August 7, 2025 • 14 mins
In the ten years prior to the Spanish Conquest, 8 strange things happened in and around the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, leading many to believe that the Aztec Empire was doomed. Were these omens real or part of legend?
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mexico-unexplained--6696126/support.
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/mexico-unexplained--6696126/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Welcome to Mexico Unexplained, where we will explore the magic,
the mysteries and the miracles of Mexico. This series presents
information based partly on theory and conjecture. The podcaster's purpose
is to suggest some possible explanation, but not necessarily the
only ones to the subjects we will examine. Here is
your host, Robert T. Bitto.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome and we've been beneathos to episode number sixty eight
of Mexico Unexplained, where we examined the magic, the mysteries
and the miracles of Mexico. I'm your host, Robert Biddo.
The Spanish encountered the Aztec Empire not as a bunch
of lost cities in the jungle, but as a living,
(01:16):
breathing civilization. When the conquistadors were welcomed into the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan by the Emperor Montezuma in fifteen nineteen,
the Aztecs had controlled most of Central Mexico by outright
subjugation and through various systems of tribute. The Aztec Empire's
(01:36):
influence was felt as far away as Central America and
the American Southwest. Many living under Aztec control, wanted the
Empire out of their lives, and when the Spanish arrived,
they welcomed the Europeans, who would help them overthrow the Empire.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Aztecs knew their
(01:58):
control over Central Mexico was somewhat tenuous and were always
aware of the possibility of internal strife causing a political
and social collapse. In the days of Montezuma's reign, at
the beginning of the sixteenth century and starting some ten
years before the arrival of Cortes and his men, Emperor
(02:20):
Montezuma was witnessed to eight omens which supposedly foretold the
end of the empire and his own death. Because of
these omens, there was an underlying feeling that the Aztecs
were doomed, and when the Spanish arrived, those who remembered
the omens saw their fates as sealed. Whether or not
(02:41):
these omens actually occurred is a question for historians and
folklorists alike. We first see the mentioned in the Florentine Codex,
a massive three volume illustrated ethnographic compilation put together by
the Spanish Franciscan Friar dor Nardino dis Sagoon. The codex
(03:02):
has over two thousand illustrations in its two thousand, four
hundred pages, and in Book twelve of the Codex we
find the eight signs that supposedly predicted the doom to
befall the Aztecs. Scholars are divided as to whether or
not these omens were made up after the fact to
justify the Spanish conquest in the eyes of the conquered
(03:25):
natives and to the rest of the world, or if
they really happened myth or real. Here are the eight
omens of Montezuma, in the order they occurred. The first
omen reportedly occurred a full ten years before the arrival
of the Spaniards, which would put it happening around fifteen
(03:46):
oh nine. One day, what has been described as a
fire plume appeared in the sky. According to the legends,
this is commonly referred to as the sky Omen, a
great streak of light appeared in the sky for almost
a year, described as narrow at the tip and wide
at its base, and so bright it seemed like daybreak
(04:10):
in the middle of the night. This fire plume was
most likely a comet, and is verified by an Aztec
source called the Codex Teleriana Remensis, which chronicles natural disasters
and cosmic events that happened in central Mexico from the
fourteenth century to the sixteenth century. There is an illustration
(04:31):
in this codex showing Emperor Montezuma with a comet overhead,
and the Aztec calendar date corresponds to the European year
of fifteen oh nine, so this may be an omen
that has an actual historical basis. In any event, this
sky a fire plume omen caused great distress among the
(04:52):
people of ancient Mexico. According to one source quote, as
soon as it appeared, men cried out, slapping their mouths
with the palms of their hands. Everybody was afraid. Everybody wailed.
Comets throughout history have been seen as bringers of good
luck or bad luck, and in this case, the comet
(05:15):
was seen as a bad omen. The second omen had
to do with the Aztec god Witsilipochtli, and it also
involved a fire, but a more terrestrial kind. Witsilipochtli was
not only the god of war, of human sacrifice, and
of the sun. He was the patron and protector of
the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan and was seen as sort
(05:39):
of a national god of the Aztecs. According to Aztec legends,
it was this god who was with them as a
protector from day one, from their wanderings in the desert
through their conquest of most of Mexico. Witsilipochtli was always there,
watching over and guiding the Aztec people. It was a
(06:00):
national catastrophe when the temple dedicated to this god caught
fire in the central ceremonial complex of the Aztec capital. First,
the wooden pillars of the temple caught fire suddenly, and
then the fire spread to the rest of the structure.
It seemed that whenever water was poured on the fire,
the fire increased. When the fire was finally extinguished, with
(06:24):
most of Whittzilipochtli's temple gone, the Aztec priests and astrologers
declared what the citizens of the great city had already felt,
this was a very bad omen. The third omen occurred
at another sacred place, a building used as both a
temple and a monastery called Soumolgo Kalmikak, also located in
(06:47):
the central part of the Aztec capital of Tenutschtitlan. The
temple monastery complex was dedicated to the god shute Kutli.
The god was symbolized by the North Star and was
seen as the lord of fire, patron and keeper of
the Mexican volcanoes, and god of the daytime and of heat.
(07:09):
Shutle Kutli was also the god of food during famine,
warmth during cold, and of life after death. He lived
in an impenetrable enclosure made of turquoise, located somewhere underneath
the earth, so that no harm would come to him.
The temple at Sumolko was not as strong as this
(07:29):
turquoise enclosure. On a day of misty drizzle, a bolt
of lightning came down and struck the temple, and its
thatched roof caught fire immediately. Witnesses claimed that there was
no sound of thunder accompanying the lightning strike, and that
the storm was not a severe one. It seemed to
occur for no reason other than to be a bad sign.
(07:54):
The fourth omen happened much like the first, overhead in
the skies. Thousands of people throughout central Mexico looked to
the skies bewildered and afraid, and they saw three large
balls of fire emitting sparks streak across the sky from
west to east. Some reported a terrible sound accompanying this spectacle,
(08:15):
like a deep roar of a wild animal. Later it
was determined that these were most likely meteors entering the
Earth's atmosphere and heading for somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Nevertheless,
this heavenly phenomenon was interpreted by all who saw it
as a bad sign. The fifth omen had to do
(08:36):
with the lifeblood and the highway of the Aztecs, the
very lake on which their capital sat, Lake Teshkoco. Fishing
boats were out on the water normally one day in
calm weather, when suddenly the lake welled up. Swirling eddies
tossed about the boats and caused a mini tidal wave
to hit the settlements on the shore, including the capital Sea,
(09:00):
which was on the island in the middle of the lake.
Many buildings flooded and some structures crumbled. While not too disastrous,
this event had a more devastating psychological effect. No one
could explain why the water in the lake would do
what it did, and it was another item to put
on the list of bad omens that were foretelling the
(09:23):
Great disaster that was to come. Modern day scientists and
researchers theorized that seismic or underground volcanic activity could have
been responsible for the strange behavior of Lake Teshkoco that day.
The sixth Omen concerns the sounds of a weeping woman,
which some say may be the basis of the legend
(09:45):
of Laurona. Please see Mexico w Explained, episode number three
for a detailed description of the Urona legend. For several nights,
the citizens of the Aztec capital city had heard the
cries of a woman. Some believed that it was the
snake skirted goddess Coatrique, the mother deity of all the Aztecs,
(10:06):
warning her children of the disasters yet to come. On
some evenings, the female voice was heard to be saying,
my children, it is already too late, And my children,
where can I take you? The haunting voice filled all
who heard it with a deep sense of dread, and
(10:27):
news of what was happening quickly spread from the capital
city to all the corners of the Aztec Empire. What
was behind the wailing woman's message of foreboding? What did
it mean? The seventh Oomen had to do with a
strange bird found by fishermen on Lake Tshkoko. When the
men saw this unusual, gray colored bird, they captured it
(10:51):
in their nets and brought it directly to the Imperial
Palace to present it to Emperor Montezuma, who had an
impressive private zoo and strange and interesting creatures. Please see
Mexico and Explained, episode number forty three for a detailed
discussion about Montezuma's private zoo. In his vast collection of animals,
(11:12):
the Aztec emperor had never seen such an unusual bird.
It appeared to be some sort of crane, but it
had a flat, round, black or reflective surface on its forehead,
almost like a mirror. When he looked at the mirror
like fixture on the bird's head, Montezuma could see the
sky and the constellations, and then people came into view.
(11:36):
He saw a great army with men riding gigantic deer
and carrying weapons unknown to him. When Montezuma called the
court priests and astrologers over to see the images in
the mirror, the images vanished and the bird died. The
last omen occurred just weeks before the Spanish arrived at
(11:56):
the Aztec capitol, a two headed man appeared in the
streets of ten outch Tiitlan. Witnesses were alarmed at the site,
and people knew that the emperor had a human section
of his zoo where he housed people with various deformities,
So the two headed man was brought directly to Montezuma.
(12:16):
According to the legend, when the emperor laid eyes on him,
the two headed men just disappeared. Another variation of this
omen has a number of two headed men showing up
in the streets of the Aztec capital, and all of
them vanishing when brought to the imperial palace. As it
(12:36):
was known that Montezuma took a keen interest in such people,
this omen may have some basis in historical fact. According
to the legends, Montezuma did not dismiss these omens, but
meditated on them and took them very seriously. In spite
of having the best astrological and priestly council in the
(12:58):
Aztec Empire, the emperor had no idea of what these
omens meant or what fate would befall him or his realm.
As news of the omens spread throughout the empire, Perhaps
some people were psychologically prepared for what was to come,
given the brutality experienced by some of the people subjugated
(13:20):
by the Aztecs. Perhaps each omen represented hope instead of doom,
whether good or bad. All who had heard of these
omens had a feeling that big changes were on the horizon,
and they were right. Thank you once again for listening
to another episode of Mexico and Explained. Remember to like
(13:43):
and subscribe to us on YouTube and follow us on Twitter.
Please go to our website Mexico on Explained dot com
for references, illustrations, and for free access to transcripts of
past shows. Please visit our patrion page and consider making
a donation to help about the show. We appreciate your
kind attention. Once again, until next time, Thank you and gracias.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Thank you for listening to another episode of Mexico Unexplained
with host Robert Bitto. For show summary, relevant links, and commentary,
Please check out our website at Mexicoanexplained dot com, Like
us on Facebook and be a part of the conversation.
Addie on sandt Haste la vista
Welcome to Mexico Unexplained, where we will explore the magic,
the mysteries and the miracles of Mexico. This series presents
information based partly on theory and conjecture. The podcaster's purpose
is to suggest some possible explanation, but not necessarily the
only ones to the subjects we will examine. Here is
your host, Robert T. Bitto.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Welcome and we've been beneathos to episode number sixty eight
of Mexico Unexplained, where we examined the magic, the mysteries
and the miracles of Mexico. I'm your host, Robert Biddo.
The Spanish encountered the Aztec Empire not as a bunch
of lost cities in the jungle, but as a living,
(01:16):
breathing civilization. When the conquistadors were welcomed into the Aztec
capital of Tenochtitlan by the Emperor Montezuma in fifteen nineteen,
the Aztecs had controlled most of Central Mexico by outright
subjugation and through various systems of tribute. The Aztec Empire's
(01:36):
influence was felt as far away as Central America and
the American Southwest. Many living under Aztec control, wanted the
Empire out of their lives, and when the Spanish arrived,
they welcomed the Europeans, who would help them overthrow the Empire.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, the Aztecs knew their
(01:58):
control over Central Mexico was somewhat tenuous and were always
aware of the possibility of internal strife causing a political
and social collapse. In the days of Montezuma's reign, at
the beginning of the sixteenth century and starting some ten
years before the arrival of Cortes and his men, Emperor
(02:20):
Montezuma was witnessed to eight omens which supposedly foretold the
end of the empire and his own death. Because of
these omens, there was an underlying feeling that the Aztecs
were doomed, and when the Spanish arrived, those who remembered
the omens saw their fates as sealed. Whether or not
(02:41):
these omens actually occurred is a question for historians and
folklorists alike. We first see the mentioned in the Florentine Codex,
a massive three volume illustrated ethnographic compilation put together by
the Spanish Franciscan Friar dor Nardino dis Sagoon. The codex
(03:02):
has over two thousand illustrations in its two thousand, four
hundred pages, and in Book twelve of the Codex we
find the eight signs that supposedly predicted the doom to
befall the Aztecs. Scholars are divided as to whether or
not these omens were made up after the fact to
justify the Spanish conquest in the eyes of the conquered
(03:25):
natives and to the rest of the world, or if
they really happened myth or real. Here are the eight
omens of Montezuma, in the order they occurred. The first
omen reportedly occurred a full ten years before the arrival
of the Spaniards, which would put it happening around fifteen
(03:46):
oh nine. One day, what has been described as a
fire plume appeared in the sky. According to the legends,
this is commonly referred to as the sky Omen, a
great streak of light appeared in the sky for almost
a year, described as narrow at the tip and wide
at its base, and so bright it seemed like daybreak
(04:10):
in the middle of the night. This fire plume was
most likely a comet, and is verified by an Aztec
source called the Codex Teleriana Remensis, which chronicles natural disasters
and cosmic events that happened in central Mexico from the
fourteenth century to the sixteenth century. There is an illustration
(04:31):
in this codex showing Emperor Montezuma with a comet overhead,
and the Aztec calendar date corresponds to the European year
of fifteen oh nine, so this may be an omen
that has an actual historical basis. In any event, this
sky a fire plume omen caused great distress among the
(04:52):
people of ancient Mexico. According to one source quote, as
soon as it appeared, men cried out, slapping their mouths
with the palms of their hands. Everybody was afraid. Everybody wailed.
Comets throughout history have been seen as bringers of good
luck or bad luck, and in this case, the comet
(05:15):
was seen as a bad omen. The second omen had
to do with the Aztec god Witsilipochtli, and it also
involved a fire, but a more terrestrial kind. Witsilipochtli was
not only the god of war, of human sacrifice, and
of the sun. He was the patron and protector of
the Aztec capital at Tenochtitlan and was seen as sort
(05:39):
of a national god of the Aztecs. According to Aztec legends,
it was this god who was with them as a
protector from day one, from their wanderings in the desert
through their conquest of most of Mexico. Witsilipochtli was always there,
watching over and guiding the Aztec people. It was a
(06:00):
national catastrophe when the temple dedicated to this god caught
fire in the central ceremonial complex of the Aztec capital. First,
the wooden pillars of the temple caught fire suddenly, and
then the fire spread to the rest of the structure.
It seemed that whenever water was poured on the fire,
the fire increased. When the fire was finally extinguished, with
(06:24):
most of Whittzilipochtli's temple gone, the Aztec priests and astrologers
declared what the citizens of the great city had already felt,
this was a very bad omen. The third omen occurred
at another sacred place, a building used as both a
temple and a monastery called Soumolgo Kalmikak, also located in
(06:47):
the central part of the Aztec capital of Tenutschtitlan. The
temple monastery complex was dedicated to the god shute Kutli.
The god was symbolized by the North Star and was
seen as the lord of fire, patron and keeper of
the Mexican volcanoes, and god of the daytime and of heat.
(07:09):
Shutle Kutli was also the god of food during famine,
warmth during cold, and of life after death. He lived
in an impenetrable enclosure made of turquoise, located somewhere underneath
the earth, so that no harm would come to him.
The temple at Sumolko was not as strong as this
(07:29):
turquoise enclosure. On a day of misty drizzle, a bolt
of lightning came down and struck the temple, and its
thatched roof caught fire immediately. Witnesses claimed that there was
no sound of thunder accompanying the lightning strike, and that
the storm was not a severe one. It seemed to
occur for no reason other than to be a bad sign.
(07:54):
The fourth omen happened much like the first, overhead in
the skies. Thousands of people throughout central Mexico looked to
the skies bewildered and afraid, and they saw three large
balls of fire emitting sparks streak across the sky from
west to east. Some reported a terrible sound accompanying this spectacle,
(08:15):
like a deep roar of a wild animal. Later it
was determined that these were most likely meteors entering the
Earth's atmosphere and heading for somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. Nevertheless,
this heavenly phenomenon was interpreted by all who saw it
as a bad sign. The fifth omen had to do
(08:36):
with the lifeblood and the highway of the Aztecs, the
very lake on which their capital sat, Lake Teshkoco. Fishing
boats were out on the water normally one day in
calm weather, when suddenly the lake welled up. Swirling eddies
tossed about the boats and caused a mini tidal wave
to hit the settlements on the shore, including the capital Sea,
(09:00):
which was on the island in the middle of the lake.
Many buildings flooded and some structures crumbled. While not too disastrous,
this event had a more devastating psychological effect. No one
could explain why the water in the lake would do
what it did, and it was another item to put
on the list of bad omens that were foretelling the
(09:23):
Great disaster that was to come. Modern day scientists and
researchers theorized that seismic or underground volcanic activity could have
been responsible for the strange behavior of Lake Teshkoco that day.
The sixth Omen concerns the sounds of a weeping woman,
which some say may be the basis of the legend
(09:45):
of Laurona. Please see Mexico w Explained, episode number three
for a detailed description of the Urona legend. For several nights,
the citizens of the Aztec capital city had heard the
cries of a woman. Some believed that it was the
snake skirted goddess Coatrique, the mother deity of all the Aztecs,
(10:06):
warning her children of the disasters yet to come. On
some evenings, the female voice was heard to be saying,
my children, it is already too late, And my children,
where can I take you? The haunting voice filled all
who heard it with a deep sense of dread, and
(10:27):
news of what was happening quickly spread from the capital
city to all the corners of the Aztec Empire. What
was behind the wailing woman's message of foreboding? What did
it mean? The seventh Oomen had to do with a
strange bird found by fishermen on Lake Tshkoko. When the
men saw this unusual, gray colored bird, they captured it
(10:51):
in their nets and brought it directly to the Imperial
Palace to present it to Emperor Montezuma, who had an
impressive private zoo and strange and interesting creatures. Please see
Mexico and Explained, episode number forty three for a detailed
discussion about Montezuma's private zoo. In his vast collection of animals,
(11:12):
the Aztec emperor had never seen such an unusual bird.
It appeared to be some sort of crane, but it
had a flat, round, black or reflective surface on its forehead,
almost like a mirror. When he looked at the mirror
like fixture on the bird's head, Montezuma could see the
sky and the constellations, and then people came into view.
(11:36):
He saw a great army with men riding gigantic deer
and carrying weapons unknown to him. When Montezuma called the
court priests and astrologers over to see the images in
the mirror, the images vanished and the bird died. The
last omen occurred just weeks before the Spanish arrived at
(11:56):
the Aztec capitol, a two headed man appeared in the
streets of ten outch Tiitlan. Witnesses were alarmed at the site,
and people knew that the emperor had a human section
of his zoo where he housed people with various deformities,
So the two headed man was brought directly to Montezuma.
(12:16):
According to the legend, when the emperor laid eyes on him,
the two headed men just disappeared. Another variation of this
omen has a number of two headed men showing up
in the streets of the Aztec capital, and all of
them vanishing when brought to the imperial palace. As it
(12:36):
was known that Montezuma took a keen interest in such people,
this omen may have some basis in historical fact. According
to the legends, Montezuma did not dismiss these omens, but
meditated on them and took them very seriously. In spite
of having the best astrological and priestly council in the
(12:58):
Aztec Empire, the emperor had no idea of what these
omens meant or what fate would befall him or his realm.
As news of the omens spread throughout the empire, Perhaps
some people were psychologically prepared for what was to come,
given the brutality experienced by some of the people subjugated
(13:20):
by the Aztecs. Perhaps each omen represented hope instead of doom,
whether good or bad. All who had heard of these
omens had a feeling that big changes were on the horizon,
and they were right. Thank you once again for listening
to another episode of Mexico and Explained. Remember to like
(13:43):
and subscribe to us on YouTube and follow us on Twitter.
Please go to our website Mexico on Explained dot com
for references, illustrations, and for free access to transcripts of
past shows. Please visit our patrion page and consider making
a donation to help about the show. We appreciate your
kind attention. Once again, until next time, Thank you and gracias.
Speaker 1 (14:09):
Thank you for listening to another episode of Mexico Unexplained
with host Robert Bitto. For show summary, relevant links, and commentary,
Please check out our website at Mexicoanexplained dot com, Like
us on Facebook and be a part of the conversation.
Addie on sandt Haste la vista
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.