Name and Etymology:
Xochiquetzal, "Flower Quetzal," "Feathered Flower"
Religion and Culture of Xochiquetzal:
Aztec, Mesoamerica
Symbols, Iconography, and Art of Xochiquetzal:
Aztec art usually depicted Xochiquetzal as a young, beautiful woman wearing expensive clothes and gold ornamentation. She is also normally accompanied by birds and butterflies.
Xochiquetzal was Goddess of:
Female Sexuality
Prostitutes
Pleasure
Love
Beauty
Flowers
Weaving
Young Mothers
Arts & Crafts
Domesticity
Silversmiths
Sculptors
Equivalents in Other Cultures:
unknown — please email me if you have any information to add about this.
Story and Origin of Xochiquetzal:
unknown — please email me if you have any information to add about this.
Family Tree and Relationships of Xochiquetzal:
Brother of Xochipilli, "Flower Prince"
First wife of Tlaloc
Mother of Quetzalcoatl
Temples, Worship and Rituals of Xochiquetzal:
Xochiquetzal was honored at a festival every 8 years. A young woman was chosen by artisans to impersonate the goddess; she would be sacrificed, flayed, and her skin given to a man to wear while pretending to weave. Artisans would dance around the scene and then confess their sins to a statue of Xochiquetzal through bloodletting. She was also one of the goddesses impersonated during the Toxcatl festival, ritually married to a young man and kept in luxury for a year before being killed.
Mythology and Legends of Xochiquetzal:
The first husband of Xochiquetzal was Tlaloc, the rain god, but she was kidnapped by Tezcatlipoca and forced to marry him.
