Xipe Totec

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Xipe Totec or “Our Lord the Flayed One” in Náhuatl, was a Mesoamerican god whose origin is uncertain. Xipe Totec might have descended from God VI in Olmec culture or from the Yope civilization in the southern highlands of Guerrero. Xipe Totec was also known as Tlatlauhca, Tlatlauhqui, Red Tezcatlipoca, and Youalahuan. The goddess Xilonen-Chicomecoatl was the female equivalent of Xipe Totec. The first depictions of Xipe Totec first appeared near Teotihuacán in Xolalpan and Texcoco. The deity most likely became a prominent Aztec god during the 15th century due to the Aztec conquest of the Gulf Coast under the reign of Axaycatl. Xipe Totec was a major Aztec god also worshipped by Tlaxcaltecans, Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Tarascan, and Huastecs. Xipe Totec was protector of day Cuauhtli and the trecena that starts with 1-Itzcuintli in the Aztec calendar. The Aztec civilization was one that was founded on religion and relied on art to portray their beliefs. Rituals played an important role in keeping their surrounding world thriving and paying homage to their ancestors was key. Xipe Totec was only one of the various gods that the Aztecs honored.
Xipe Totec is the god of shedding skins and therefore usually associated with rejuvenation and springtime. Also believed to be the god that invented war, some of his symbols included the pointed cap and rattle staff, which was also the war attire for the Mexica emperor. In codices Xipe Totec was depicted wearing flayed human skin with the skin of the hands hanging from the wrists. His body is usually painted tan on one side and yellow on the other, along with the legs, hands, neck, lips, and mouth being painted red. The mouth is open, the ears are pierced and the eyes are not visible. Xipe Totec car...

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...and the obsidian blades were replaced with feathers. The captive was forced to fight against a total of five Aztec warriors: two jaguar warriors, two eagle warriors, and a left-handed warrior. The captives would obviously be put at a disadvantage that resulted in them losing the battle and being sacrificed. Priests would pull out the hearts of such captives as offerings to Xipe Totec. Yet during the reign of Moctezuma Xocoyotzin a war captive whose name was Tlahuicole survived the ceremonial battle. Tlahuicole accomplished to prove he was a strong and skillful warrior and was granted his freedom by the emperor. However, he insisted in wanting to be gloriously sacrificed and refused to walk away. This particular style of sacrifice was held outside of Yopico and marked the end of the Tlacaxipehualiztli festival in honor of Xipe Totec.

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