Ītzpāpalōtl[a] ("Obsidian Butterfly") was a goddess inAztec religion.
She was a striking skeletal warrior and deathgoddess and the queen of theTzitzimimeh. She ruled over the paradise world ofTamōhuānchān, the paradise of victims ofinfant mortality and the place identified as where humans were created.[1]
She is the mother ofMixcoatl and is particularly associated with themothRothschildia orizaba from the familySaturniidae.[2] Some of her associations are birds and fire.[3] However, she primarily appears in the form of the Obsidian Butterfly.[4]
Rothschildia orizaba, the moth genus and species with which the Itzpapalotl goddess is associated
Itzpapalotl's name can either mean "obsidian butterfly" or "clawed butterfly;" the latter meaning seems most likely.[1] 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 ortecpatl (flint) knife tipped.[1] (In theManuscript of 1558, Itzpapalotl is described as having "blossomed into the white flint, and they took the white and wrapped it in a bundle.") 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, theZapotec deity named Goddess 2J by Alfonso 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. "In folklore, bats are sometimes called "black butterflies"".[5] Itzpapalotl is sometimes represented as a goddess with flowing hair holding a trophy leg. The femur is thought by some scholars to have significance as a war trophy or a sacred object in Pre-Hispanic art.[6]
Itzpapalotl is the patron of the day and associated with the stars Cozcuauhtli andTrecena 1 House in the Aztec calendar. The Trecena 1 House is one of the five western trecena dates dedicated to thecihuateteo, or women who had died in childbirth. Not only was Itzpapalotl considered one of thecihuateteo herself, but she was also one of the tzitzimime, star demons that threatened to devour people during solar eclipses.[1]
One of the prominent aspects of the ritual surrounding Itzpapalotl relates to the creation story of theChichimec. The ritual is illustrated in the sixteenth century document known as the Map of Cuauhtinchan No. 2.[7] An illustration from this document shows Chichimec warriors emerging out of a seven-chambered cave behind Itzpapalotl. The deity is shown brandishing a severed leg, thought to be a symbol of battle. Beginning in the 1990s, archeologists exploring the Barranca Del Aguila region, southwest of Mexico City, have discovered caves carved to simulate the seven chambered cave, known asChicomoztoc, from the ritual creation narrative.[8]
According to theManuscript of 1558, section VII, Itzpapalotl was one of two divine 2-headed doe-deers (the other one beingChimalman) who temporarily transformed themselves into women in order to seduce men. Itzpapalotl approached the two "cloud serpents named Xiuhnel[ˈʃiwnel] and Mimich[ˈmimit͡ʃ]", who transformed themselves into men (so as to disguise themselves when all the others of theCentzonmimixcoa had been slain in the ambush?). To Xiuhnel, Itzpapalotl said "'Drink, Xiuhnel.' Xiuhnel drank the blood and then immediately lay down with her. Suddenly she ... devoured him, tore open his breast. ... Then Mimich ... ran and ... descended into a thorny barrel cactus, fell into it, and the woman fell down after him."[9] In the myth-history narrative of the Annales de Cuauhtitlan, the cloud deity victims take the form of deer, the hearts of whom are eaten by Itzpapalotl. The theme of the heart devouring goddess appears in other global mythologies.[4]
Orizaba the Moth Fairy, a villain inElena of Avalor, was inspired by Itzpapalotl.[10]
Beyond pop culture, the name of the goddess has been used to name formations, the ItzpapalotlTessera, on the planetVenus which are being studied for our knowledge of the geological history of our planet.[11]
Additionally, the goddess is one of thePre-Columbian motifs found in CaliforniaChicano Literature.[12]
^Benson, Elizabeth (Fall 1988). "The Maya and the Bat".Latin American Indian Literatures Journal.4 (2):99–124. Citing:Parsons, Elsie Clews (1936).Mitla, town of the souls, and other Zapoteco-speaking pueblos of Oaxaca, Mexico. University of Chicago Press. p. 318.OCLC185287287.
^Brady, James E. (2005). Keith M. Prufer (ed.).In the maw of the each monster: mesoAmerican ritual cave use. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. pp. 69–87.ISBN978-0-292-70586-9.
^Gidwitz, Tom (2009)."Map Quest".Archaeology Magazine.62 (2).
^Vorder Bruegge, R. W.; Fletcher, R. C. (1 March 1990). "A Model for the Shape of Overthrust Zones on Venus".Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.21: 1278.Bibcode:1990LPI....21.1278V.
^Klor de Alva, J. Jorge (1986). "California Chicano Literature and Pre-Columbian Motifs: Foil and Fetish".Confluencia.1 (2):18–26.JSTOR27921652.
de Alva, J. Jorge Klor (1986). "California Chicano Literature and Pre-Columbian Motifs: Foil and Fetish".Confluencia.1 (2):18–26.JSTOR27921652.ProQuest1307994236.
Gingerich, Willard (1988). "Three Nahuatl Hymns on the Mother Archetype: An Interpretive Commentary".Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos.4 (2):191–244.doi:10.2307/1051822.JSTOR1051822.
Carrasco, Davíd; Sessions, Scott (2007).Cave, City, and Eagle's Nest: An Interpretive Journey Through the Mapa de Cuauhtinchan No. 2. UNM Press.ISBN978-0-8263-4283-6.
