supreme creator gave birth to four powerful gods: Tezcatlipoca (South), Quetzalcoatl (East), Tlaloc (West), and Chalchiuhtlicue (North). These gods, along with the Aztec empire itself, was considered the center of the universe. 

There were four worlds before the current one, each requiring a sacrifice of a god to create a sun and therefore a new world.

1. The Jaguar Sun (Tezcatlipoca)

• Tezcatlipoca was sacrificed, but only became a half sun
• Humans of this world were gigantic in size and ate acorns
• The world lasted 676 years and ended in a fight between Tezcatlipoca and his brother, Quetzalcoatl
• Quetzalcoatl knocked the sun Tezcatlipoca sacrificed himself for out of the sky and angered Tezcatlipoca
• Tezcatlipoca, enraged, sent jaguars to kill of the humans

2. The Wind Sun (Quetzalcoatl)

• Quetzalcoatl took over for his brother as the new sun for the second world
• Humans of this world were normal-sized and ate pine nuts
• Became corrupt
• Out of revenge and spite, Tezcatlipoca turned the humans into monkeys
• In return, Quetzalcoatl blew away the monkeys with a hurricane
• The survivors retreated to the treetops and became modern day monkeys
• The world lasted 676 years and ended in hurricanes and rainstorms

3. The Rain Sun (Tlaloc)

• Tlaloc, the rain/water god, became the new sun of the third world
• Humans ate seeds that grew out of the water
• Tezcatlipoca, like a jerk, stole Tlaloc's wife, Xochiquetzal, and in his grief, Tlaloc didn't let it rain even though he continued to shine as the sun
• Drought spread and the suffering ended when Quetzalcoatl rained fire onto the world and ended it after 374 years
• In another version, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl fought again and fire and ash rained down from the sky
• Humans were turned into dogs, turkeys, and butterflies

4. The Water Sun (Chalchiuhtlicue)

• Chalchiuhtlicue became the fourth sun
• Humans ate maize
• Full of jealousy, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca struck down the sun
• Opened up the sky and water flooded the world, ending it at 676 years old
• Humans turned into fish
• Between the time of the fourth and fifth suns, Quetzalcoatl descended into the Underworld to bring up the bones of the dead.
• During transport, he dropped them and the bones cracked
• Used to explain why humans come in different sizes
• The bones would be used to bring to life the humans in the final world

5. The Earthquake Sun (Tecuciztecatl and Nanahuatzin)

• The proud god, Tecuciztecatl, offered himself as sacrifice, but the other gods preferred the humble god, Nanahuatzin, instead, who was weak and diseased, ready to die
• Both ended up jumping in and two suns rose
• Two suns were too much for the world so a rabbit was thrown at Tecuciztecatl and he became the moon
• Ehecatl, the god of the moon, blew fiercely at the sun and put it into motion
• This is the current world that we're living in at the moment
• The Aztecs believed that the world would end in earthquakes

Relations to Math/Philosophy/...:

• Modern-day Big Bang Theory: the Aztecs cultivated their ideas off of the elements, which is what scientists suspect the universe started from
• Evolution: as the worlds progressed, so did the humans, going from eating acorns to everything and from being humongous to being normal-sized

Unlike modern theories, the Aztecs believed that they were the center of the universe, which has been proven to be wrong. The Earth is but a small speck in the universe.

The Artistic Portion:

The group created a visual representation of the five worlds with shapes and colors protruding from a starry sky.

Egyptian Creation Story presented by Team Hydra

The Beginnings:

There was essentially nothing else but the dark, chaotic, and infinite waters, known as Nun. Out of Nun came Atum, the first god. Atum, the god of creation, created himself from his thoughts and the power of will. In some stories, he merely "uttered" his name and sprung forth; in others, he appeared suddenly on top of a hill.

Atum was lonely all by himself and out came Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture, from his shadow. They are known as the twin lion gods. Egyptians believed that without Shu, there wouldn't be life and without Tefnut, Egypt would dry and burn under the sun.

Shu and Tefnut produced children named Geb, the dry land, and Nut, the sky. Shu lifted Nut up to become the canopy under which Geb rested. Geb and Nut produced four offspring, much to the discern of their grandfather, Atum: Osiris, the god of order, Seth, the god of chaos, Nephthys, and Isis. During the day, Nut and Geb are separated, but each evening, Nut comes down to meet Geb, causing night darkness. Every night before dawn, Nut gives birth to the sun which dies by sunset.

Humans were created from the tears of the Eye of Re/Ra or wedjat (eye of wholeness). While Shu and Tefnut went on a journey, Atum missed his children a lot, so he sent his eye out to look for them. When Shu and Tefnut returned with his eye, Atum cried tears of joy and out came men and women.

The Gods in Depth:

Egyptian gods are usually in beast form, unlike the gods from Greek mythology. They have duality, light and dark sides.

Atum: 

• Name means to complete or finish
• Later on, Atum combines with Ra to be one entity, the ruling god
• The first and most important Ancient Egyptian god

Mut:

• "mother" of all pharaohs

Shu:

• Also the god of punishment in the land of the dead
• Killed off corrupted souls
• Known as one of the twin lion gods, but is not necessarily shown with a lion head like his counterpart
• Wore a Maat, a feather that formed the principles of life for all time and brought order from chaos

Tefnut:

• Almost always shown as a lioness
• Also the goddess of absence of moisture (aka dryness)
• Later on, Atum combines with Ra to be one entity, the ruling god

Osiris: 

• The incarnation of good and one of the poles of morality
• Administrated the world efficiently, co-ruling with his sister-wife Isis, and decided where the trees would best grow and the water flow most sweetly
• Kept all things in balance, acting in accordance to Maat
• God of the underworld

Seth:

• The incarnation of evil and chaos and the other pole of morality
• God of war, chaos, and storms

Anubis:

• God of funerals who helped prepare the soul for the Afterlife

Geb: 

• God of the Earth

Horus:

• God of the sky

Thoth:

• God of writing and knowledge

Hathor:

• Goddess of love and joy

Relations to Math/ Philosophy/...:

Similar to other creation stories, it all started with nothing, chaos, and infinite darkness.

• Life forms from water: like how scientists believe that life cannot survive and/or thrive without water, the Egyptians thought similarly, with the birth of Atum from water and humans from tears
• "Primordial Soup": first theorized by Alexander Oparin in 1924; stated that there are certain elements that need to be present in order to create lifeforms, elements present in water

Art Aspect:

The group created a comic panel demonstrating the chronological process of creation on a trifold board, with hieroglyphics and different gods and their names decorating the sides.

Reflection:

There are many creation stories, each differing and surprisingly similar to one another. Even though these ideas sprang from peoples in different parts of the world at different times, they all end up coming from one notion: that the world started from nothing. Team Trojan War didn't have much on their slides, but they made it up by explaining thoroughly, keeping the audience from gluing their eyes to the board and instead attentively listening. Team Hydra did a great job. Loved them. The best. They could work on group work, but overall did a decent job. The different artistic aspects of the projects were interesting. Every project was unique.