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History of Xipe Totec
Xipe Totec, (Nahuatl: Our Lord the Flayed One) Mesoamerican god of spring and new vegetation and patron of goldsmiths. Xipe Totec was venerated by the Toltecs and Aztecs. As a symbol of the new vegetation, Xipe Totec wore the skin of a human victimthe new skin that covered the Earth in the spring.
How was Xipe Totec created?
Annually, slaves or captives were selected as sacrifices to Xipe Totec. After having the heart cut out, the body was carefully flayed to produce a nearly whole skin which was then worn by the priests for twenty days during the fertility rituals that followed the sacrifice.
Who is the Aztec god Xipe Totec?
Xipe Totec, the Aztec god of spring and regeneration, appears in many Mesoamerican cults. A fertility deity, Xipe Totec vividly conveys the concept of death and rebirth by wearing the flayed skin of a sacrificial victim.
What does XIPE mean?
noun. the Aztec god of sowing or planting.
Who was Chalchiuhtlicue?
Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue) 15thearly 16th century
Chalchiuhtlicue symbolized the purity and preciousness of spring, river, and lake water that was used to irrigate the fields. As a fertility goddess, she portrays the Aztec ideal of fertile young womanhood.
What is the significance of Xipe Totec in Aztec ritual?
Xipe Totec, (Nahuatl: Our Lord the Flayed One) Mesoamerican god of spring and new vegetation and patron of goldsmiths. Xipe Totec was venerated by the Toltecs and Aztecs. As a symbol of the new vegetation, Xipe Totec wore the skin of a human victimthe new skin that covered the Earth in the spring.
Why is Xipe Totec so important?
Xipe Totec (pron. Xi-pe To-tec) or ‘Flayed One’ in Nahuatl, was a major god in ancient Mesoamerican culture and particularly important for the Toltecs and Aztecs. He was considered the god of spring, the patron god of seeds and planting and the patron of metal workers (especially goldsmiths) and gemstone workers.
What was Xipe Totec responsible for?
Xipe Totec is associated with the renewal of vegetation, skin aliments, goldsmiths/metalworkers and according to archeologist/ethnologist Laurette Sjourn a possible god of liberation. Xipe Totec was the Aztec deity responsible for skin and eye maladies, renewal of vegetation and Teocuitlapizque(metal workers).
What did Chalchiuhtlicue look like?
Chalchiuhtlicue was often depicted as “a river, out of which grew a prickly pear cactus laden with fruit, which symbolized the human heart.” (Schwartz 2018, 14).
Who is xolotl?
In Aztec mythology, the dog god Xolotl is the Sunset god. He accompanies and guards the Sun into the land of Death every night. The world was said to have been destroyed four times before our present age.
Who is Mictecacihuatl?
Mictecacihuatl was known as the lady of the dead. She ruled the underworld, and watched over the bones of the dead, which the Aztecs believed were a source of life in the next world. Her grinning skull face is strongly associated with Dia de Muertos.
Is Xipe Totec evil?
So, you might imagine that Xipe Totec is some kind of evil god, or the god of nightmares, or even something as simple as the god of the underworld, but he is not.
How many gods did the Aztecs have?
Scholars studying the Aztec (or Mexica) religion have identified no fewer than 200 gods and goddesses, divided into three groups. Each group supervises one aspect of the universe: the heaven or the sky; the rain, fertility and agriculture; and, finally, war and sacrifice.
What was the name of the last Aztec emperor?
Cuauhtmoc, also called Guatimozin, (born c. 1495died February 26, 1522), 11th and last Aztec emperor, nephew and son-in-law of Montezuma II. Cuauhtmoc became emperor in 1520 on the death of Montezuma’s successor, Cuitlhuac.
What is Quetzalcoatl the god of?
In Aztec times (14th through 16th centuries) Quetzalcatl was revered as the patron of priests, the inventor of the calendar and of books, and the protector of goldsmiths and other craftsmen; he was also identified with the planet Venus.
What was celebrated by a new fire ceremony?
New Fire Ceremony, also called The Binding Up of the Years, in Aztec religion, ritual celebrated every 52 years when the 260-day ritual and 365-day civil calendars returned to the same positions relative to each other. In preparation, all sacred and domestic fires were allowed to burn out.
What is the name of the water goddess?
Amphitrite, in Greek mythology, the goddess of the sea, wife of the god Poseidon, and one of the 50 (or 100) daughters (the Nereids) of Nereus and Doris (the daughter of Oceanus).
Who is Xochiquetzal?
Xochiquetzal, (Nahuatl: Precious Feather Flower) Aztec goddess of beauty, sexual love, and household arts, who is also associated with flowers and plants. According to Aztec mythology, she came from Tamoanchn, the verdant paradise of the west.
