Almost anybody can guess how important the eagle is as an animal in modern-day Mexico. It occupies a prominent and unique position in the Mexican flag's center. The motif of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus while devouring a snake on the flag dates back to pre-Columbian periods, when it was also used as the foundation emblem of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city. The enduring popularity of eagle images reflects the animal's importance in Mexican and Aztec history: the strong Aztec tribute empire was built on the placement of the bird in space.
The Aztecs established their rule through a long mythohistory (a mix of mythology and historical fact) and a strong belief in gods. Huitzilpochtli, their patron god, gave them the order to build their capital city. According to legend, he warned a priest in the 14th century that the long Aztec migration would soon come to an end, and that they would create a great metropolis where they saw an eagle resting on a cactus. This view was captured in the middle of Lake Texcoco, which would later become their primary urban hub.
Although the Aztecs and other Pre-Columbian cultures prized animals that could travel between worlds, the Aztecs and other Pre-Columbian civilizations prized creatures that could travel between worlds. The eagle could both fly close to the sun and hunt on the ground. As a result, it was strongly connected with both fire and the sun. (Some suggest that the eagle in the founding myth and emblem is a zoomorphic representation of the sun.) The Aztecs also thought the eagle was responsible for guiding the sun across the sky. An eagle hunts in the same way that a sunbeam does, diving from the sky to catch its prey on the ground.
The eagle had bright and extraordinarily yellow legs, according to Aztecs quoted in The Florentine Codex, a 16th-century encyclopedia of indigenous knowledge written by Fray Bernardino de Sahagn, which offered an additional connection to the sun. For the Aztecs, who lived in an agrarian society, the sun was extremely important. They relied on it to feed their crops and feed a vast empire. The Aztecs frequently made sacrifices to ensure the sun's rising and setting. Eagle imagery was frequently used in both auto-sacrifice (or ritual bloodletting) and larger ceremonial sacrifices, particularly as a cuauhxicalli that gathered the blood of sacrificial victims.
The Aztec Mexico were a warrior people, and the eagle was a prominent symbol of warriors. The bird was revered for its bravery, courage, and fearlessness. Warfare was waged by the Aztecs in order to procure sacrifices for their gods and to expand their kingdom. As a result, the eagle's characteristics were critical to their survival as a people. The Eagle and Jaguar Society was one of the most prominent warrior societies, with only the finest troops being admitted.
The Aztecs paired the daytime and nocturnal eagles because their worldview was centered on the concept of duality. This eagle was associated with death and had a wicked side. It only hunted at night, which minimized the sun's tremendous influence. The nocturnal eagle cemented the eagle's place in Aztec cosmovision, a worldview that emphasized complementary opposites.
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