The Cellar - View Single Post - 10/2/2002: Illustration of bloodletting devices

juju · 10-02-2002, 02:40 PM

The Azteks believed that blood represented your life force. To them, it was like your soul, and of course the gods <i>need</i> your life force in order to sustain the world. When the Spanish first encountered the Azteks, the Aztek ruler had blood all over himself. They Spanish found it disguisting, but the Azteks saw it as completely normal. He had been constantly bloodletting himself, and he considered it his noble duty to give something back to the gods.

So, sometimes this wasn't done for science at all. Sometimes it was done for religion.

10-02-2002, 02:40 PM	#4
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	The Azteks believed that blood represented your life force. To them, it was like your soul, and of course the gods <i>need</i> your life force in order to sustain the world. When the Spanish first encountered the Azteks, the Aztek ruler had blood all over himself. They Spanish found it disguisting, but the Azteks saw it as completely normal. He had been constantly bloodletting himself, and he considered it his noble duty to give something back to the gods. So, sometimes this wasn't done for science at all. Sometimes it was done for religion.