Xochiquetzal

Who Xochiquetzal actually is

Xochiquetzal (Nahuatl Xōchi-quetzal, "Flower-Quetzal-Feather" — combining the *xōchitl* "flower" with the *quetzal* "precious-feather-of-the-quetzal-bird") is the *goddess of love, beauty, art, weaving, embroidery, dance, music, and all the pleasures of the senses* in the Mexica pantheon. She is the *patroness of Tamoanchan* — the *western paradise of beauty and flowers*, distinct from Tlaloc's eastern Tlalocan (Tlalocan is the *paradise of water-and-fertility for those-who-die-by-water*; Tamoanchan is the *paradise of beauty-and-pleasure*, accessible by *those-who-have-lived in the aesthetic-life*). Tamoanchan is the *western direction* (the sunset-direction, the direction-of-the-evening-star) and is depicted in Mexica codex-art as a *flowering tree under which dance the beautiful-dead*. Xochiquetzal is the *patroness of the auianime* — the *pleasure-women of the Mexica court*. The *auianime* were *honored-rather-than-degraded* figures (the Western category "prostitute" maps badly onto the Mexica concept) — they were *young women trained in song, dance, music, embroidery, conversation, and the arts of pleasure*, who accompanied warriors at the *tlapallaco* (the warriors-banquets) and at the *cuicacalli* (the song-and-dance houses where young people of both sexes were trained in the performing arts). They were *under Xochiquetzal's special protection*, and the Mexica explicitly recognized them as a *socially-honored category* (even though they also recognized that their lives were *short and often tragic*, since the *auianime* were *expected to accompany warriors and many died young in the violence-of-the-warrior-banquets*). Xochiquetzal is also the *patroness of the cuicapique* — the *poet-singers*, the *makers-of-flower-and-song*. The canonical Mexica term for *poetry-and-philosophy combined* is *in xochitl in cuicatl* ("flower and song") — every instance of this phrase, which recurs constantly in the Cantares Mexicanos and the Romances de los Señores de la Nueva España, *honors Xochiquetzal*. The *in xochitl in cuicatl* tradition is one of the most-aesthetically-developed in pre-Hispanic-America — Nezahualcoyotl king of Texcoco (who is more often cited under his Ometeotl-philosophical-aspect) was *also* one of the great-cuicapique poets, and his preserved Nahuatl-language poems are *under Xochiquetzal's patronage*. Xochiquetzal's great festival is the *Atamalcualiztli* ("eating of unsalted maize-balls") — the *great eight-yearly fast-and-festival* in which the entire Mexica population was required to eat only *unsalted maize-balls* for the eight-day fast-period, and then to celebrate with a great *flower-and-song festival* in Xochiquetzal's honor. This *eight-yearly cosmic-rest-and-aesthetic-renewal* is one of the most-philosophically-developed Mexica calendar-rituals — the *cosmic-recognition that the senses-must-be-periodically-emptied so that the flower-and-song-can-be-fully-tasted*. Xochiquetzal is also the *cosmic-feminine of female-sexuality* (the *eros-and-pleasure* register, distinct from Coatlicue's *reproduction-and-mothering* register and from Chalchiuhtlicue's *cleansing-and-childbirth* register) — and the Mexica recognition that *eros and pleasure and beauty* are a *distinct cosmic-feminine* not reducible to *fertility-and-mothering* is one of the most-philosophically-mature gender-theological-distinctions in any pre-modern religion. The Xochiquetzal-register is the *cosmic-feminine of pleasure-and-beauty-as-cosmic-good* — the *flower-and-song aesthetic*, the *Tamoanchan paradise*, the *patroness-of-the-auianime-and-the-cuicapique*, the *cosmic-recognition that beauty-and-pleasure-and-art are not luxuries but cosmic-foundations of human-life*.

Iconography

A young woman in a *flower-embroidered huipil and quechquemitl* (the *blouse-and-shoulder-cape* of the Mexica woman, embroidered with flower-and-quetzal-feather motifs in red, yellow, and turquoise). A *crown of flowers* (the *xochitl-crown*) and *quetzal-feather plumes* (the *quetzalli-headdress*). She carries *flowers* (the *xochitl* — the marigold, the dahlia, the cempazuchitl-of-the-Day-of-the-Dead), the *spindle-whorl* (her patronage of weaving), the *weaving-batten* (her patronage of embroidery), the *cacao-cup* (her patronage of pleasure-foods). Her sacred bird: the quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno — the cloud-forest bird whose green-iridescent tail-feathers are the Mexica iconographic-summit of beauty), and the hummingbird (the *huitzitzilin* — the flower-drinker). Her sacred animals: the deer (the *mazatl* — the graceful-running-animal), the rabbit (the *tochtli* — the pulque-and-pleasure animal), the butterfly (the *papalotl* — the soul-of-the-warrior-and-of-the-beautiful). Her sacred direction: west (the sunset-direction, the direction-of-Tamoanchan-paradise). Her sacred color: red (the flower-color), turquoise (the quetzal-color), yellow (the marigold-color). Her sacred temple: paired-shrines throughout the Mexica precinct; her great festival the Atamalcualiztli was held at the *Tezcacalco* shrine. Her sacred day: the day Xochitl ("Flower"), the 20th of the 20 day-signs of the tonalpohualli. Her sacred number: *5* (the number of the *Macuilxōchitl* "Five-Flower" — her consort-aspect or male-twin, the male-deity of feast-day-pleasure and games).

How to invoke Xochiquetzal

Xochiquetzal is the *invocation-of-beauty-pleasure-and-art* — called by *artists, poets, weavers, embroiderers, dancers, musicians, lovers, courtesans, and anyone whose work is the making-of-beauty*. Called by *women undertaking the aesthetic-life* (the dancer, the singer, the poet, the courtesan, the embroiderer). Called by *anyone in love* (the *eros-pleasure-beauty* register of romantic love, distinct from the Coatlicue-mothering and Chalchiuhtlicue-cleansing registers). Called by *anyone undertaking the eight-yearly-Atamalcualiztli fast* (the *senses-emptying-pause that allows the next flower-and-song to be fully tasted*). Called at the *flower-and-song festivals* (the cuicacalli performances, the household poetry-recitations, the public weaver-and-embroiderer competitions). Offer: *flowers* (especially marigolds, dahlias, and the cempazuchitl), *quetzal feathers* (the most-precious Mexica tribute), *embroidered textiles*, *cacao*, *cooked-aromatic foods*, *the recited-poem* (the *in xochitl in cuicatl* offering — every poem-recited honors Xochiquetzal), the *small-bone-flute* (the patroness-of-music-offering). The canonical invocation is the Nahuatl *"Xochiquetzal, Ichpochtli, Tonacacihuatl, ic timopiltzin, ma xinechmotlamaca in xochitl, in cuicatl, in nacayotl" — "Flower-Quetzal, Maiden, Lady-of-Sustenance, behold I am your son/daughter, please feed me with flower, with song, with sensuality."* Especially called by *anyone in the aesthetic-life as vocation* (the artist, the lover, the host, the maker-of-beauty-as-life-work), by *anyone whose senses-have-grown-dim* (the eight-yearly-Atamalcualiztli need — the *fast-and-renewal* of the sensory-life), by *anyone undertaking a cuicacalli-style-creative-life* (the song-and-dance house of communal-aesthetic-practice).

In love

Xochiquetzal in love is the *eros-pleasure-beauty partner* — the one whose register is the *flower-and-song* of romantic-and-sensual-love, who *makes the relationship into a flowering-garden* and the *intimacy into a song*. The Xochiquetzal-partner is the one whose *aesthetic-life-as-vocation* makes them the *Maker-of-Beauty in the relationship* — the one who brings the flowers, prepares the cacao, embroiders the textile, recites the poem, plays the music, dances the dance. The shadow is the Xochiquetzal-partner whose *flower-and-song aesthetic has crossed into superficial-decoration* — the partner for whom *beauty is only surface*, for whom the *flower-and-song* has become *theatrical-performance* divorced from the *cosmic-aesthetic-foundation* of the in-xochitl-in-cuicatl tradition. The other shadow: the partner who has *demanded the auianime-life of their lover* — who has *required the constant-aesthetic-availability* of the partner without *acknowledging the cost* (the historical *auianime* often died young from the violence-of-the-warrior-banquets, and the *modern-relationship-equivalent* is *demanding-the-constant-aesthetic-and-sexual-availability-of-the-partner-without-recognizing-the-cost*). The healing-register is *cuicacalli-style mutual-aesthetic-practice* — the relationship in which *both partners are cuicapique* (poet-singers, makers-of-beauty), not one-as-performer-and-one-as-audience.

In work

Xochiquetzal in work is the *aesthetic-foundation* of the institution — the *flower-and-song* in the firm. The Xochiquetzal-figure is the *cuicapique-poet, the embroiderer, the designer, the cultural-direction-setter, the maker-of-beauty* whose work is *not the operational-throughput* but the *aesthetic-foundation that gives the operational-work-its-cosmic-meaning*. The Xochiquetzal-leader is the one whose register is *in xochitl in cuicatl* — *flower-and-song* — the cosmic-recognition that *every great institution is also a great-aesthetic-work*, that *Apple is also a sculpture*, that *a hospital ward is also a temple*, that *a kitchen is also an embroidery*. The shadow is the Xochiquetzal-figure whose work has been *flattened-into-decoration* — the *brand-designer-whose-craft-has-become-corporate-cosmetics* rather than *cosmic-aesthetic-foundation*. The other shadow: the institution that has *no Xochiquetzal-function* — no cosmic-aesthetic-foundation, no *flower-and-song dimension* — and which is therefore *operationally-functional but cosmically-flat*, producing-throughput without producing-the-in-xochitl-in-cuicatl that *makes the throughput cosmically-meaningful*.

The gift

Xochiquetzal gives the *flower-and-song aesthetic* — the *cosmic-recognition that beauty-and-pleasure-and-art are not luxuries but cosmic-foundations*. The gift is the *in xochitl in cuicatl* perception — the moment when you see that *the poem you are writing, the meal you are preparing, the room you are arranging, the conversation you are having* is *also-a-flower-and-song offering*, that *the aesthetic-life is the cosmic-life* and not something separate. To receive Xochiquetzal is to receive the *quetzal-feather-and-the-flower* — the *most-precious-pair* in Mexica aesthetics (the *quetzalli* and the *xōchitl*), the recognition that *beauty is cosmic-currency*. The gift is also the *Tamoanchan-paradise* register — the recognition that *those-who-have-lived-in-the-aesthetic-life* are accompanied-after-death by *the cosmic-paradise-of-the-flowering-tree-in-the-west*, that the *aesthetic-life is its own cosmic-acknowledgment*. The gift is also the *Atamalcualiztli pause* — the cosmic-recognition that *the senses-must-be-periodically-emptied so that the flower-and-song can be fully-tasted*, the *eight-yearly-fast-and-renewal* applied to any aesthetic-life-rhythm.

The shadow

Xochiquetzal has been *catastrophically-misrepresented* by the conquest. The Spanish-Franciscan missionaries identified the *auianime* as *prostitutes-in-the-degraded-Western-sense* and *systematically suppressed* the *cuicacalli* (the song-and-dance houses), the *tlapallaco* (the warrior-aesthetic-banquets), and the *eight-yearly Atamalcualiztli festival*. The *in xochitl in cuicatl* poetic-and-philosophical tradition was *preserved-only-in-the-Cantares-Mexicanos-and-Romances manuscripts* (which themselves only survived because individual Franciscans like Bernardino de Sahagún and Andrés de Olmos *defied colonial-policy* to *preserve the Nahuatl-language poetry*). The *Mexican-folk-Catholic syncretism* of Xochiquetzal is *fragmentary* — some elements pass into the *Virgen de Guadalupe* (the *flower-iconography*, the *western-direction-of-the-sunset-paradise*), some into *the Virgen of the Remedies* (Our Lady of Remedies, the Spanish *replacement* of Tonantzin-of-Tepeyac), some into the *figure of La Llorona* (the *weeping woman* of Mexican folklore, which is *partly Xochiquetzal-in-mourning*, partly Coatlicue, partly Chalchiuhtlicue, partly the *colonial-trauma feminine-figure*). The deepest shadow: the *modern Mexican popular-cultural appropriation* of Xochiquetzal — she has become a *favorite figure of contemporary Mexican feminist-art and mural-painting* (the Frida-Kahlo-and-Diego-Rivera era began this rehabilitation), and the *contemporary neo-Mexica feminist-spirituality movement* has *partially-reclaimed* her cult, but often *flattened into a generic "love-and-beauty goddess archetype"* without the *cosmic-philosophical specificity of the in-xochitl-in-cuicatl tradition* or the *honest-acknowledgment of the historical-violence-against-the-auianime*. The further shadow: the modern *Day-of-the-Dead cempazuchitl-marigold tradition* is *partly Xochiquetzal* (the *xochitl-flower-paths-to-Tamoanchan* that guide the souls of the dead home), and the *commercialization-of-Day-of-the-Dead* (especially after the 2017 Pixar film *Coco* and the 2021 internationalization of the holiday) has *flattened the Xochiquetzal-paradise iconography* into a generic "Mexican-folkloric beauty" trope. The further shadow: the *historical violence-against-the-auianime* (who often died young in the warrior-banquet-violence) is the *ancient prototype* of the *modern femicide-epidemic in Mexico* — the *commodification-of-women-as-objects-of-aesthetic-pleasure* without *acknowledgment-of-the-cost* is the *unbroken thread* from the auianime to the Ciudad-Juárez murders to the contemporary epidemic of violence-against-women.

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