1. XIPE TOTEC (Lecture 37)

2. Instances of Sacrifice
1. Sacrifice of caiman to create earth. 2. Blood sacrifice of primal gods to feed earth. 3. Sacrifice of humans to nourish earth. 4. Sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl to retrieve bones. 5. Blood sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl to create humans. 6. Sacrifice of Mayahuel to create maguey. 7. Self-sacrifice of Nanahuatzin and Tecuztecatl to create fifth sun and moon. 8. Sacrifice of gods to feed new sun and moon with blood. 9. Sacrifice of Xolotl to create double maguey, double maize, salamander. 10. Self-sacrifice of Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl to move fifth sun and moon. 11. Sacrifice of Coyolxauhqui. 12. Sacrifice of Copil. 13. Multiple sacrifices of Hero Twins in Popol Vuh. 14. Repeated blood sacrifice to fuel sun in its orbit.

3. Sacrificial Themes compensation/justice shed blood of Cipactli
debt-payment
blood sacrificed by gods for humans
nourishment
blood feeds earth, Sun, Moon
order
blood sacrifice prevents destruction by tzitzimime
regeneration
blood feeds dead, irrigates earth, ensures growth

4. Festival of Flayed Men
• 20-day festival celebrated before spring planting season • festival in honor of Xipe Totec • captives in xochiyaoyotl (“flower war”) dressed as ixiptla (god-impersonators) • ixiptla treated like gods, paraded throughout community, subjected to mock battles and other dramatic performances • ixiptla sacrificed at temple of Xipe Totec, heart extruded and offered to god, head put in skull niche and tzompantli • meat of ixiptla cooked and shared by community • skin of ixiptla flayed and worn by eagle warriors, who distribute food and engage in mock battles throughout community • skins shed on last day of festival, buried in fields

5. Xipe Totec outer/inner dry/ wet husk/maize seed/flower skin/heart
human/god
dead/living
death/regeneration
• fertility
• rebirth
• regeneration
• gold-working
• jewelry
• writing
• poetry

6. Eagle Warrior
• participates in xochiyaoyotl • mock combat with ixiptla • wears flayed pelt of victims • distributes meat of victims • after death, lifts sun into sky

7. Cihuatateo
• souls of women dead in childbirth • responsible for mental illness, seizures; theft of children • drag sun down from sky each night