Facts about The Five Suns
- 07
Modern scholars debate whether the Fifth Sun corresponds to the Aztec calendar date 4 Ollin, which some interpret as requiring world renewal every 52 years through the New Fire Ceremony.
- 06
Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were the two divine beings responsible for creating the Fifth Sun through their combined efforts at Teotihuacan.
- 05
Aztec priests calculated that the Fifth Sun required the sacrifice of 52-year cycles called xiuhmolpilli to maintain cosmic balance and prevent the world's destruction.
- 04
Tonacatepetl, the mountain where the gods gathered to create the Fifth Sun, was believed by the Aztecs to be the source of all human sustenance and divine creation.
- 03
In Aztec codices, Nanahuatzin, a humble god covered in sores, sacrificed himself in divine fire to become the Fifth Sun during the creation narrative.
- 02
Each of the four previous suns in Aztec mythology ended in catastrophic destruction: the First Sun by jaguars, the Second by wind, the Third by fire rain, and the Fourth by water.
- 01
According to Aztec cosmology, the Fifth Sun began in 1 CE and will end on a specific future date that scholars associate with either 2012 or 2027 depending on calendar calculations.