A Tzitzimītl[a] (plural Tzitzimīmeh[b])[1] is a type of celestial deity associated with stars in Aztec mythology. They were depicted as skeletal female figures wearing skirts often with skull and crossbones designs. In post-conquest descriptions they are often described as "demons" or "devils", but this does not necessarily reflect their function in the prehispanic belief system of the Aztecs.[2]
The Tzitzimimeh were female deities and related to fertility. They were associated with the Cihuateteo and other female deities such as Tlaltecuhtli, Cōātlīcue, Citlālicue and Cihuacōātl, and they were worshipped by midwives and parturient women. The leader of the tzitzimimeh was the goddess Itzpapalotl, who was the ruler of Tamoanchan, the paradise where the Tzitzimimeh resided.
The Tzitzimimeh were also associated with the stars and especially the stars that can be seen around the Sun during a solar eclipse. This was interpreted as the Tzitzimimeh attacking the Sun, thus causing the belief that during a solar eclipse, the tzitzimime would descend to the earth and possess men. It was said that if the Tzitzimimeh could not start a bow fire in the empty chest cavity of a sacrificed human at the end of a 52-year calendar round, the fifth sun would end and they would descend to devour the last of men.[3] The Tzitzimimeh were also feared during other ominous periods of the Aztec world, such as during the five unlucky days called Nemontemi which marked an unstable period of the xiuhpōhualli (solar year count) and during the New Fire ceremony marking the beginning of a new calendar round; both were periods associated with the fear of change.
The Tzitzimimeh had a double role in Aztec religion: they were protectresses of the feminine and progenitresses of mankind. They were also powerful and dangerous, especially in periods of cosmic instability.[4][page needed]
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- ^ "Lexique TZ".
- ^ See Klein 2000 for an analysis of the nature of the Tzitzimimeh in relation to the Aztec belief system.
- ^ Sahagún 1997, p. 153:
cenca nemauhtiloya mitoaya intla quitlamiz in quiqua tonatiuh quilmach çentlaiovaz valtemozque in ţiţimime techquazque
There was great fear. It was said that if [the moon] finished eating the sun, so it was said, all would be in darkness; the Tzitzimimeh would descend here; they would devour us.
- ^ This is the conclusion reached by Cecelia Klein (2000) based on an investigation of the iconographical depictions of Tzitzimimeh by the Aztecs.