Huixtocihuatl

2025-09-22T18:32:14Z

70.118.111.67: made a few minor changes to her familial relationship to Tlaloc as some sources call him her father or just male relative, and specifying the Tlaloques as her brothers and linking them to the tlaloc page.

{{Short description|Aztec goddess}}
{{infobox deity
|name=Huixtocihuatl
|type=aztec
|image=File:Huixtocihuatl from Primeros Memoriales.png
|caption=Depiction of Huixtocihuatl from Bernardino de Sahagun's "Primeros Memoriales", which was published in 1590 (fol. 264r). She holds a reed staff in her hand and wears garments with a water design.
|gender=female
}}
In [[Aztec religion]], '''Huixtocihuatl'''{{Pronunciation-needed}} (or '''Uixtochihuatl''', '''Uixtociuatl''') was a fertility goddess who presided over [[salt]] and [[sea water|salt water]]. The Aztecs considered her to be the older sister of the rain gods, including [[Tlaloc]] in most sources.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Aztec goddesses and Christian Madonnas : images of the divine feminine in Mexico|last=Kroger|first=Joseph|date=2012|publisher=Ashgate|others=Granziera, Patrizia|isbn=9781409435976|location=Farnham, Surrey, England|pages=40|oclc=781499082}}</ref> Much of the information known about Huixtocihuatl and how the Aztecs celebrated her comes from [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Bernardino de Sahagún's]] manuscripts. His [[Florentine Codex]] explains how Huixtocihuatl became the salt god.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=General history of the things of New Spain : Book I, the Gods|last=de Sahagún|first=Bernardino|date=1499–1590|publisher=School of American Research|others=Anderson, Arthur J. O., Dibble, Charles E. (Translators, 1970)|isbn=9780874800005|edition=2nd ed., rev|location=Santa Fe, New Mexico|pages=86|oclc=877854386}}</ref> It records that Huixtocihuatl angered her younger brothers, the [[Tláloc|Tlaloques]], by mocking them, so they banished her to the salt beds. It was there where she discovered salt and how it was created.<ref name=":2" /> As described in the second book of the Florentine Codex, during [[Tecuilhuitontli]], the seventh month of the Aztec calendar, there was a festival in honor of Huixtocihuatl. The festival culminated with the sacrifice of Huixtocihuatl's ixiptla, the embodiment of the deity in human form.<ref name=":2" />

== Associations ==
Huixtocihuatl was considered a provider god along with [[Chicomecōātl|Chicomecoatl]] and [[Chalchiuhtlicue]]. The three were sisters who together provided people with three life essentials: salt, food, and water.<ref name=":0" />

In [[Codex Telleriano-Remensis]], Huixtocihuatl is associated with the goddess [[Tlazōlteōtl|Ixcuina]], who represented filth and excrement. This relationship suggests that Huixtocihuatl was likely associated with urine, which was seen as salty and impure.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Art and iconography of late Post-Classic central Mexico : a conference at Dumbarton Oaks, October 22nd and 23rd, 1977|last=Boone|first=Elizabeth Hill|date=1982|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University|isbn=978-0884021100|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=[https://archive.org/details/articonographyof0078unse/page/23 23]|oclc=8306454|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/articonographyof0078unse/page/23}}</ref> Her association with the provider gods was not necessarily positive, and her association with urine and filth was not necessarily negative. The Aztecs recognized filth and disorder as a vital stage in the patterns of growth and renewal.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maffie |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYbgCwAAQBAJ&q=Ixcuina+considered |title=Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion |date=2014-03-15 |publisher=University Press of Colorado |isbn=978-1-60732-223-8 |language=en}}</ref>

== Iconography ==
[[Primeros Memoriales]], a manuscript written by [[Bernardino de Sahagún]] before his [[Florentine Codex]], contains a description of Huixtocihuatl paired with an illustration.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Primeros Memoriales|last=Sahagún|first=Bernardino de|publisher=University of Oklahoma|others=Sullivan, Thelma D. (Translator, 1997)|year=1590|isbn=978-0806157498|location=Norman, Oklahoma|pages=106|oclc=988659818}}</ref> The Aztecs believed that the essence of a deity could be captured by a human impersonator, or ixiptla, of the god. [[Primeros Memoriales]] therefore illustrates and describes the likeness of Huixtocihuatl, who would have embodied the salt god. Sahagun's description closely follows its associated illustration, saying,<blockquote>"Her facial paint is yellow./ Her paper crown has a quetzal feather crest./ Her gold ear plugs./ Her shift has the water design./ Her skirt has the water design./ Her small bells./ Her sandals./ Her shield has the water lily design./ In her hand is her reed staff."<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>In the [[Florentine Codex]], Sahagún expands upon his description of Huixtocihuatl, describing the appearance of the deity captured by the impersonator. Sahagun likens her face paint, costume, and feathers to a maize plant at antithesis.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Grigsby|first1=Thomas L.|last2=de Leonard|first2=Carmen Cook|date=1992|title=Xilonen in Tepoztlán: A Comparison of Tepoztecan and Aztec Agrarian Ritual Schedules|journal=Ethnohistory|volume=39|issue=2|pages=121|doi=10.2307/482390|jstor=482390}}</ref> He says, [[File:Florentine Codex Chapter 26 Huixtocihuatl's Sacrifice.png|thumb|16th century illustration from the 2nd book, 26th chapter of Sahagun's Florentine Codex. The top panel depicts Huixtocihuatl's impersonator in a procession, while the bottom panel depicts the priests sacrificing her. Note the likeness of the ixiptla to a blossoming maize plant.|alt=|left]]<blockquote>"Her [face] paint and ornamentation were yellow. This was of yellow ochre or the [yellow] of maize blossoms. And [she wore] her paper cap with quetzal feathers in the form of a tassel of maize. It was of many quetzal feathers, full of quetzal feathers, so that it was covered with green, streaming down, glistening like precious green feathers."<ref name=":2" /></blockquote>Sahagún goes on to describe Huixtocihuatl's other notable characteristics. He points out that her shirt and skirt were both embroidered with a design emulating water. The border of her shirt and skirt had a cloud design. These features, more closely related to water than to salt, may reflect Huixtocihuatl's familial ties to the water gods. Sahagún also points out that bells bound to an [[ocelot]] skin were attached to her ankles and legs.<ref name=":2" /> These bells made a symphony of noise when she walked. [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] furthermore provides details about Huixtocihuatl's sandals, shield, and reed staff. Her shield was covered with a water lily leaf design, hung with yellow parrot feathers, and swung around by the ixiptla when she danced. The reed staff also held an important role for the ixiptla, as it was what she used to mark the beat of songs during the festival in her honor.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=General history of the things of New Spain : Book I, the Gods|last=de Sahagún|first=Bernardino|date=1499–1590|publisher=School of American Research|others=Anderson, Arthur J. O., Dibble, Charles E. (translators, 1970)|isbn=9780874800005|edition=2nd ed., rev|location=Santa Fe, New Mexico|pages=87|oclc=877854386}}</ref>

== Ritual ==
During [[Tecuilhuitontli]], the seventh month of the [[Aztec calendar]] which occurred in June, there was a festival in her honor.<ref name=":0" /> During the festival, one woman was considered to be the ixiptla, or the embodiment, of Huixtocihuatl. That woman would be sacrificed by the end of the festival.<ref>{{cite book|last=Monaghan|first=Patricia|title=Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines|year=2009|publisher=ABC-CLIO}}</ref>

[[Bernardino de Sahagún]] dedicates the second book of the [[Florentine Codex]] to describing the various ceremonies of the Aztecs. The twenty-sixth chapter of this book provides details about the ceremonies of [[Tecuilhuitontli]], focusing on the festival in Huixtocihuatl's honor.<ref name=":2" /> Salt-makers would honor the deity with dances that lasted for ten days.<ref name=":3" /> Daughters of the salt-makers, and many more, engaged in these dances.<ref name=":0" /> In the Florentine Codex, [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] describes the range of participants in Huixtocihuatl's festival. He says, <blockquote>"All gathered together and took their places, the salt people and the salt-makers - the old women, the mature women, the maidens, and maidens recently matured."<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>[[File:Rekonstruktion Tempelbezirk von Tenochtitlan 2 Templo Mayor 3.jpg|thumb|229x229px|Reconstruction of the [[Templo Mayor]] at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The temple on the left was dedicated to [[Tlāloc|Tlaloc]], the water deity. Huixtocihuatl's ixiptla would be sacrificed on Tlaloc's temple on the last day of [[Tecuilhuitontli]]. ]]
Dance played an important role in [[Tecuilhuitontli]]. Dancers arranged themselves in rows, and sang songs in a high tremble. [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] points out that their voices "rang like a bell".<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|title=General history of the things of New Spain : Book I, the Gods|last=de Sahagún|first=Bernardino|date=1499–1590|publisher=School of American Research|others=Anderson, Arthur J. O., Dibble, Charles E. (Translators, 1970)|isbn=9780874800005|edition=2nd ed., rev|location=Santa Fe, New Mexico|pages=88|oclc=877854386}}</ref> While the women sang and danced, the men and elders directed the dancers. The dancers wore garlands of iztauhyatl, the flower [[Artemisia (genus)|artemisia]], while those watching the festival carried the flower.<ref name=":0" /> Song and dance in honor of Huixtocihuatl continued for ten days, and culminated on the last day of [[Tecuilhuitontli]], when priests sacrificed the ixiptla on the shrine dedicated to [[Tlāloc|Tlaloc]] on the [[Templo Mayor]].<ref name=":4" /> Dancers escorted the likeness of Huixtocihuatl to the temple. Captives, to be slain along with the ixiptla, also joined the procession to the temple.<ref name=":0" /> Priests, adorned with [[quetzal]] feathers, slay the captives first.<ref name=":4" /> [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] emphasizes the significance of the sacrifice of the captives. He wrote that the captives would be, <blockquote>"Her companions, her fellows in death; who were to be first, who would die [first]."<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|title=General history of the things of New Spain : Book I, the Gods|author=Bernardino, de Sahagún|date=1970|publisher=School of American Research|others=Anderson, Arthur J. O., Dibble, Charles E.|isbn=9780874800005|edition=2nd ed., rev|location=Santa Fe, New Mexico|pages=89|oclc=877854386}}</ref></blockquote>[[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] continues his description of Huixtocihuatl's sacrifice with vivid details of the ritual slaughter. Priests used the sharp snout of a sword fish to cut into her neck, then into her breast. Afterwards, the priests cut her heart out, raised it as an offering, and stored it in a green stone jar. [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] explains that after the sacrifice, people scattered and celebrated the end of the festival with banquets. All those who were affiliated with salt would drink wine. [[Bernardino de Sahagún|Sahagún]] describes the atmosphere of the night, pointing out that participants in the festival were drunk by the time they went to sleep.<ref name=":5" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Aztec mythology}}

[[Category:Aztec goddesses]]
[[Category:Fertility goddesses]]
[[Category:Sea and river goddesses]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Huixtocihuatl