Itzpapalotl
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In Aztec mythology, Itzpapalotl ("Clawed Butterfly" or "Obsidian Butterfly") was a fearsome skeletal warrior goddess, who ruled over the paradise world of Tamoanchan, the paradise of victims of infant mortality and place identified where humans were created.[1] She is the mother of Mixcoatl and is particularly associated with the moth Rothschildia orizaba from the family Saturniidae. Some of her associations include birds and fire.[2] Her nahualli was a deer.
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[edit] Iconography
Itzpapalotl's name can either mean "obsidian butterfly" or "clawed butterfly", the latter meaning seems most likely. It's quite possible that clawed butterfly refers to the bat and in some instances Itzpapalotl is depicted with bat wings. However, she can also appear with clear butterfly or eagle attributes. Her wings are obsidian or tecpatl (flint) knife tipped.[3] She could appear in the form of a beautiful, seductive woman or terrible goddess with a skeletal head and butterfly wings supplied with stone blades. Although the identity remains inconclusive, the Zapotec deity named Goddess 2J by Alfanso Caso and Ignacio Bernal may be a Classic Zapotec form of Itzpapalotl. In many instances Goddess 2J, whose image is found on ceramic urns, is identified with bats.
[edit] Mythology
Itzpapalotl is the patron of the day Cozcuauhtli and Trecena 1 House in the Aztec calendar. The Trecena 1 House is one of the five western trecena dates dedicated to the cihuateteo, or women who had died in childbirth. Not only was Itzpapalotl considered one of the cihuateteo herself, but she was also one of the tzitzimime, star demons that threatened to devour people during solar eclispses.[4]
As the legend goes, Itzpapalotl fell from heaven along with Tzitzimime and several other shapes such as scorpions and toads. Itzpapalotl wore an invisible cloak so that no one could see her. At some times, she was said to have dressed up like a lady of the Mexican Court, caking her face with white powder and lining her cheeks with strips of rubber. Her fingers tapered into the claws of a jaguar, and her toes into eagle's claws.
[edit] Contemporary cultural references
- In Laurell K. Hamilton's novel, Obsidian Butterfly, of the Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, Itzpapalotl, or Obsidian Butterfly, is a vampire who thinks she is the goddess of that name, and she owns a night club named Obsidian Butterfly after herself.
- Octavio Paz's prose poem "The Obsidian Butterfly" from the collection Aguila O Sol (literally Eagle or Sun, colloquially "heads or tails") is named after Itzpapalotl, and she is in the poem.
- In the spring of 2006, The Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in San Antonio, Texas displayed sixteen portrait paintings by muralist George Yepes of Salma Hayek as Itzpapalotl.[5]
[edit] See also
- Cihuateteo
- Cihuacoatl
- Tzitzimime
- Mixcoatl
- Tamoanchan
- List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture
[edit] Notes
- ^ Itzpapalotl, the Obsidian orf Clawed Butterfly
- ^ Itzpapalotl: Itzpapalotl, Goddess of Fire and Birds in Aztec Religion, Mythology
- ^ Miller & Taube, p. 100
- ^ Miller & Taube, p. 100
- ^ MySA.com: Visual Arts
[edit] References
- An Illustrated Dictionary of the Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, by Mary Miller & Karl Taube Publisher: Thames & Hudson (April 1997) ISBN 978-0500279281.
