THE AZTEC HEAVENS
According to ancient Mexican belief various destinations awaited the dead. Warriors slain in battle repaired to the region of the sun, where they dwelt in bliss with the deity who presided over that luminary. Sacrificed captives also fared thence. These followed the sun in his daily course, crying aloud and beating upon their shields, and fighting sham battles. “It is also said,” writes Sahagun in his History of the Affairs of New Spain (Appendix to bk. iii, ch. 3), “that in this heaven are trees and forests of divers sorts. The offerings which the living of this world make to the dead duly arrive at their destination, and are received in this heaven. After four years of sojourn in that place the souls of the dead are changed into divers species of birds having rich plumage of the most brilliant colours.” These were known as tzintzonme33 (“little bird which flies from place to place”), and they flitted from blossom to blossom on earth as well as in heaven, sucking the rich fragrance from the tropical