Editing Aztec mythology (section)

{{Short description|Religious folklore of the Nahua peoples of the Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire)}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
[[File:Codex Borgia page 56.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mictlantecuhtli]] (left), god of death, the lord of the [[Underworld]] and [[Quetzalcoatl]] (right), god of wisdom, life, knowledge, morning star, patron of the winds and light, the lord of the [[West]]. Together they symbolize life and death.]]{{Aztecbox}}
'''Aztec mythology''' is the body or collection of myths of the [[Aztec]] civilization of Central Mexico.<ref>Kirk, p. 8; "myth", ''Encyclopædia Britannica''</ref> The Aztecs were a culture living in central Mexico and much of their mythology is similar to that of other [[Mesoamerica]]n cultures.  According to legend, the various groups who became the Aztecs arrived from the North into the [[Valley of Mexico|Anahuac valley]] around [[Lake Texcoco]]. The location of this valley and lake of destination is clear &ndash; it is the heart of modern [[Mexico City]] &ndash; but little can be known with certainty about the origin of the Aztec.  There are different accounts of their origin. In the myth, the ancestors of the Mexica/Aztec were one of seven groups that came from a place in the north called [[Aztlan]], to make the journey southward, hence their name "Azteca." Other accounts cite their origin in [[Chicomoztoc]], "the place of the seven caves", or at [[Tamoanchan]] (the legendary origin of all civilizations).

The Mexica/Aztec were said to be guided by their war-god Huitzilopochtli, to an island in [[Lake Texcoco]], they saw an [[eagle]], perched on a nopal cactus, holding a rattlesnake in its talons. This vision fulfilled a prophecy telling them that they should found their new home on that spot. The Aztecs built their city of [[Tenochtitlan]] on that site, building a great [[artificial island]], which today is in the center of [[Mexico City]]. This legendary vision is pictured on the [[Coat of Arms of Mexico]].