What does Day of the Dead tell us about the Aztec concept of happiness

In the meantime, my family members from Mexico celebrated the Day of the Dead, an annual national holiday celebrated in October. 31 through November. 2. They would construct small altars at home in order to pay tribute to their loved ones and place foods, beverages, photographs, and other personal items on the altars. They also decorated the graves of their ancestors.

At present, I am a part of a tiny group of scholars who are trying to revive Aztec philosophical thought. My research focuses on Aztec ethics, which was what the Aztecs considered to be the practice of living a life that is well and what we now call the pursuit of happiness.

I’ve found out the Day of the Dead rituals are part of Mexico’s pre-Columbian indigenous peoples and, are celebrated throughout the Americas, and are deeply grounded within Aztec ethics.

An introduction to Aztec philosophy.

After Christopher Columbus arrived in the Caribbean in 1492, Spanish people colonized the region. In 1521, the Aztec empire ended in a war lasting two years under the leadership of Spaniard Hernan Cortes.

Then, Spanish priests wanted to be able to understand the indigenous population in the hope of converting the people to Christianity. They meticulously outlined the Aztec’s beliefs in large volumes of written documents in Nahuatl, which is the Aztec language. The most significant of these documents is called”the ” Florentine Codex,” written between 1547 and 1577.

The main issue for the Aztecs, according to these sources they say, is that humans aren’t perfect and humans make errors. ” The earth is slippery, slick,” the Aztecs claim. In order to avoid being misled, individuals must live healthily at three levels: their psyches, their bodies, and the society they live in.

The most important goal for individuals in Aztec ethics, therefore, is for people to bring their psyche in line. It’s done with the help of aligning your heart, or yellow, with the face, also known as the ixtle. In the sense of “heart,” the Aztecs were referring to thoughts and desires. When they spoke of “face,” they meant the rationalization of these desires.

How does the Day of the Dead fit to

It’s important to understand this: the “heart” is a metaphor for the desires of the body. Additionally, the Aztecs did not differentiate between bodies and minds. They believed that each part of the body has its particular “mind.” For example, our eyes think differently, our ears another, our skin a different way, and so on. According to the researcher Alfredo Lopez, Austin claims that the Aztecs believed that consciousness was the result of this ecological system of minds, with every reason vying for attention and manifesting its thoughts.

Within this brain-based environment in this ecosystem of minds, the Aztecs were of the belief that three areas were the most concentrated of cosmic forces that make human beings living: moving creatures such as The cardiovascular system (the physical heart in this instance) as well as the head as well as the liver.

The heart is home to”yolia,” which is the “yolia,” which expresses one’s conscious and recollected personality. The head is home to”tonalli,” or “tonalli,” which represents the strength of one’s character as well as the direction of one’s life. The liver also houses”ihiyotl,” also known as “ihiyotl,” which is the one responsible for our breathing and overall health.

After we die, the Aztecs believed that these three powers separate the body from its own. The ihiyotl, or breath, is immediately returned to nature. Tonalli, also known as vital energy, comes back in the form of energy that can be relied upon in times of need. One’s yolia. The persona, however, goes to the place that is the land of the dead, which is known as Mictlan. In the land of the dead, it faces many tests, which include cold and hunger.

In order to aid in making the journey easier, every person’s yolia will be accompanied by a small yellow dog as well as any offerings loved ones offer. That’s why on various dates throughout the year – not just on the Day of the Dead – family members are expected to assist the yolias of their loved ones who have died by providing them with refreshments, food, and other offerings at their shrines at home.