Culture and Cosmos is a peer-reviewed academic journal in the history of
astrology and cultural astronomy published by the
Sophia Centre Press in
partnership with the Sophia
Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, Faculty of Humanitiies and the
Performing Arts, at the University
of Wales Trinity Saint David
We are currently seeking submissions for future volumes of Culture and Cosmos.
We are currently seeking submissions for future volumes of Culture and Cosmos.
Volume 12, No. 1
Watching the Heavens with a ‘Rooted Heart’:The Mystical Basis of Aztec Astronomy
James Maffie
Abstract
Aztec epistemology maintained that humans acquire knowledge of reality mystically using their hearts, not their five senses. What, then, was the epistemological status of observational astronomy? Aztec epistemology assigned a privileged role to mystical knowledge and an ancillary, propaedeutical role to observational astronomy. The epistemological evaluation of observational claims in Aztec astronomy occurred within a context of mystically rooted metaphysical, religious, and astrological background assumptions. These played an essential role in the epistemology of Aztec astronomy.
