Xipe Totec

Xipe Totec

In Aztec mythology, Xipe Totec ("our lord the flayed one") was a life-death-rebirth deity, god of agriculture, the west, disease, spring, goldsmiths and the seasons. He flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the maize seed losing the outer layer of the seed before germination and of snakes shedding their skin. Without his skin, he was depicted as a golden god. [ [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/x/xipe_totec.html Xipe Totec ] ]

Annually, slaves were selected as sacrifices to Xipe Totec. These slaves were carefully flayed to produce a nearly whole skin which was then worn by the priests during the fertility rituals that followed the sacrifice. Some accounts indicate that a thigh bone from the sacrifice was defleshed and used by the priest to touch spectators in a fertility blessing. Paintings and several clay figures have been found which illustrate the flaying method and the appearance of priests wearing flayed skins.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Xipe Tótec — Xipe Totec o Tezcatlipoca Rojo, Códice Borgia. Xipe Totec o Tezcat …   Wikipedia Español

  • Xipe Totec — Tezcatlipoca représenté dans le Codex Borgia Nom nahua Xipe Totec Traduction en français Notre seigneur l écorché Résidence Teteocan …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Xipe Totec — im Codex Borgia, Aztekencodex, 15. Jahrhundert Xipe Totec („unser Herr, der Geschundene“) ist der Vegetationsgott der Azteken und gleichzeitig Gott des Frühlings, der aufkeimenden Saat und der Jahreszeiten. Außerdem personifiziert er das… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Xipe Totec —   [ xipə to tɛk; Nahuatl »unser Herr der Geschundene«], Vegetationsgott der Azteken, schon aus Teotihuacán bekannt und auch bei anderen Völkern Mesoamerikas (Zapoteken, Mixteken) nachweisbar. Dargestellt ist er meist mit der übergezogenen Haut… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Xipe Totec — Pre Columbian Mexican god of spring and of new vegetation; he is also the patron of precious metals. Originating with the Zapotec Indians, he was adopted by the Aztecs. A symbol of new vegetation, he is always depicted in art wearing a freshly… …   Universalium

  • Xipe Totec — (SHY pea TOE teck) Xipe Totec ( Our Lord the Flayed One ) was one of the vampiric gods of the Aztec people of ancient Mexico. He was described as wearing the skin of the victims who were sacrificed to him, symbolic of the new skin that the earth… …   Encyclopedia of vampire mythology

  • Xipe Totec —    Aztec trickster vampire DEMON of the underworld. Xipe Totec is called the “night drinker” because he sucks the BLOOD of souls of the dead who drop off to sleep instead of doing their penance. Enemies of the Aztec feared him as the god of… …   Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology

  • Xipe Tótec — ► MITOLOGÍA Divinidad nahua cuyo nombre significa «nuestro señor el desollado». Se le considera patrono del maíz, de las enfermedades de la piel, de los plateros, etc. * * * Dios del México precolombino de la primavera y de la fecundidad de la… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Xipé( Totec) —    One of the old gods of the Aztecs depicted as a being in a human skin and known as ‘Our Lord the Flayed One’. He may be compared with the Mayan God ‘F’ …   Who’s Who in non-classical mythology

  • Xipe Totec —    From Aztec mythology, the god of seed time and agriculture. He is the flayed god who skinned himself to provide food for mankind. He is also the god of penitential torture who gave man smallpox, blindness and other diseases …   The writer's dictionary of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mythology

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”