Editing Xōchiquetzal

{{Short description|Aztec deity}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Aztec
| name         = Xochiquetzal
| deity_of     = Goddess of Beauty, Love, and Flowers<br/>Protector of Women
| image        = File:Xochiquetzal from Codex Borgia.jpg
| other_names  = Xochiquetzalli, Xochitl, Macuixochiquetzalli
| caption      = Xōchiquetzal as depicted in the [[Codex Borgia]].
| abode        = [[Tamoanchan]] (Codex Ríos)<ref name="dicc">{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|language=spanish|page=808}}</ref>
| consort      = • [[Tlaloc]] (Codex Ríos)<ref name="dicc"/><br/>• [[Tezcatlipoca]] (Codex Ríos)<ref name="dicc"/><br/>• [[Piltzintecuhtli]] (Codex Zumarraga)<ref name="dicc2"/><br/>• [[Cinteotl]] (Codex Le Tellier)<ref name="dicc2">{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|language=spanish|page=87}}</ref><br/>• [[Xiuhtecuhtli]] (Codex Florentine)<ref>{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|language=spanish|page=780}}</ref>
| parents      = [[Xochitlicue]] (Codex Ramírez)<ref>{{cite book|author=Susan D. Gillespie|title=Los Reyes Aztecas: La Construcción del Gobierno en la Historia Mexica|date=1989|publisher=Siglo XXI Editores|isbn=968-23-1874-2|language=spanish}}</ref>
| siblings     = [[Xochipilli]]
| children     = With Piltzintecuhtli: [[Cinteotl]] (Codex Zumarraga)<ref name="meza">{{cite book|author=Otilia Meza|title=El Mundo Mágico de los Dioses del Anáhuac|date=1981|publisher=Editorial Universo|isbn=968-35-0093-5|language=spanish|pages=102, 103}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|language=spanish|page=119}}</ref>
| gender       = [[Female]]
| region       = [[Mesoamerica]]
| ethnic_group = [[Aztec]], [[Tlaxcaltec]], [[Toltec]] (Nahua)
| greek_equivalent = [[Aphrodite]]
| maya_equivalent = [[Ixchel]] (God O)
| equivalent1_type =
| equivalent1 =
| equivalent2_type =
| equivalent2 =
| festivals    = Tlaxochimaco, Miccailhuitontli
}}
[[Image:Xochiquetzal.jpg|thumb|Xochiquetzal, from the [[Codex Rios]], 16th century.]]
In [[Aztec mythology]], '''Xochiquetzal''' ({{langx|nci|Xōchiquetzal}} {{IPA|nci|ʃoːt͡ʃiˈket͡saɬ|}}), also called '''Ichpochtli''' {{langx|nci|Ichpōchtli}} {{IPA|nci|itʃˈpoːtʃtɬi|||}}, meaning "maiden"),<ref name="dic">''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1997). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved September 1, 2012, from [http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/nahuatl/index.lasso link] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203034759/http://whp.uoregon.edu/dictionaries/nahuatl/index.lasso |date=2016-12-03 }}</ref> was a goddess associated with [[fertility]], [[beauty]], and [[love]], serving as a protector of young mothers and a patroness of pregnancy, childbirth, and the crafts practiced by women such as weaving and embroidery. In pre-Hispanic Maya culture, a similar figure is [[Goddess I]].

==Name==
The name ''Xōchiquetzal'' is a compound of ''[[wikt:xochitl|xōchitl]]'' (“flower”) and ''[[wikt:quetzalli|quetzalli]]'' (“precious feather; [[quetzal]] tail feather”). In Classical Nahuatl morphology, the first element in a compound modifies the second and thus the goddess' name can literally be taken to mean “flower precious feather” or ”flower quetzal feather”. Her alternative name, ''Ichpōchtli'', corresponds to a personalized usage of ''[[wikt:ichpochtli|ichpōchtli]]'' (“maiden, young woman”).

==Description==

Unlike several other figures in the complex of Aztec female earth deities connected with agricultural and sexual fecundity, Xochiquetzal is always depicted as an alluring and youthful woman, richly attired and symbolically associated with vegetation and in particular flowers.

By connotation, Xochiquetzal is also representative of human desire, pleasure, and excess, appearing also as patroness of artisans involved in the manufacture of luxury items.<ref>Clendinnen (1991, p.163); Miller & Taube (1993, p.190); Smith (2003, p.203)</ref>

Worshipers wore animal and flower masks at a festival, held in her honor every eight years. Her husband was [[Tlaloc]] until [[Tezcatlipoca]] kidnapped her and she was forced to marry him. At one point, she was also married to [[Centeotl]] and [[Xiuhtecuhtli]].

Anthropologist Hugo Nutini identifies her with the [[Virgin of Ocotlan]] in his article on patron saints in [[Tlaxcala]].<ref>Nutini (1976), ''passim.''</ref>

== Worship ==
The worship of Xochiquetzal along with Tlaloc partook in the festival of Hueypachtli. During this festival Xochiquetzal was honored and also offered a variety of gifts consisting of flower offerings, drinking and fornications. A young woman was chosen to be a ''ixiptlatli'' which impersonated the goddess and was decapitated, flayed and her skin was worn by a selected man who would then weave as part of a representation of "the gender ambiguity embodied in the cult of lunar deities".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Xochiquetzal |url=https://mythopedia.com/topics/xochiquetzal |access-date=2024-02-08 |website=Mythopedia |language=en}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=July 2024}}

==See also==
*[[Ahuiateteo]]
*[[Ahwahnee (Aztec Culture)|Ahwahnee]]
*[[Xochicuicatl cuecuechtli]]
*[[Xochipilli]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin|indent=yes}}<!----> 
* {{cite book |author=Bierhorst, John   |year=1985 |title=A Nahuatl-English Dictionary and Concordance to the Cantares Mexicanos: With an Analytic Transcription and Grammatical Notes |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=0-8047-1183-6 |oclc=11185890}}
* {{cite book |author=Clendinnen, Inga |author-link=Inga Clendinnen |year=1991 |title=Aztecs: An Interpretation |location=Cambridge and New York |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-40093-7 |oclc=22451031 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/aztecsinterpreta00clen }}
* {{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Ellen Miller |author2=Karl Taube |author2-link=Karl Taube |year=1993 |title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=0-500-05068-6 |oclc=27667317 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill }}
* {{cite journal |author=Nutini, Hugo G.   |year=1976 |title=Syncretism and Acculturation: The Historical Development of the Cult of the Patron Saint in Tlaxcala, Mexico (1519-1670) |journal=[[Ethnology (journal)|Ethnology]] |location=Pittsburgh, PA |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh]]|volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=301–321 |issn=0014-1828 |oclc=1568323 |doi=10.2307/3773137 |jstor=3773137}}
* {{cite book |author=Smith, Michael E.   |author-link=Michael E. Smith (archaeologist)|year=2003 |title=The Aztecs |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |location=Malden, MA |isbn=0-631-23015-7 |oclc=48579073}}
* {{cite web |author=Wimmer, Alexis   |year=2006 |url=http://sites.estvideo.net/malinal/nahuatl.page.html |title=Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique |format=online version, incorporating reproductions from ''Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine'' [1885], by [[Rémi Siméon]]}} {{in lang|fr|nah}}

{{Refend}}<!-- END biblio format style -->

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*[http://www.azteccalendar.com/god/Xochiquetzal.html Description of the deity on Azteccalendar.com]

{{Aztec mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aztec goddesses]]
[[Category:Beauty goddesses]]
[[Category:Childhood goddesses]]
[[Category:Handicraft deities]]
[[Category:Fertility goddesses]]
[[Category:Love and lust goddesses]]
[[Category:Nature goddesses]]
[[Category:Textiles in folklore]]