Editing Xipe Totec (section)

==Symbolism==
Xipe Totec emerging from rotting, flayed skin after twenty days symbolised rebirth and the renewal of the seasons, the casting off of the old and the growth of new vegetation.<ref name="Fernández 1992, 1996, p.62">Fernández 1992, 1996, p.62.</ref> New vegetation was represented by putting on the new skin of a flayed captive because it symbolized the vegetation the earth puts on when the rain comes.<ref>Michael D. Coe & Rex Koontz 1962, 1977, 1984, 1994, 2002, 2008, p.207.</ref> The living god lay concealed underneath the superficial veneer of death, ready to burst forth like a germinating seed.<ref>Matos Moctezuma & Solis Olguín 2002, p.324</ref> The deity also had a malevolent side as Xipe Totec was said to cause rashes, pimples, inflammations and eye infections.<ref name="Fernández 1992, 1996, p.62"/>

The flayed skins were believed to have curative properties when touched and mothers took their children to touch such skins in order to relieve their ailments.<ref>Matos Moctezuma 1988, p.188.</ref> People wishing to be cured made offerings to him at Yopico.<ref name="Miller & Taube 1993, 2003, p.188" />