Would like to see a source on that if you can. Also, how large did the Aztecs think the universe was?
The Aztecs thought the universe was infinite, and that the Earth was an infinitely big nightmare beast that several gods tried to kill, but only managed to half kill.
That's false, the real Aztec cosmology is.. I'd better explain.
The basic structure of the Mexica universe is composed of three parts: the earth, the sky and the underworld.
The Earth: Tlalticpac, the horizontal region of the universe.
Tlalticpac is a square extension surrounded by Ateotl, "divine water", which on its edges rises like a great wall that unites it with the heavens, and defined by the four cardinal points or four winds and the forces that emanate from them, and sustained by an axis at the center where those forces converge.
East: Dominated by Tlaloc, god of rain, so his domains were fertile and there was abundance in all the crops. It was the male side, his symbol the reed.
West: Under the protection of Quetzalcoatl, where the evening star, Venus, resided. The female side was represented by the color white and the symbol house.
South: It corresponded to Huitzilopochtli with the color blue, place of life and the symbol rabbit.
North: Ruled by Tezcatlipoca with the color black, place of death and the flint knife as symbol.
Center: Ruled by Huehuetéotl-Xiuhtecuhtli. It was the point of union of the earth and the sky, of the four directions of the world: superior world, inferior world, celestial waters and the winds. Thus, the human organism is inserted in the cosmos and forms part of the five elements together with air, earth, fire and water.
Literally Tlalticpac means "on the earth", and this is a region where the gods adorn it with their "doing" and "undoing". Earth and water, mountains and plains, trees and flowers, animals and men, are born, change and disappear. Here nothing is eternal, everything is frugal. Tlalticpac, in his philosophical conception is transitory and must end.
The Heavens
1 Ilhuicatl Meztli "Where the Moon Moves" First immediate sky above the earth. This is where the moon (Meztli) and the clouds move. It is inhabited by: Tlazolteotl, God of filth. Tlaloc, who pierces the belly of the cloud. Ehecatl, who makes the clouds walk.
2 Cintlalco "Where the stars move" The stars run divided into two armies: Centzon Mimixcoa: The Four Hundred North. Centzon Huitzinahua: The four hundred south. They are also found: Citlaltonac, the Milky Way. Tezcatlipoca Ocelotl, the Big Bear. Citlaxonecuilly, the smaller bear. Colotl, the constellation of Scorpio.
3 Ilhuicatl Tonatiuh "Here Tonatiuh, the Sun, moves on his way from the land of light to his house in the West to immerse himself in the underworld.
4 Ilhuicatl Huitztla "The sky of the big star" Citlapol or Hey Citlallin (Venus), the "big, biggest and brightest star", also lives here: Tlahuilcalpantecuhtli: God of the morning or light, lord of the dawn, invocation of Quetzalcoatl, associated with Venus as the morning star. Huixtocíhuatl or Uixtociuatl, goddess of salt.
5 Ilhuicatl Mamoloaco "Sinking or Drilling Sky" Place of comets, wandering stars. Citallin-popoca, "Stars that smoke" Citlalmine, when they have a tail. Xihuitl, when they have hair.
6 Yayauhco "Green-black space" where the night is born and spreads out. Here Tezcatlipoca Yohualli, the enemy, exercises his powers.
7 Ilhuicatl Xoxouhqui "Blue sky" The one that shows its face in the daytime. Scope of Huitzilipochtli, the blue hummingbird on the left
8 Iztlacoliuhqui "Where the obsidian knives creak." Place of storms. Here appears Tlaloc but dominated by the deity Iztlacoliuhqui, "Crooked Knife", God of the cold, variant of Tezcatlipoca.
9 Iztla "Target region"
10 Cozauhquitla "Region of yellow"
11 Yayauhtla "Here the sun shows its red face at twilight.
12 Teteoca "Where the gods dwell" Eminently divine space, where deities remain and project themselves to be elsewhere. It is the place where the gods take on faces, mask themselves to be others as well as to remain themselves. Here they are born and reborn and feed as eternal and mutant beings.
13 Omeyoca "Place of Duality" Ometeotl residence, Lord of Duality. The principle that generates everything that exists is conceived. The main god begets himself. Ometeotl, in his feminine-male duality, becomes the creative couple: Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, lord and lady of Duality. This creative couple, origin of all the generation of gods and of the creation of the universe also has the names of Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl, "lord and lady of our flesh". Based on these names, some versions consider that the Omeyocan is at the same time the Tamoanchan "place of our origin", in which we find the tree with breasts, a wet nurse who breastfed the beings before they were born. It is in the Tamoanchan where the souls of men were generated. Because fire is considered to be an element that generates life, some traditions place Huehuetéotl-Xiuhtecuhtli, the old god of fire, in this heaven.
The way of dying, and not the actions of life, determined the type of posthumous existence that the individual would have. The warriors, the women who died in childbirth, the children, the drowned and all those who died in some way that linked them to the divine, had different destinies from those who ended their life in any way.
While the first had access to paradises, the others, those in which the gods intervene little or not at all to endow the dead with a further development of the soul and a subsequent enjoyment, have to face new and greater obstacles that arise in the beyond and that to the extent of overcoming them, achieve the process of disintegration of their material being to enter nothingness, understood as a zone of rest, at the bottom of the underworld.
Paradises
There were three of them, the first two being the eastern and western countries, facing east and west respectively. The third was located to the south.
1 Tonatiuhcha. "The House of the Sun" Located towards the east. This is where the dead in battle and all those immolated under the sun worship come to. The place is covered by white, yellow and red flowers; birds with plumage of these same colours abound here. Here the eagle-men and the tiger-men perform mock warfare.
Every four years, they descend to Tlalticpac, the land, transformed into hummingbirds and other birds of beautiful plumage to liberate the nectar from the flowers, emit songs and communicate with their resplendent presence the solar glories.
They led a privileged existence as chosen members of the solar retinue.
2 Cincalco "place of the house of corn" o
Cihuatlampa "place of women" Located to the west.
All those who die in their first birth giving the world a possible warrior, are deified and called Cihuateteo "divine women". Their labor is appreciated as if it were a warrior feat, and for giving their life to the new being, they are ennobled and are also called Cihuapipiltin "noble women".
Once the child is born and she dies, the midwife washes her body with water from the sacred springs, dresses her in her best attire, and carried by her husband in a procession of actors representing warriors, with shields and spears, they bury her at sunset in a temple destined to the solar cult, the relatives remain there four days in a row, keeping watch to prevent the body from being stolen.
After the four days, the woman's spirit dwells in the west, in Cincalco.
They will come down to earth every 52 years, motivated by the nostalgia of their children. Because they are bare and have claws instead of hands and feet, children see them and either die on impact or are transformed into mice. That is why mothers cover their children with large masks of maguey sticks in order not to be recognized and to scare them away.
Although their presence on earth is harmful to children and young people, they are considered kind goddesses whose warrior-like work at the side of the sun is highly esteemed by human beings. They are also associated with the food that they eat in Concalco, the House of Corn.
3 Tlaloca "Tlaloc's Place" Located to the south. The enclosure is presided over by Tlaloc, God of rain, and his consort Chalchihuitlicue, "the one with the emerald skirts". It is a place of abundant greenery, birth of springs, rivers and cold or hot waters. Fruits, vegetables, corn, beans, and especially chia (with its seeds they made several medicines, nutritional compounds and even paintings) are abundant.
In the foliage flutters a plethora of birds with beautiful plumage, which with their song added to the croaking of the frogs vitalized Tlaloc to shed measured and constant rains.
This is where the dead come to drown, due to lightning or leprosy, since these diseases are caused by Tlaloc himself, when he chooses those he wants to have in his paradise.
It is said that the drowned are victims of Ahuitzotl, the water monster.
When they are buried there is no need to give them food, jewels or weapons, just a stick, their forehead painted blue so that they can recognize him, because in Tlalocan they will not lack anything and they will not suffer any hardship. Underworld
Opposite to the paradisiacal places, there was the underworld, which could receive three different denominations: Mictlan, "Place of the Dead"; Ximoayan, "Place of the Flesh"; and Chicunauhmictla, "Place of the Nine Fords of the Underworld" referring to the structure composed of nine vertical, descending states:
1 Apanohuaia "Where the river is passed" When men die, they go down to an underground place on the bank of a mighty river. To cross it, they had to ride a dog, so to make it easier for them to cross the flowing waters, they were often buried with a dog or dog bones.
This underworld was also called Itzcuintlan or Place of Dogs.
2 Tepectli Monanamictla "Place where the hills collided with each other." Also called "Tepeme Monamictia." "Hills that fight." Two great mountains attract and repel each other. The dead try to cross in time and quickly so as not to be trapped and crushed.
3 Iztepetl "Razor Hill" Cutting flints threaten the deceased travelers.
4 Itzeecaya "Place where the razor wind or icy wind blows" From here the north winds blow away the crops and bring down the houses. This place is also known as Cehuecayan because it is divided into two rooms, and snow always falls on one of its parts.
5 Paniecatlacaya "Place where bodies float like flags" The site has no gravity and the deaths are at the mercy of the winds. As soon as they come out, they return them or carry them around, until they finally come out for the next test.
6 Temiminaloya "A god who masters error appropriates the wrong arrows of warriors and with them stalks the dead by bleeding them.
7 Theocoyolcualoya "Where the beasts devoured hearts" Also called Teocoylehualoyan "Place where a jaguar feeds on hearts".
8 Yzmictlan Apochcaloca "Where he goes blind in the path of the fog" Some say this place is the Apanhuiayo "Black Water Lagoon". The dead already completely fleshless, conquerors of the previous obstacles, find their tonalli (soul) freed from the body, from matter.
9 Chicunamictla "Hall of Death or Eternal Rest" Ruled by Mictlantecuhtli and the dark Mictlancihuatl, "the lord and lady of the place of the dead". Entering its threshold, it is necessary to overcome the last obstacle, the section called Chiconauhhapan, an extension of nine waters. Once crossed, the deceased ceases to suffer; he is the decanter; the soul is liberated.
Some versions do not situate this passage as the lowest of the floors of the underworld, but rather it is placed to the north.
