In Aztec mythology, Tlahzolteōtl (or , ) is a deity of sex, sexuality, lust, carnality, sin, vice, impurity, temptation, fertility, purification, absolution, steam baths, and a patroness of . She is known by three names, Tlahēlcuāni ("she who eats tlahēlli or filthy excrescence sin") and Tlazolmiquiztli ("the death caused by lust"), and Ixcuina or Ixcuinan (, Deity of Cotton), the latter of which refers to a quadripartite association of four sister deities.
italic=no 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.
Tlazōlteōtl played an important role in the confession of wrongdoing through her priests.
Aztec religion
There was a
Huastec people mother goddess
from the Gulf Coast
who was assimilated into Aztec views of Tlazōlteōtl.
Quadripartite deities
Under the name of Ixcuinan she was thought to be , composed of four sisters of different ages known by the names italic=no (the
first born), italic=no (the younger sister, also Tēiuc), italic=no (the middle sister, also Tlahcoyēhua) and italic=no (the youngest sister). When conceived of as four individual deities, they were called ixcuinammeh or tlazōltēteoh;
individually, they were deities of luxury.
Sin
Forgiveness of sin
According to Aztec belief, it was Tlazōlteōtl who inspired vicious desires and who likewise forgave and cleaned away sin.
She was also thought to cause disease, especially STDs. It was said that Tlazōlteōtl and her companions would afflict people with disease if they indulged themselves in forbidden love.
The uncleanliness was considered both on a physical and moral level and could be cured by steam bath, a rite of purification, or calling upon the Tlazoltēteoh, the deities of love and desires.
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 Tlazōlteōtl, the deity of lechery and unlawful love.
It is said that when a man confessed before Tlazōlteōtl everything was revealed. Purification with Tlazōlteōtl 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.
The priest ( tlapouhqui) would be consulted by the penitent and would consult the 260-day ritual calendar (tōnalpōhualli) to determine the best day and time for the purification to take place. On that day, he would listen to the sins confessed and then render judgment and penance, ranging from fasts to presentation of offerings and ritual song and dance, depending on the nature and the severity of the sin.
Dirt eating
italic=no 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
coprophagia symbolized the ingestion of the sin and in doing so purified it.
She was depicted with
ochre-colored symbols of divine excrement around her mouth and nose.
In the Aztec language the word for sacred, , 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").
Through this process, she helped create harmony in communities.
Festival
italic=no 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.
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 Tlazōlteōtl.
==Gallery==
See also
Notes
External links
