Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Xipe Totec – Our Lord the Flayed One








Xipe Totec flayed himself to give food to humanity, symbolic of the maize seed losing the outer layer of the seed before germination. Without his skin, he was depicted as a golden god. Annually, slaves were selected as sacrifices to Xipe Totec. These slaves were carefully flayed to produce a nearly whole skin which was then worn by the priests during the fertility rituals that followed the sacrifice. Link…
A Xipe figure might be a representation of the god itself, a deity impersonator, an ’assistant-type’ impersonator (the xipeme), or the ruler wearing a Xipe battle costume–or, perhaps, any combination of the above. Link…

No comments: