Xochipilli

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Xochipilli was a Mesoamerican deity revered for artistry, games, beauty, dance, flowers, and music. His name combines Nahuatl words xochitl ("flower") and pilli (either "prince" or "child"), signifying "flower prince." As patron of writing and painting, he was known as Chicomexochitl, the "Seven-flower," but could also be referred to as Macuilxochitl, "Five-flower." His wife was Mayahuel, a human girl, and his twin sister was Xochiquetzal. As one of the gods responsible for fertility and agricultural produce, he was associated with Tlaloc (god of rain) and Cinteotl (god of maize). Xochipilli corresponds to the Tonsured Maize God among the Classic Mayas. Xochipilli was also a patron of both homosexuals and male prostitutes, a role possibly resulting from his absorption from the Toltec civilization. He was often depicted wearing an oyohualli, a teardrop-shaped pendent crafted out of mother-of-pearl. Xochipilli, or the 'Prince of Flowers,' was the Mesoamerican god of summer, flowers, pleasure, love, dancing, painting, feasting, creativity, and souls. He is a benevolent manifestation of Piltzintecuhtli, the young sun god who is himself a manifestation of Tonatiuh, the supreme sun god of Mesoamerica. The god is closely associated with the corn (maize) god Centéotl and was sometimes referred to as the 'Corn-flower Prince' or Centéotl-Xochipilli, the 7th Lord of the Day. For the Aztecs, he could also appear as Ahuiatéotl, the god of voluptuousness. He was associated with butterflies, poetry, and the 11th of the 20 Aztec days: Ozomatli (Monkey). Xochipilli was considered one of the Ahuiateteo, the gods of excess, and for the Zapotec, he was Quiabelagayo. Generally speaking, though, he was thought of as a youthful and care-free pleasure-seeker, perhaps with a playfully mischievous streak. Perhaps the most famous representation of the god in art is the Late Post-Classical Period (1450-1500 CE) statue, a masterpiece of Aztec sculpture, now residing in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The statue stands 1.2 meters high and depicts Xochipilli seated on a temple platform or drum, decorated with butterflies, flowers, and clusters of four dots representing the sun. Xochipilli wears a mask and is himself covered in flowers from psychotropic plants, hallucinogenic mushrooms, and animal skins. Cross-legged and care-free, the god is portrayed happily singing and playing his rattles, a vibrant symbol of all the good things in life. Further reading: http://www.ancient.eu/Xochipilli/