Xochiquetzal Essay
Xochiquetzal By: Torey Goodin International Studies MW 1-2:15
The Aztec Goddess of flowers, dancing, games, fertility pregnant women, beauty, love, pleasure, earth, music, agriculture, flowers, marriage, women, weaving, changes, saints of artists and craftsmen, and prostitutes. An odd combination of things, to say the least, but when you look at things in that order it would seem she was the Goddess of love... and she was (GodsLaidBare.com). Her name was Xochiquetzal (pronounced shOw-chee-KET-sAl) meaning ‘beautiful like a flower’, ‘sacred flower’, or ‘flower feather’. Every ancient culture has a goddess so beautiful that men fall to their knees in admiration of her. Even wars were fought to gain her hand. She was responsible for all the beauty in Mexico. Xochiquetzal represents the sexual power of women. She was considered the most charming of the Aztec gods and goddesses. Xochiquetzal was depicted as a beautiful and charming woman who always remains youthful. She is usually shown with her arms open as a woman who is dancing would. She dressed in typical Aztec clothing, an over-shift decorated in different colors, feathers, and fur. Sometimes she was shown bare-breasted, which an Aztec woman in good standing would never do. She wore a crown of red leather which was in the form of a braid that was placed on top of her head. Her hair was always shown bound because women with bound hair were considered women of purity, while prostitutes and women of a poor reputation were shown with loose, free flowing hair. Xochiquetzal was always followed or surrounded the flower marigold, her sacred flower, and butterflies, dragonflies, and birds which showed her deep connection to nature.
Xochiquetzal was of the Aztec culture. Her birth place is unrevealed, but possibly Teotihucan. She was a citizen of Omeyocan. Her home was also the home of many other Aztec gods. It is believed that she resided in a
The Aztec Goddess of flowers, dancing, games, fertility pregnant women, beauty, love, pleasure, earth, music, agriculture, flowers, marriage, women, weaving, changes, saints of artists and craftsmen, and prostitutes. An odd combination of things, to say the least, but when you look at things in that order it would seem she was the Goddess of love... and she was (GodsLaidBare.com). Her name was Xochiquetzal (pronounced shOw-chee-KET-sAl) meaning ‘beautiful like a flower’, ‘sacred flower’, or ‘flower feather’. Every ancient culture has a goddess so beautiful that men fall to their knees in admiration of her. Even wars were fought to gain her hand. She was responsible for all the beauty in Mexico. Xochiquetzal represents the sexual power of women. She was considered the most charming of the Aztec gods and goddesses. Xochiquetzal was depicted as a beautiful and charming woman who always remains youthful. She is usually shown with her arms open as a woman who is dancing would. She dressed in typical Aztec clothing, an over-shift decorated in different colors, feathers, and fur. Sometimes she was shown bare-breasted, which an Aztec woman in good standing would never do. She wore a crown of red leather which was in the form of a braid that was placed on top of her head. Her hair was always shown bound because women with bound hair were considered women of purity, while prostitutes and women of a poor reputation were shown with loose, free flowing hair. Xochiquetzal was always followed or surrounded the flower marigold, her sacred flower, and butterflies, dragonflies, and birds which showed her deep connection to nature.
Xochiquetzal was of the Aztec culture. Her birth place is unrevealed, but possibly Teotihucan. She was a citizen of Omeyocan. Her home was also the home of many other Aztec gods. It is believed that she resided in a
Cited: Cline, Austin. "Xochiquetzal: Xochiquetzal, Goddess of Female Sexuality in Aztec Religion, Mytho." About.com Agnosticism / Atheism. 03 Mar. 2013 . Markman, Roberta H., and Peter T. Markman. The flayed God: The mesoamerican mythological tradition : Sacred texts and images from pre-Columbian Mexico and Central America. [San Francisco, Calif.]: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992. Miller, Mary Ellen., and Karl A. Taube. The gods and symbols of ancient Mexico and the Maya: An illustrated dictionary of Mesoamerican religion. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993.