The Aztecs, as conquerors, expanded their power, influence, and territory by subjugating a myriad of local and tribal cultures. Ignoring the obvious violence and death, the Aztecs imposed their culture and values ​​on the conquered peoples. The cultural practices of the Aztecs, focusing on fertility, agriculture, ancient games, warfare, and social and political power, led to the perversion and distortion of the Aztecs' initial religious ambition due to their reliance on increased human sacrifice. Their original spiritual worship involved minimal human sacrifice to appease their various gods of the cosmic structure; however, ultimately human sacrifice was necessary in virtually every aspect of their lives. I would argue that this perversion, in the form of vast human sacrifice, was used solely for political purposes to sow fear and had nothing to do with religious worship. The Aztecs viewed their lives and the cosmic world around them as unstable and destructive; human life was insignificant and was created solely to serve the gods. The mythology of the Aztecs describes their gods sacrificing each other in order to create and maintain the fifth and final age of the sun in which the Aztecs lived on earth. The Aztecs assimilated the creation story of earlier Mesoamerican cultures such as the Maya and Olmec and hyperextended it1, now practicing massive sacrificial ceremonies in order to reenact the formation of the suns as well as other sacred myths. 2 The Practice Human sacrifice was essentially a reflection of the self-sacrifice that the Aztecs had learned from their gods. Since the gods had sacrificed their blood to give birth to the world, the Aztecs also offered the blood of humans as a sacrifice to help them keep...... middle of paper ......li by sacrificing over twenty -five thousand captives. In short, the Aztecs waged war to satisfy their war god. »14 Rather than waging wars primarily for the purpose of expanding and assimilating surrounding cultures, the Aztecs used war in the perverse sense of satisfying their thirst for bloody sacrifices to not only instill fear. among their enemies, but also among their own people. Thanks to the Aztecs, the explicit use of human sacrifice quickly shifted from religious worship to political intimidation in their quest for power. Although the Aztecs' initial religious goals were to pay homage to their various deities, the expansion of their political, social, and economic power required that they strike fear into the hearts of the subject peoples of their empire. As a result, they deployed sacrifice in all elements of their society's cultural practices..