Name and Etymology:
Xipe Totec, "Flayed Lord"
Xipe Totec, "Flayed Lord"
Religion and Culture of Xipe Totec:
Aztec, Mesoamerica
Aztec, Mesoamerica
Symbols, Iconography, and Art of Xipe Totec:
Xipe Totec is drawn as a large figure wearing human skin from another person, symbolizing the "new skin" the earth wears every spring. The skin usually has an incision where the heart was removed, ties in the back to hold it on, and no penis. Statues of Xipe Totec may have at one time had outfits made from human skin, but as they are they are immediately recognizable by the puffy skin, double lips, and exceptionally sunken eyes, all designed to mimic a figure wearing someone else's skin.
Xipe Totec is drawn as a large figure wearing human skin from another person, symbolizing the "new skin" the earth wears every spring. The skin usually has an incision where the heart was removed, ties in the back to hold it on, and no penis. Statues of Xipe Totec may have at one time had outfits made from human skin, but as they are they are immediately recognizable by the puffy skin, double lips, and exceptionally sunken eyes, all designed to mimic a figure wearing someone else's skin.
Xipe Totec is God of:
Seasons
Planting
Agriculture
Seed Germination
Sprouting Vegetation
Seasons
Planting
Agriculture
Seed Germination
Sprouting Vegetation
Renewal
Goldworkers, Metalsmiths
Gladiators
Equivalents in Other Cultures:
Yopi, a Zapotec god
Yopi, a Zapotec god
Story and Origin of Xipe Totec:
It's possible that Xipe Totec was originally derived form an Olmec god worshipped in the highlands. He was later worshipped not only by the Aztecs, but also the Zapotecs, Mixtecs, and a few Maya city-states.
It's possible that Xipe Totec was originally derived form an Olmec god worshipped in the highlands. He was later worshipped not only by the Aztecs, but also the Zapotecs, Mixtecs, and a few Maya city-states.
Family Tree and Relationships of Xipe Totec:
Brother of Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca
Brother of Huitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca
Worship and Rituals of Xipe Totec:
During the festival of Tlacaxipehualiztli, Aztecs forced captured prisoners to fight each other in games known as Tlahuahuanaliztli, performed in the name of Xipe Totec, sacrificing to him victims so that he would not send plagues to them. The captives were bound and placed on a stone platform where they used swords edged with feathers against warriors used swords edged with obsidian. Losers in these fights, if still alive, were flayed until dead; winners wore the skins of the losers.
During the festival of Tlacaxipehualiztli, Aztecs forced captured prisoners to fight each other in games known as Tlahuahuanaliztli, performed in the name of Xipe Totec, sacrificing to him victims so that he would not send plagues to them. The captives were bound and placed on a stone platform where they used swords edged with feathers against warriors used swords edged with obsidian. Losers in these fights, if still alive, were flayed until dead; winners wore the skins of the losers.
Temples of Xipe Totec:
Goldworkers made their own offerings at Xipe Totec temples, particular his main temple Yopico. The first images of Xipe Totec, though, come from the temple at Xolalpan.
Goldworkers made their own offerings at Xipe Totec temples, particular his main temple Yopico. The first images of Xipe Totec, though, come from the temple at Xolalpan.
Mythology and Legends of Xipe Totec:
Xipe Totec is a divine personification of the sprouting seedling which separates into multiple shoots — an event which Aztecs perceived as a form of self-torture. In order to ensure good crops every year, Xipe Totec demanded large amounts of blood from his worshippers; the toll in human sacrifices for Xipe Totec was thus very high, even by Aztec standards. Flaying a victims' skin represented maize seeds' own self-sacrifice when they shed their outer covering; the priests wearing the victims' skin represented the regeneration of the plant.
Xipe Totec is a divine personification of the sprouting seedling which separates into multiple shoots — an event which Aztecs perceived as a form of self-torture. In order to ensure good crops every year, Xipe Totec demanded large amounts of blood from his worshippers; the toll in human sacrifices for Xipe Totec was thus very high, even by Aztec standards. Flaying a victims' skin represented maize seeds' own self-sacrifice when they shed their outer covering; the priests wearing the victims' skin represented the regeneration of the plant.
