![Xipe Totec Annotation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Xipe_Totec_Annotation.jpg)
In
Aztec mythology and religion, Xipe Totec (; nci-IPA, Xīpe Totēc, ˈʃiːpe ˈtoteːk(ʷ)) or Xipetotec ("Our Lord the
Flayed
Flaying, also known colloquially as skinning, is a method of slow and painful execution in which skin is removed from the body. Generally, an attempt is made to keep the removed portion of skin intact.
Scope
A dead animal may be flayed when pr ...
One") was a
life-death-rebirth deity
A dying-and-rising, death-rebirth, or resurrection deity is a religious motif in which a god or goddess dies and is resurrected.Leeming, "Dying god" (2004)Miles 2009, 193 Examples of gods who die and later return to life are most often cited f ...
, god of
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
,
vegetation
Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characte ...
, the east, spring,
goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...
s,
silversmith
A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exactly synonyms as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are or were largely the same but the end product may vary grea ...
s, liberation, and the seasons. Xipe Totec was also known by various other names, including Tlatlauhca (), Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca () ("Red Smoking Mirror") and Yohuallahuan () ("the Night Drinker"), and Yaotzin ("revered enemy"). The
Tlaxcaltec
The Tlaxcalans, or Tlaxcaltecs, are a Nahua people who live in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.
Pre-Columbian history
The Tlaxcaltecs were originally a conglomeration of three distinct ethnic groups who spoke Nahuatl, Otomi, and Pinome that compr ...
s and the Huexotzincas worshipped a version of the deity under the name of
Camaxtli
Mixcoatl ( nah, Mixcōhuātl}, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity ...
, and the god has been identified with
Yopi, a
Zapotec god represented on
Classic Period urns.
[Miller & Taube 1993, 2003, p.188.] The female equivalent of Xipe Totec was the goddess Xilonen-
Chicomecoatl.
Xipe Totec connected agricultural renewal with warfare. He flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the way
maize
Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...
seeds lose their outer layer before
germination and of snakes shedding their skin. He is often depicted as being red beneath the flayed skin he wears, likely referencing his own flayed nature. Xipe Totec was believed by the
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
s to be the god that invented war. His insignia included the pointed cap and rattle staff, which was the war attire for the Mexica emperor. He had a temple called Yopico within the
Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Xipe Totec is associated with pimples, inflammation and eye diseases,
and possibly plague.
Xipe Totec has a strong relation to diseases such as smallpox, blisters and eye sickness
and if someone suffered from these diseases offerings were made to him.
This deity is of uncertain origin. Xipe Totec was widely worshipped in central
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
at the time of the
Spanish Conquest
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its predece ...
,
and was known throughout most of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...
. Representations of the god have been found as far away as
Tazumal
Tazumal () is a pre-Columbian archeological site in Chalchuapa, El Salvador. Tazumal is an architectural complex within the larger area of the ancient Mesoamerican city of Chalchuapa, in western El Salvador. The Tazumal group is located in the so ...
in
El Salvador
El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
. The worship of Xipe Totec was common along the
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
during the Early
Postclassic
In Human history, world history, post-classical history refers to the period from about 500 AD to 1500, roughly corresponding to the European Middle Ages. The period is characterized by the expansion of civilizations geographically and develop ...
. The deity probably became an important Aztec god as a result of the Aztec conquest of the Gulf Coast in the middle of the fifteenth century.
In January 2019, Mexican archaeologists from the
National Institute of Anthropology and History
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
confirmed that they had discovered the first known surviving temple dedicated to Xipe Totec in the
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
state of Mexico. The temple was found while examining ruins of the
Popoluca
Popoluca is a Nahuatl term for various indigenous peoples of southeastern Veracruz and Oaxaca. Many of them (about 30,000 peoples indigenous to Mexico. The Popolucas built the temple in an area called
Ndachjian-Tehuacan between AD 1000 and 1260 prior to
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
invasion of the area.
Xipetotec, Camaxtle, Mixcoatl or Red Tezcatlipoca
Originally the name of the first son of the creative couple
Ometecuhtli and
Omecihuatl is Tlatlauhca or Tlatlauhaqui Tezcatlipoca, "Smoking red mirror." Of obscure origin, this god is honored by the Tlaxcalans and Huejocinas with the name of Camaxtli, and apparently a deity of Zapotlan,
Xalisco
Xalisco () is a city and its surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Nayarit. The city had a population of 21,899 in the 2005 census while the municipality has an area of 290.6 km² (112.2 sq mi) and a populati ...
, is widely known in almost all of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica ...
with the name of Xipetotec, 'Our Lord Flayed'. His body is dyed yellow on one side and lined on the other, his face is carved, superficially divided into two parts by a narrow strip that runs from the forehead to the jawbone. His head wears a kind of hood of different colors with tassels that hang down his back. The
Tlaxcala
Tlaxcala (; , ; from nah, Tlaxcallān ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tlaxcala ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tlaxcala), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 60 municipaliti ...
myth that refers to Camaxtle, a god identified as Xipe-Totec himself
It's difficult to discern if Camaxtle is the same Tlatlauhqui Tezcatlipoca-Xipetotec or Yayauhqui
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ōmeteōtl, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providenc ...
who changes his name to
Mixcoatl
Mixcoatl ( nah, Mixcōhuātl}, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity ...
; or
Huitzilopochtli himself as identified by some informants and authors. The truth is that he is related to fire and hunting.
After the destruction of the earth by water, came chaos. Everything was desolation. Humanity had died and the heavens were over the earth. When the gods saw that the heavens had fallen, they resolved to reach the center of the earth, opening four subterranean paths for this, and to enter these paths to lift them up. To reward such a great action,
Tonacacihuatl and
Tonacatecuhtli made their children the lords of the heavens and the stars, and the path that
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca (; nci, Tēzcatl ihpōca ) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. One of the four sons of Ōmeteōtl, Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the God of providenc ...
and
Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl (, ; Spanish: ''Quetzalcóatl'' ; nci-IPA, Quetzalcōātl, ket͡saɬˈkoːaːt͡ɬ (Modern Nahuatl pronunciation), in honorific form: ''Quetzalcōātzin'') is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahu ...
traveled was marked by the
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...
. And this great nebula was also called
Mixcoatl
Mixcoatl ( nah, Mixcōhuātl}, from mixtli "cloud" and cōātl "serpent"), or Camaxtle or Camaxtli, was the god of the hunt and identified with the Milky Way, the stars, and the heavens in several Mesoamerican cultures. He was the patron deity ...
or Iztac-Mixcoatl, 'white cloud snake'
Jerónimo de Mendieta
Jerónimo (European Portuguese and Spanish) or Jerônimo (Brazilian Portuguese) may refer to:
* Jerónimo (name), a given or surname, Jerome in English
** Jeronimo (singer) (born 1990), Dutch pop singer and actor
* Jeronimo (band), German band of ...
determines that Iztac-Mixcoatl is the personification of the Milky Way, the inhabitant of Chicomoztoc that the Nahuas call ‘White Cloud Serpent’, since such is the shape of the great nebula in the sky. And
Ilancueye
Tlaltecuhtli (Classical Nahuatl ''Tlāltēuctli'', ) is a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican deity worshipped primarily by the Mexica (Aztecs, Aztec) people. Sometimes referred to as the "earth monster," Tlaltecuhtli's dismembered body was the basis for ...
is nothing more than the personification of the Earth.
Attributes
![Xipe Totec from Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Xipe_Totec_from_Chilean_Museum_of_Pre-Columbian_Art.JPG)
Xipe Totec appears in codices with his right hand upraised and his left hand extending towards the front. Xipe Totec is represented wearing flayed human skin, usually with the flayed skin of the hands falling loose from the wrists.
[Fernández 1992, 1996, p.60. Matos Moctezuma & Solis Olguín 2002, p.422.] His hands are bent in a position that appears to possibly hold a ceremonial object.
[Marshall H. Saville 1929, p.156.] His body is often painted yellow on one side and tan on the other.
His mouth, lips, neck, hands and legs are sometimes painted red. In some cases, some parts of the human skin covering is painted yellowish-gray. The eyes are not visible, the mouth is open and the ears are perforated.
He frequently had vertical stripes running down from his forehead to his chin, running across the eyes.
He was sometimes depicted with a yellow shield and carrying a container filled with seeds. One Xipe Totec sculpture was carved from volcanic rock, and portrays a man standing on a small pedestal. The chest has an incision, made in order to extract the heart of the victim before flaying. It is likely that sculptures of Xipe Totec were ritually dressed in the flayed skin of sacrificial victims and wore sandals. In most of Xipe Totec sculptures, artists always make emphasis in his sacrificial and renewal nature by portraying the different layers of skin.
Symbolism
Xipe Totec emerging from rotting, flayed skin after twenty days symbolised rebirth and the renewal of the seasons, the casting off of the old and the growth of new vegetation.
[Fernández 1992, 1996, p.62.] New vegetation was represented by putting on the new skin of a flayed captive because it symbolized the vegetation the earth puts on when the rain comes. The living god lay concealed underneath the superficial veneer of death, ready to burst forth like a germinating seed. The deity also had a malevolent side as Xipe Totec was said to cause rashes, pimples, inflammations and eye infections.
The flayed skins were believed to have curative properties when touched and mothers took their children to touch such skins in order to relieve their ailments. People wishing to be cured made offerings to him at Yopico.
Annual festival
The annual festival of Xipe Totec was celebrated on the
spring equinox before the onset of the rainy season; it was known as ''Tlacaxipehualiztli'' (; lit. "flaying of men"). This festival took place in March at the time of the Spanish Conquest. Forty days before the festival of Xipe Totec, a slave who was captured at war was dressed to represent the living god who was honored during this period. This occurred in every ward of the city, which resulted in multiple slaves being selected. The central ritual act of "Tlacaxipehualiztli" was the gladiatorial sacrifice of war prisoners, which both began and culminated the festival. On the next day of the festival, the game of canes was performed in the manner of two bands. The first band were those who took the part of Xipe Totec and went dressed in the skins of the war prisoners who were killed the previous day, so the fresh blood was still flowing. The opposing band was composed of daring soldiers who were brave and fearless, and who took part in the combat with the others. After the conclusion of this game, those who wore the human skins went around throughout the whole town, entering houses and demanding that those in the houses give them some alms or gifts for the love of Xipe Totec. While in the houses, they sat down on sheaves of leaves and put on necklaces which were made of ears of corn and flowers. They had them put on garlands and give them pulque to drink, which was their wine. Annually, slaves or captives were selected as sacrifices to Xipe Totec.
[Matos Moctezuma & Solis Olguín 2002, p.422] 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
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
.
This act of putting on new skin was a ceremony called 'Neteotquiliztli' translating to "impersonation of a god". The skins were often adorned with bright feathers and gold jewellery when worn. During the festival, victorious warriors wearing flayed skins carried out mock skirmishes throughout Tenochtitlan, they passed through the city begging alms and blessed whoever gave them food or other offerings.
When the twenty-day festival was over, the flayed skins were removed and stored in special containers with tight-fitting lids designed to stop the stench of putrefaction from escaping. These containers were then stored in a chamber beneath the temple.
The goldsmiths also participated in ''Tlacaxipehualizti''. They had a feast called ''Yopico'' every year in the temple during the month of ''Tlacaxipehualizti''. A satrap was adorned in the skin taken from one of the captives in order to appear like Xipe Totec. On the dress, they put a crown made of rich feathers, which was also a wig of false hair. Gold ornaments were put in the nose and nasal septum. Rattles were put in the right hand and a gold shield was put in the left hand, while red sandals were put on their feet decorated with quail-feathers. They also wore skirts made of rich feathers and a wide gold necklace. They were seated and offered Xipe Totec an uncooked tart of ground maize, many ears of corn that had been broken apart in order to get to the seeds, along with fruits and flowers. The deity was honored with a dance and ended in a war exercise.
Human sacrifice
![Stone Statue of Xipe Totec (DSC08014b)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Stone_Statue_of_Xipe_Totec_%28DSC08014b%29.jpg)
Various methods of human sacrifice were used to honour this god. The
flayed skins were often taken from sacrificial victims who had their hearts cut out, and some representations of Xipe Totec show a stitched-up wound in the chest.
[Matos Moctezuma & Solis Olguín 2002, p.422.]
"Gladiator sacrifice" is the name given to the form of sacrifice in which an especially courageous war captive was given mock weapons, tied to a large circular stone and forced to fight against a fully armed
Aztec
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl ...
warrior. As a weapon he was given a ''
macuahuitl
A macuahuitl () is a weapon, a wooden club with several embedded obsidian blades. The name is derived from the Nahuatl language and means "hand-wood". Its sides are embedded with prismatic blades traditionally made from obsidian. Obsidian is ...
'' (a wooden sword with blades formed from
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
) with the obsidian blades replaced with feathers.
[Smith 1996, 2003, p.218.] A white cord was tied either around his waist or his ankle, binding him to the sacred ''temalacatl'' stone. At the end of the ''Tlacaxipehualiztli'' festival, gladiator sacrifice (known as ''tlauauaniliztli'') was carried out by five Aztec warriors; two
jaguar warrior
Jaguar warriors or jaguar knights, ''ocēlōtl'' (singular) or ''ocēlōmeh'' (plural)''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 5, 2012, frolink/ref> were members of the Aztec military e ...
s, two
eagle warrior
Eagle warriors or eagle knights (Classical Nahuatl: ''cuāuhtli'' (singular) or ''cuāuhmeh'' (plural)''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 5, 2012, frolink/ref>) were a special cl ...
s and a fifth, left-handed warrior.
"Arrow sacrifice" was another method used by the worshippers of Xipe Totec. The sacrificial victim was bound spread-eagled to a wooden frame, he was then shot with many arrows so that his blood spilled onto the ground.
The spilling of the victim's blood to the ground was symbolic of the desired abundant rainfall, with a hopeful result of plentiful crops. After the victim was shot with the arrows, the heart was removed with a stone knife. The flayer then made a laceration from the lower head to the heels and removed the skin in one piece. These ceremonies went on for twenty days, meanwhile the votaries of the god wore the skins.
Another instance of sacrifice was done by a group of metalworkers who were located in the town of
Azcapotzalco
Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from ''wikt:azcapotzalli, āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + ''wikt:-co, -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a Boroughs of Mexico City, borough (''demarcación territorial'') i ...
, who held Xipe Totec in special veneration.
[Marshall Saville, 1929, p.165.] Xipe was a patron to all metalworkers (''teocuitlapizque''), but he was particularly associated with the goldsmiths.
[Franke J. Neumann 1976, p. 255.] Among this group, those who stole gold or silver were sacrificed to Xipe Totec. Before this sacrifice, the victims were taken through the streets as a warning to others.
Other forms of sacrifice were sometimes used; at times the victim was cast into a firepit and burned, others had their throats cut.
See also
*
Human sacrifice in Aztec culture
Human sacrifice was common in many parts of Mesoamerica, so the rite was nothing new to the Aztecs when they arrived at the Valley of Mexico, nor was it something unique to pre-Columbian Mexico. Other Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Purépe ...
*
Aztec mythology
*
Itztapaltotec
In Aztec religion, Itztapaltotec (sometimes spelled Iztapaltotec) is an aspect of the fertility god Xipe Totec. In the Aztec calendar, he is one of the patrons of the trecena beginning with the day One Rabbit (''ce tochtli'' in Nahuatl), alongside ...
Notes
References
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Further reading
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External links
*
{{Authority control
Agricultural gods
Aztec gods
Life-death-rebirth gods
Plague gods
Food deities
Sky and weather gods
Nature gods
Smithing gods
Crafts gods