Fifth World (Native American mythology)

The Fifth World in the context of creation myths describes the present world as interpreted by several groups of Native Americans in the United States and Central America. The central theme of the myth holds that there were four other cycles of creation and destruction that preceded the Fifth World. The creation story is taken largely from the mythological, cosmological, and eschatological beliefs and traditions of earlier Mesoamerican cultures.

According to Aztec mythology the present world is a product of four cycles of birth, death, and reincarnation. When each world is destroyed it is reborn through the sacrifice of a god. The god’s sacrifice creates a new sun, which creates a new world. The myth is sometimes referred to as the “Legend of Five Suns.”

Jaguars, a hurricane, fire rain, and a flood destroyed the first four suns. After the fourth sun was destroyed the gods gathered to choose a god to become the new sun. Tecuciztecatl, a boastful and proud god, offered himself up for sacrifice. However, the rest of gods favored Nanahuatzin, the smallest and humblest god. The gods built a grand fire, but at the last second Tecuciztecatl refused to jump into the fire because he was too afraid of the pain. Instead, Nanahuatzin jumped in the fire. Embarrassed by Nanahuatzin’s sacrifice, Tecuciztecatl followed him into the fire. The two suns rose in the sky, but they were too bright. The gods threw a rabbit at Tecuciztecatl to dim his light, and he turned into the moon. This is the reason why the Aztec people say there is a rabbit that lives on the moon.

Still however, the sun remained motionless in the sky, burning the ground below. The gods then recognized they all must be sacrificed so that the people could survive. The god Ehecatl helped offering them up. The sacrifices made the sun move through the sky, energizing earth instead of burning it.

In the Aztec tradition, the Fifth World is the last one and after this one the earth will not be recreated. This is why the Aztecs practiced human sacrifice. The gods would only keep the sun alive as long as the Aztecs continued providing them with blood. Their worldview held a deep sense of indebtedness. Blood sacrifice was an often-used form of Nextlahualli or debt-payment. Franciscan Friar Bernardino de Sahagún wrote in his ethnography of Mesoamerica that the victim was someone who "gave his service.”

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