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Xipe-Tótec
Xipe-Totec.
The east is the house from which the sun is born. It is identified with
the color red and with the glyph Acatl or reed. It is presided over by
"Our Lord the Flayed One." It is the masculine side of the universe.
The festival of Xipe-Totec is called Tlacaxipehualiztli, which means "flaying
of men" and it is celebrated during the days of March, which is the
time of planting. This god participates in the process in which water,
seed and sun also intervene. Xipe-Totec symbolized the regeneration of
the earth and thus he is related to fertility, renovation and change. Representation
of Xipe-Totec from the Codex Borbonicus, in which the skin
of a sacrificial victim may be seen on the figure, and which is distinguished
by the double set of hands.
Last Modified: January 14, 1998.
Museo del Templo Mayor, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e História,
México.
Seminario #8, Centro Histórico. Cuauhtémoc,
México, D.F. 06060
©Copyright
1997
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