What is 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 is the meaning of XIPE?
noun. the Aztec god of sowing or planting.
Why was fertility important to Aztecs?
As the goddess of fertility and childbirth, Xochiquetzal was a very important deity for Aztec women. In fact, pregnancy and the act of giving birth were celebrated acts in Aztec culture. Women who gave birth were considered warriors.
Why is Xipe Totec flayed?
Xipe Totec connected agricultural renewal with warfare. He flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the way maize seeds lose their outer layer before germination and of snakes shedding their skin. Xipe Totec was believed by the Aztecs to be the god that invented war.
Why is Xipe Totec important?
Xipe Totec, (Nahuatl: “Our Lord the Flayed One”) Mesoamerican god of spring and new vegetation and patron of goldsmiths. As a symbol of the new vegetation, Xipe Totec wore the skin of a human victim—the “new skin” that covered the Earth in the spring. …
Why did the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan build Chinampas?
Certainly there were a number of techniques used in the Aztec empire. But with the great city of Tenochtitlan built on swampy but rich ground, the chinampas became key to the food production of the people. These canals of course offered irrigation, and provided food of their own such as fish and water fowl.
Why was the Aztec god Xipe Totec flayed?
Xipe Totec is the god of the shedding of skins, God of Seedtime, the elemental force of rebirth. He is associated with rejuvenation and spring time. Xipe Totec flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the maize seed losing the outer layer of the seed before germination.
What did the Xipe Totec priests wear on their bodies?
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. This act of putting on new skin was a ceremony called ‘Neteotquiliztli’ translating to “impersonation of a god”.
Who is the Flayed One in Aztec mythology?
Xipe Totec, Our Lord the Flayed One. Xipe Totec is the god of the shedding of skins, God of Seedtime, the elemental force of rebirth. He is associated with rejuvenation and spring time.
How many days before the festival of Xipe Totec?
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.
