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Deities - Tlazolteotl

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    This is Tlazolteotl, the Aztec Goddess of midwives, the adolescent sexuality of young girls, sexual “impurity” and filth. She is called "The Eater of Filth" because that's the kinda gal she is. That red around her mouth is symbolic of the filth she eats getting on her face (some records say it's black, some say it's red). She is one of the 9 creators of the Aztec world in mythology. Originally she was a Huastec Goddess and was later introduced to the Aztecs.

She has the ability to absorb human sin and, in her youth was a beautiful temptress. In her young adult years she was associated with gambling. In her middle age she became more benevolent and could cleanse humans of their sin. In her old age, Tlazolteotl would prey on people and provoke illicit sexual behaviour.

     One could pray to her and have their sins removed in what can be likened to a confessional. You would call on a priest who would then find a good time for the ritual. You would then fast for purification of the body and, on the chosen day, go to the temple. You would also perform self sacrifice by running thorns through your tongue, ears or genitals. The priest would prepare a black paper for you to lie on at night and you would do so, fully nude. In the morning you would awake and Tlazolteotl would have eaten your sins.

    If you were close to death either through illness or old age, you could confess to her in the hopes that she would cleanse your sins. Thus allowing you smoother passage through the afterlife. Some representations of her show Tlazolteotl  wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim or in a costume that featured symbols of the moon, her headdress is also made of cotton and has two spools of unspun cotton on it. I did not know that at the time of drawing this. Her outfit is my interpretation of an image I saw in a codex. Most depictions are of her fully nude, wearing jewelry and riding on a red broom.

    Her association with cotton is due to it being a natural thing that ages and rots in a noticeably gross way. It is also related to the earth, of which she also has a relation to because of her association with the cycle of life. Due to her association with cotton and its importance to the Huastecs and Aztecs, she was a very important Goddess.


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Image size
3496x4960px 1.39 MB
Comments23
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Burksaurus's avatar

Wow, she's a beautiful looking Aztec goddess. I think her background is really interesting.