Huixtocihuatl

[2] As described in the second book of the Florentine Codex, during Tecuilhuitontli, the seventh month of the Aztec calendar, there was a festival in honor of Huixtocihuatl.

[1] In Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Huixtocihuatl is associated with the goddess Ixcuina, who represented filth and excrement.

[4] Primeros Memoriales, a manuscript written by Bernardino de Sahagún before his Florentine Codex, contains a description of Huixtocihuatl paired with an illustration.

Primeros Memoriales therefore illustrates and describes the likeness of Huixtocihuatl, who would have embodied the salt god.

"[5]In the Florentine Codex, Sahagún expands upon his description of Huixtocihuatl, describing the appearance of the deity captured by the impersonator.

Her shield was covered with a water lily leaf design, hung with yellow parrot feathers, and swung around by the ixiptla when she danced.

The reed staff also held an important role for the ixiptla, as it was what she used to mark the beat of songs during the festival in her honor.

[7] During Tecuilhuitontli, the seventh month of the Aztec calendar which occurred in June, there was a festival in her honor.

[8] Bernardino de Sahagún dedicates the second book of the Florentine Codex to describing the various ceremonies of the Aztecs.

The twenty-sixth chapter of this book provides details about the ceremonies of Tecuilhuitontli, focusing on the festival in Huixtocihuatl's honor.

"[10]Sahagún continues his description of Huixtocihuatl's sacrifice with vivid details of the ritual slaughter.

Sahagún describes the atmosphere of the night, pointing out that participants in the festival were drunk by the time they went to sleep.

Depiction of Huixtocihuatl from Bernardino de Sahagun's "Primeros Memoriales", which was published in 1590 (fol. 264r). She holds a reed staff in her hand and wears garments with a water design.
16th century illustration from the 2nd book, 26th chapter of Sahagun's Florentine Codex. The top panel depicts Huixtocihuatl's impersonator in a procession, while the bottom panel depicts the priests sacrificing her. Note the likeness of the ixiptla to a blossoming maize plant.
Reconstruction of the Templo Mayor at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. The temple on the left was dedicated to Tlaloc , the water deity. Huixtocihuatl's ixiptla would be sacrificed on Tlaloc's temple on the last day of Tecuilhuitontli .