Xōchiquetzal
| Xochiquetzal | |
|---|---|
Goddess of beauty and love, lady of flowers, young women and fertility | |
 Xōchiquetzal as depicted in the Codex Borgia. | |
| Other names | Xochiquetzalli, Xochitl, Macuixochiquetzalli |
| Abode | Tamoanchan (Codex Ríos)[1] |
| Gender | Female |
| Region | Mesoamerica |
| Ethnic group | Aztec, Tlaxcaltec, Toltec (Nahua) |
| Festivals | Tlaxochimaco, Miccailhuitontli |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | Xochitlicue (Codex Ramírez)[4] |
| Siblings | Xochipilli |
| Consort | • Tlaloc (Codex Ríos)[1] • Tezcatlipoca (Codex Ríos)[1] • Piltzintecuhtli (Codex Zumarraga)[5] • Cinteotl (Codex Le Tellier)[5] • Xiuhtecuhtli (Codex Florentine)[6] |
| Children | With Piltzintecuhtli: Cinteotl (Codex Zumarraga)[2][3] |
| Equivalents | |
| Greek | Aphrodite |
| Maya | Ixchel (God O) |
In Aztec mythology, Xochiquetzal (Classical Nahuatl: Xōchiquetzal [ʃoːt͡ʃiˈket͡saɬ]), also called Ichpochtli Classical Nahuatl: Ichpōchtli [itʃˈpoːtʃtɬi], meaning "maiden"),[7] was a goddess associated with fertility, beauty, and love, serving as a protector of young mothers and a patroness of pregnancy, childbirth, and the crafts practiced by women such as weaving and embroidery. In pre-Hispanic Maya culture, a similar figure is Goddess I.
Name
The name Xōchiquetzal is a compound of xōchitl (“flower”) and quetzalli (“precious feather; quetzal tail feather”). In Classical Nahuatl morphology, the first element in a compound modifies the second and thus the goddess' name can literally be taken to mean “flower precious feather” or ”flower quetzal feather”. Her alternative name, Ichpōchtli, corresponds to a personalized usage of ichpōchtli (“maiden, young woman”).
Description
Unlike several other figures in the complex of Aztec female earth deities connected with agricultural and sexual fecundity, Xochiquetzal is always depicted as an alluring and youthful woman, richly attired and symbolically associated with vegetation and in particular flowers.
By connotation, Xochiquetzal is also representative of human desire, pleasure, and excess, appearing also as patroness of artisans involved in the manufacture of luxury items.[8]
Worshipers wore animal and flower masks at a festival, held in her honor every eight years. Her husband was Tlaloc until Tezcatlipoca kidnapped her and she was forced to marry him. At one point, she was also married to Centeotl and Xiuhtecuhtli.
Anthropologist Hugo Nutini identifies her with the Virgin of Ocotlan in his article on patron saints in Tlaxcala.[9]
Worship
The worship of Xochiquetzal along with Tlaloc partook in the festival of Hueypachtli. During this festival Xochiquetzal was honored and also offered a variety of gifts consisting of flower offerings, drinking and fornications. A young woman was chosen to be a ixiptlatli which impersonated the goddess and was decapitated, flayed and her skin was worn by a selected man who would then weave as part of a representation of "the gender ambiguity embodied in the cult of lunar deities".[10][better source needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. p. 808. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ^ Otilia Meza (1981). El Mundo Mágico de los Dioses del Anáhuac (in Spanish). Editorial Universo. pp. 102, 103. ISBN 968-35-0093-5.
- ^ Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. p. 119. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ^ Susan D. Gillespie (1989). Los Reyes Aztecas: La Construcción del Gobierno en la Historia Mexica (in Spanish). Siglo XXI Editores. ISBN 968-23-1874-2.
- ^ a b Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. p. 87. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ^ Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. p. 780. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ^ Nahuatl Dictionary. (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from link Archived 2016-12-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Clendinnen (1991, p.163); Miller & Taube (1993, p.190); Smith (2003, p.203)
- ^ Nutini (1976), passim.
- ^ "Xochiquetzal". Mythopedia. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
References
- Bierhorst, John (1985). A Nahuatl-English Dictionary and Concordance to the Cantares Mexicanos: With an Analytic Transcription and Grammatical Notes. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-1183-6. OCLC 11185890.
- Clendinnen, Inga (1991). Aztecs: An Interpretation. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-40093-7. OCLC 22451031.
- Miller, Mary; Karl Taube (1993). The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05068-6. OCLC 27667317.
- Nutini, Hugo G. (1976). "Syncretism and Acculturation: The Historical Development of the Cult of the Patron Saint in Tlaxcala, Mexico (1519-1670)". Ethnology. 15 (3). Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh: 301–321. doi:10.2307/3773137. ISSN 0014-1828. JSTOR 3773137. OCLC 1568323.
- Smith, Michael E. (2003). The Aztecs (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 0-631-23015-7. OCLC 48579073.
- Wimmer, Alexis (2006). "Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique" (online version, incorporating reproductions from Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine [1885], by Rémi Siméon). (in French and Nahuatl languages)
External links
Media related to Xochiquetzal at Wikimedia Commons- Description of the deity on Azteccalendar.com
