Tlazoltéotl

Tlazoltéotl, Aztec goddess who represented sexual impurity and sinful behaviour. She was probably introduced to the Aztecs from the gulf lowlands of Huaxteca. Tlazoltéotl was an important and complex earth-mother goddess. She was known in four guises, associated with different stages of life. As a young woman, she was a carefree temptress. In her second form she was the destructive goddess of gambling and uncertainty. In her middle age she was the great goddess able to absorb human sin. In her final manifestation she was a destructive and terrifying hag preying upon youths. Tlazoltéotl was thought to provoke both lust and lustful behaviour, but she could also grant absolution to those who had so sinned. She became best known for her capacity to cleanse such sins during confessionals conducted by her priests. Thus, although she could, in one form, inspire debauched behaviour, she could also forgive sinners and remove corruption from the world. She was portrayed in an elaborate headdress of raw cotton and in some representations wearing the skin of a sacrificial victim or in a costume that featured symbols of the moon.