Mexica god of maize

Centeotl

Centeotl is the maize deity of Aztec mythology and the patron of drunkenness and drink in rituals. Sometimes regarded as a dual god with both male and female identities, he holds an unusual place in the Aztec pantheon.

The myth

According to the stories, Centeotl was born to Xochiquetzal and Piltzintecuhtli, although some authors say Xochiquetzal was his wife. After his birth he hid beneath the earth, and his body turned into various foods: his hair became cotton, his nose became chia, his fingers became sweet potatoes and his nails became a long kind of maize, while other crops sprang from other parts of his body.

For this generosity he was called Tlazohpilli, "beloved god". In the legend of Nanahuatzin, Centeotl is the god who moves him to offer himself as a sacrifice in the volcano.

His sex is disputed: some describe him as male, others as female, and some see him as a group of goddesses representing the stages of maize growth, such as Xilonen or Iztaccenteotl. He is usually shown as a young god with ears of maize and a mark on his face.

Worship and religion

Centeotl was honoured in the month Huey tozoztli of the Mexica calendar, around April. Families took selected cobs home as offerings to the god and then stored them in granaries. Other cobs, grouped in sevens, were brought to the temple of Chicomecoatl, since the god was believed to dwell in the heart of stored maize and in the seed for the next planting.

The Totonacs revered him as their protector, with five temples and animal sacrifices, while the Aztecs offered human sacrifices to him. The most notable was that of a young woman who, after dancing during the Xalaquia ritual, was sacrificed in the temple in the hope that the maize would revive.

Ancient sources: Texts of the Mexica tradition record his figure, and the Florentine Codex makes him the son of the earth goddess Tlazolteotl and the solar deity Piltzintecuhtli.