temple or sacred edifice, and this plutonic significance is perhaps the reason why the interpreters speak of her as having the characteristics of Mictlantecutli, the god of Hades; but they speak of her as well as the “Yellow Woman.” Her butterfly names also have reference to the flitting shapes seen in flame.
She is the patroness of chilli pepper, which was naturally associated with the fiery element and was therefore connected with the end of a period of fasting, the Mexicans regarding abstinence from this condiment as equivalent to a fast. The myth which speaks of her as having been punished for eating fish before a sacrifice is also eloquent of this relationship, and also by its reference to her transformation into canine form connects her further with the dog and makes her a patroness of the nanualtin, or wizards, who on the day itzcuintli (“dog”) had especial power to transform themselves into animals.
Her name “In the House” alludes, of course, to her character as a goddess of the domestic hearth. She was also the patroness of the goldsmiths and jewellers of Xochimilco, who of all crafts required the assistance of her element.
QUAXOLOTL = “SPLIT AT THE TOP” (FLAME)
- Relationship: A variant of Chantico.
- Festival: Ce xochitl, “one flower.”
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
She is so called because she wears Xolotl’s decoration on her head. The double face of Xochiquetzal in Codex Borgia (sheet 60) is regarded by Seler as that of Quaxolotl—the goddess parting into two heads. She is also the goddess who has borne twins.