Introduction
Religious and cultural customs of ancient civilizations can be enigmatic or even terrifying to modern people. The Aztecs, an indigenous nation that ruled in Mesoamerica until the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century, are a prime example of how attitudes and values change over time. Through war and brutality, the Aztecs created an empire that kept its neighbors in constant fear.
Warfare, courage, and military prowess were essential to the Aztec mentality. Moreover, war was integral to Aztec religious beliefs (Dodds Pennock 5). Material gains, such as new lands and resources, were interconnected with spiritual, cosmic underpinnings. Among other goals, the Aztecs waged wars to capture prisoners for mass human sacrifices to satisfy their gods’ relentless demand for blood (Dodds Pennock 15).
In that regard, a modern man would say Aztec sacrifices are unthinkable today. This perspective is actual if approached literally — nowadays, one can hardly imagine bloody rituals arranged to placate divine entities. However, figuratively, modern civilization is built on the Aztec-style sacrifice of human minds and souls for the sake of new deities — effectiveness, productivity, and profitability.
Brief History of Aztec Sacrificial Rituals
Like many other Mesoamerican peoples, the Aztecs had a complex, sacred procedure of religious human sacrifice. Tiesler and Olivier defined religious human sacrifice as an “act of killing a human being for the sake of collective well-being consecrated by the divine” (1). In this paradigm, the number of people brought to sacrifice directly correlates with good fortune and success granted by the gods.
The Aztecs performed organized human sacrifices during religious festivals, where enslaved people and war captives were offered to the gods. The Aztec war machine was designed to maximize the number of prisoners brought to Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, after successful military campaigns. The “capture rather than kill” strategy was prevalent in most forms of warfare (Dodds Pennock 15). In that regard, the Aztecs considered human sacrifice an essential part of the life cycle.
In particular, in the example of xochicayotl, special wars dedicated to taking captives for sacrifice, one can see a deep spiritual connection between warfare and Aztec religion. Xochicayotl, or the Flower Wars, involved the best Aztec warriors who strived to distinguish themselves by capturing as many sacrificial victims as possible. Aztecs fought to honor the gods during the Flower Wars rather than achieve pragmatic military goals (Dodds Pennock 15).
By taking many captives for sacrifice, a warrior could earn a higher place in the Aztec social hierarchy. The concept of honoring gods through war was deeply ingrained in Aztec society. During festival months, women and youth fought mock battles in Tenochtitlan’s streets (Dodds Pennock 11). Ultimately, every Aztec learned since childhood that war has a sacred and honorable nature to satisfy the gods and earn good fortune for the Aztec people.
Meaning of Human Sacrifice in Aztec Society
The Aztecs perceived the slaughter of sacrificial victims as an essential duty rather than simple killings—the religious meaning of human sacrifice required following strict ritual techniques. Enslaved people and war captives were killed by heart extraction performed in a particular way, depending on the god the Aztec priests were trying to please. For example, Xipe Totec, the god of spring and planting, was honored by sacrifices that spilled profound blood. The Aztecs emulated irrigation of the land by sacrificing victims in that fashion, thus asking Xipe Totec to bless them with a good harvest (Tiesler and Olivier 15). Sacrificial rituals frequently emulated the feats of a particular god to achieve a greater effect.
For instance, Huitzilopochtli, the supreme god of war, killed his sister Coyolxauhqui by casting her down from the Coatepec peak. To honor that victory, the Aztec priests extracted the victims’ hearts before decapitating them and throwing them off the Templo Mayor summit (Dodds Pennock 16). An average modern man would likely consider that ritual bloodthirsty, cruel, and savage. An average Aztec, a warrior at heart, saw sacrifices to Huitzilopochtli as a manifestation of their people’s fighting spirit and military prowess.
Overall, brutal human sacrifices formed a fundamental part of Aztec identity. The Aztecs believed that only the gods granted them strength and prosperity, making them wealthy and invincible on the battlefield. The life essence of enslaved people and captured enemies was a mandatory payment for success. In that regard, religion was rational for the Aztecs — bloody mass sacrifices were a part of collective identity rather than superstition or savagery (Dodds Pennock 19). The Aztecs ensured their continued supremacy over the weaker nations by waging war against their neighbors and taking captives for sacrificial slaughter. However, that mindset led to the destruction of the Aztec Empire at the hands of Spanish conquistadors and their Mesoamerican allies, who considered the Spaniards a lesser of two evils.
Modern Civilization: Radical Difference From the Aztec Era
While human sacrifice was rational in the Aztec worldview, the actions of the Aztecs are unacceptable in the modern world. One cannot imagine a sane person claiming that mass heart extractions are necessary for economic growth. Brutal ritual killings would be regarded as genocide and crimes against humanity rather than an acceptable cultural feature.
Wars and civil conflicts of the 20th century made the human rights concept prevalent over political and religious doctrines. The foundations of human rights law were laid in 1948 with the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations). Since then, the coverage of human rights protection has expanded to various spheres of life.
By default, an average person has unthinkable rights in the Aztec Empire. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted in 1976, explicitly prohibits slavery, torture, cruel and degrading treatment, and arbitrary deprivation of life (United Nations). If some country started to sacrifice thousands of people in honor of Jesus Christ, Allah, or any other divine entity, such actions would meet a quick international response. In that regard, Aztec sacrifice cannot work initially today.
However, the situation takes a different look if one views the concept of human sacrifice from a symbolic perspective. The Aztecs sacrificed their victims to ensure the strength and prosperity of their country. One can claim that modern-day perception of success and effectiveness replaces heart extraction with mental exhaustion and burnout. Instead of dying to a sacrificial knife, modern-day victims lose their mental and spiritual well-being to the new world’s deities — productivity, effectiveness, and profitability. The aesthetics may be much less shocking, but the damage to human beings is done nonetheless.
Exhaustion and Burnout: Modern-Day Human Sacrifice
Workplace burnout spreads as people are pushed to meet ever-growing professional standards. According to the 2021 Work and Well-Being survey by the American Psychological Association, nearly 60% of employees reported negative impacts of work-related stress, such as lack of interest, motivation, and energy (qtd. in Abramson). The 2018 Burnout Survey indicated three leading causes of burnout: lack of support from leadership, unrealistic expectations, and consistent overtime work (Deloitte). A recent study by Asana revealed that 84% of Generation Z and 74% of Millennial knowledge workers suffer from burnout (qtd. in Brower).
Many modern people are hard-pressed by high corporate standards and end up trapped in highly uncomfortable workplaces. For example, 83% of corporate workers experienced deterioration of personal relationships, 66% skipped meals, and 42% could not rest without worrying about what might happen at work (Deloitte). Work becomes a heavy burden, a hated ritual that people perform because they must sustain themselves and their families.
At the same time, management does not necessarily see a problem if job performance criteria are met. More often than not, employers adopt the “ends justify the means” mentality. For instance, 69% of corporate professionals claimed their companies do not do enough to mitigate workplace burnout (Deloitte). Ultimately, human beings become a faceless resource, a sacrifice that executives are willing to make to achieve organizational performance goals.
Conclusion
Mass human sacrifices in the shape of ritual killings cannot work in today’s society due to advancements achieved in human rights law. However, the sacrifice took a symbolic rather than literal form. Nowadays, human hearts are not getting cut out to appease demanding gods. Instead, many unfortunate human beings lose joy and comfort due to burnout. Their mental health and overall well-being are sacrificed for effectiveness, productivity, and profitability so that the management can demonstrate impressive results to stakeholders. In that regard, one can claim that Aztec-style mass sacrifices have endured, albeit in a less gruesome and publicly visible form.
Works Cited
Abramson, Ashley. “Burnout and Stress are Everywhere.” American Psychological Association. 2022. Web.
Brower, Tracy. “Burnout is a Worldwide Problem: 5 Ways Work Must Change.” Forbes, 2022. Web.
Deloitte. “Burnout Survey“. Web.
Dodds Pennock, Caroline. “A Warlike Culture? Religion and War in the Aztec World.” History and Anthropology, vol. 34, no. 1, 2023, pp. 1-24.
Tiesler, Vera, and Guilhem Olivier. “Open Chests and Broken Hearts: Ritual Sequences and Meanings of Human Heart Sacrifice in Mesoamerica.” Current Anthropology, vol. 61, no. 2, 2020, pp. 1-26.
United Nations. “Global Issues: Human Rights“. Web.