Parents and a civil rights group are asking a court to force California to immediately halt Aztec prayers in public school classrooms that are required by the California State Board of Education’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum. This novel curriculum includes a section on “Affirmation, Chants, and Energizers.” Among these is the “In Lak Ech Affirmation,” which invokes five Aztec deities—Tezkatlipoka, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totek, and Hunab Ku. The pagan prayers address the deities both by name and traditional titles, recognize them as sources of power and knowledge, invoke their assistance, and give them thanks. Aztec religious practices included the cutting out of human hearts and the flaying of victims and wearing of their skin. “Our clients are not opposed to having students learn about different cultures and religions, including the practices of the Aztecs,” said Paul Jonna, partner at LiMandri & Jonna LLP and special counsel for the Thomas More Society, a national …