Investigate- The Aztecs Method of Human Sacrifice

While researching the Aztecs and their ways of life, an area of study that jumped from the page was the section regarding human sacrifice. Not only did this method of spiritual duties carry great importance, but the story behind it is what truly makes it significant. According to the Aztecs, the sun was central to all of life, fighting constantly for human survival. Throughout these battles, it tended to lose energy and was frequently in conflict with approaching eternal darkness. In order to replenish its energy and in turn postpone the result of endless darkness, the only antidote was the gift of life, along with human blood. Due to the fact that the Gods had distributed their blood in order to create humankind, the proper and respectful thing to do was for the Aztec people to volunteer themselves as sacrifice. This led to a significant discovery, causing the Aztecs to take away from the ritual improved techniques. They then adopted the warfare mannerism that instead of killing the enemy, they must capture the prisoner. 

After reading about this process the Aztec so adimately valued, I did further research on the topic. According to Wikipedia.com, this method of repayment to the Sun was extremely controversial, and was not supported by all. It informed me that human sacrifice was the highest level of "panoply" of offerings the Aztecs chose to present to the gods. The sacrifice of animals occurred on a much more regular basis, which pleased many in terms of presenting a humane way of making ammends. As a slight diversion of human sacrifice, many would offer smaller amounts of their blood along with parts of their body. This included ears, tons, lips, calves, etc., and was considered "a private and a personal act of penitence to the gods."  

With both sets of information planted in my brain, I now have an improved outlook on the topic. My understanding of the matter was solid yet slightly vague based off of the information taken straight from the book, however once researching it further I now feel as though I have a more well rounded comprehension. Hearing about the case from two separate sources makes a significant difference, and I found the topic extremely interesting. I look forward to completing deeper research on the topic. 

Separate source used: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice_in_Aztec_culture