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Concept
Aztec medicine
Summary
Aztec medicine concerns the body of knowledge, belief and ritual surrounding human health and sickness, as observed among the Nahuatl-speaking people in the Aztec realm of central Mexico. The Aztecs knew of and used an extensive inventory consisting of hundreds of different medicinal herbs and plants. A variety of indigenous Nahua and Novohispanic written works survived from the conquest and later colonial periods that describe aspects of the Aztec system and practice of medicine and its remedies, incantations, practical administration, and cultural underpinnings. Elements of traditional medicinal practices and beliefs are still found among modern-day Nahua communities, often intermixed with European or other later influences.
As with many other Mesoamerican cultures, the Aztecs believed that the body contained a balance of three separate entities or souls: the tonalli, the teyolia, and the ihiyotl. This balance affected the health and life of a person. The tonalli, which was commonly attributed with the disease of "soul loss", was located in the upper part of the head. They believed that this life force was connected to a higher power, and the Aztec people had to make sure their tonalli was not lost or did not stray from the head. The teyolia was located in the heart. This entity has been described to be specific to the individual and stood for a person's knowledge and memory. The ihiyotl, which resided in the liver, was strongly attached to witchcraft and the supernatural. It could also leave the body but was always connected through the wind or an individual's breath, “...thus, each individual could affect other people and things by breathing on them.”
The Aztecs used magic to avoid illness and wore amulets as protection from it. Amulet is a small ornament which worn to avoid harm and evil.
The Aztecs believed in a life after death and heavily influenced by the gods. They believed in Tonatiuh (heaven) on the sun reserved for heroes after death, another heaven (Tlalocan) on earth and the resting place of the dead after dangerous journey in the underworld (Mictlan).
Official source
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