Tlazōlteōtl
Tlahzōlteōtl | |
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Goddess of sex | |
Member of the Cinteotl (Codex Florentine) |
In
Tlazōlteōtl is the deity for the 13th trecena of the sacred 260-day calendar Tōnalpōhualli, the one beginning with the day Ce Ōllin, or First Movement. She is associated with the day sign of the jaguar.[5]
Tlazolteotl played an important role in the confession of wrongdoing through her priests.[6]
Aztec religion
There was a Huastec mother goddess[7] from the Gulf Coast[8] who was assimilated into Aztec views of Tlazolteotl.[7]
Quadripartite deities
Under the name of Ixcuinan she was thought to be
Sin
Encouragement of sin
According to Aztec belief, it was Tlazolteotl who inspired vicious desires and who likewise forgave and cleaned away sin.
Purification
For the Aztecs there were two main deities thought to preside over purification: Tezcatlipoca, because he was thought to be invisible and omnipresent, therefore seeing everything; and Tlazolteotl, the deity of lechery and unlawful love.[10] It is said that when a man confessed before Tlazolteotl everything was revealed. Purification with Tlazolteotl would be done through a priest. One could only receive the "mercy" once in their life which is why the practice was most common among the elderly.[12]
The priest (tlapouhqui) would be consulted by the penitent and would consult the 260-day ritual calendar (
Dirt eating
Tlazōlteōtl was called "Deity of Dirt" (Tlazōlteōtl) and "Eater of Ordure" (Tlahēlcuāni, 'she who eats dirt [sin]') with her dual nature of deity of dirt and also of purification. Sins were symbolized by dirt. Her dirt-eating symbolized the ingestion of the sin and in doing so purified it.[14][15] She was depicted with ochre-colored symbols of divine excrement around her mouth and nose.[15] In the Aztec language the word for sacred, tzin, comes from tzintli, the buttocks, and religious rituals include offerings of "liquid gold" (urine) and gold (Nahuatl teocuitlatl "divine excrement", which Klein jocularly translated to English as "holy shit").[15][16] Through this process, she helped create harmony in communities.[15]
Festival
Tlazōlteōtl was one of the primary Aztec deities celebrated in the festival of Ochpaniztli (meaning "sweeping") that was held September 2–21 to recognize the harvest season. The ceremonies conducted during this timeframe included ritual cleaning, sweeping, and repairing, as well as the casting of corn seed, dances, and military ceremonies.[17]
In popular culture
In the film Raiders of the Lost Ark, the fictitious artifact, the Golden Idol is based on the actual Aztec Dumbarton Oaks birthing figure. The artifact is presumed to depict Tlazolteotl.[18]
Gallery
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The moons represent the cyclical nature of sin and purification, and the animal motifs serve to ground the deity in the earth and indicate fertility.[19]
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Another drawing from the Codex Borgia
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Huaxtec statue of Tlazolteotl from Mexico, 900-1450 CE (British Museum, id:Am,+.7001 )
See also
Notes
- ^ Townsend (2000), p. 115
- ^ Soustelle (1961), pp. 104, 199
- ^ a b de Sahagun (1982), book 1, p. 23
- ^ a b Sullivan (1982), p. 12
- ^ Sullivan (1982)[pages needed]
- ^ de Sahagun (1982), pp. 8–9
- ^ ISBN 978-0-670-02270-0.
- ^ Miller & Taube (1997), p. 168
- ^ de Sahagun (1982), p. 8
- ^ a b Soustelle (1961), p. 199
- ^ a b Soustelle (1961), p. 193
- ^ de Sahagun (1982), p. 11
- ^ de Sahagun (1982), pp. 10–11
- ^ Sullivan (1982), p. 15
- ^ ISBN 9780816599714.
Klein reinterprets the ochre color symbols found around the mouth and nose of some Tlazolteotl depictions, as well as painted to represent matter emanating from the buttocks — from connoting 'dirt' to 'divine excrement.' She notes that tlazōlli — interpreted by many academics as Tlazolteotl's root word — is not only excrement or something old or used. Similarly the word for 'venerable' is tzin, which comes from tzintli, the buttocks. Urine as 'liquid gold' and offerings of excrement are examples of 'divine excrement' or, as Klein writes playfully, 'Holy Shit'.
- ^ Klein, Cecelia F. (1993). "Teocuitlatl, 'Divine Excrement': The Significance of 'Holy Shit' in Ancient Mexico". Art Journal. 52 (3): 20–27.
- ^ Townsend (2000), p. 221
- ^ "Tlazolteotl (photo of Dumbarton Oaks idol)". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009.
- ^ Townsend (2000), p. 115
References
- Soustelle, J. (1961). The Daily life of the Aztecs. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
- Miller, Mary; Taube, Karl (1997). An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya. Thames & Hudson.
- de Sahagun, Bernardino (1982) [1545]. Florentine Codex: History of the Things of New Spain. Monographs of the school of American research. Translated by Anderson, Arthur J.O.; Dibble, Charles. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press.
- Townsend, R.F. (2000). The Aztecs (Revised ed.). London: Thames & Hudson.
- Sullivan, T. (1982). "Tlazolteotl-Ixcuina: The Great Spinner and Weaver". In Boone, Elizabeth Hill (ed.). The Art and Iconography of late post-Classic Mexico: a conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 22nd and 23rd, 1977. Washington DC.: Dumbarton Oaks. pp. 7–37. ISBN 9780884021100.
External links
- Media related to Tlazolteotl at Wikimedia Commons