Watching the Heavens with a ‘Rooted Heart’: The Mystical Basis of Aztec Astronomy

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.