ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Codex Borgia.—In the picture of Xolotl on the left side of the middle lower part of sheet 55 a resemblance to Quetzalcoatl is noticeable. On his head is the peculiar wedge-shaped Huaxtec hat, painted half-red and half-blue, which is one of Quetzalcoatl’s characteristics. The bone dagger symbolic of self-torture and penance, and the snail-shell armlets he wears, are also reminiscent of Quetzalcoatl’s insignia. His face-painting, however, differs from that usually worn by Quetzalcoatl in Codex Borgia, as the front portion of his face is blue and the part near the ears red. His body-paint is blue. Nor does he have a large beard or fan-shaped nape-ornament, but is shown wearing the Wind-god’s breast-ornament made from a sliced snail-shell. He also shows a likeness to Quetzalcoatl in the manner in which his loin-cloth and fillet are rounded off. As a travelling god, Xolotl is depicted in Codex Borgia as holding a fan similar in its three-flapped wedge-shape to that of the other peripatetic deities, except that it has a handle shaped like a bird’s head [[345]]and is seemingly composed of blue cotinga-feathers. His travelling pack is symbolized by a flowering tree, which he bears on his back, while his travelling staff is painted turquoise colour, is decorated with the chalchihuitl ornament, and is completed with a flower. In the picture to the right of sheet 36 Xolotl presents almost a new aspect, although certain of his attributes bear some resemblance to those which we have already observed as being peculiar to him. He still carries a travelling-staff with a jewelled head, but in this representation its general character is more that of the rattle-stick. His body-paint remains the same and he retains his blue feather fan. His pack is distinguished by a flower to serve as a connection with the florescent tree carried by him, as described elsewhere. In this sheet he is represented as wearing a long beard and his face-paint in the region of the mouth is white. His face is altered by a peculiar type of nose, which gives him a disfigured appearance. The god of monstrosities on sheet 10 of Codex Borgia has a similar patch of white about his mouth, resembling in shape a human hand, a symbol which also characterizes the face-painting of Macuil Xochitl. Elsewhere in this MS. he is represented as crooked-limbed and blear-eyed.
Codex Vaticanus B.—In this MS. Xolotl is represented as having a dog’s head and again appears in the garb and ornaments of Quetzalcoatl. In Codex Borgia his ears have a rim of yellow, evidently intended to represent dead flesh, while in Codex Vaticanus the canine character is indicated by the cropped ears. In the nostrils is a blue plug, the ornament of the deceased warrior, denoting that this is the dog which accompanies his master to Mictlampa, Place of the Dead, and assists him to swim the river which encircles it. This distinguishing plug is seen in Codex Vaticanus, but not in Codex Borgia. The rest of the god’s attire is exclusively that worn by Quetzalcoatl, as described in the space devoted to that god.
| Ixtlilton. (From the Sahagun MS.) (See p. 349.) | Omacatl. (From the Sahagun MS.) (See p. 352.) |
Xolotl. (From the Codex Borgia.)
MINOR DEITIES.
Aubin Tonalamatl.—In this MS. he again takes on a canine appearance and is clothed in many respects like Quetzalcoatl. This frequent similarity in dress between the gods may have [[346]]its origin in the diverse meaning of the word coatl, which, besides meaning “snake,” also denotes “comrade” or “twin.” This dog-like creature is usually portrayed as of a dark colour, black, with the distinctive cropped ear, while in Codex Borgia he is depicted with jaguar-claws. Xolotl has the face-painting of Quetzalcoatl in the Mexican MSS. proper, that is in the middle front it is yellow and black at the sides. He wears the two-coloured white and brown (jaguar-skin) head-loop with rounded-off ends, which latter form is also continued in the loin-cloth. Both these articles of dress he has in common with Quetzalcoatl.
Codex Telleriano-Remensis.—Here he is depicted with Tlazolteotl’s spindles in his hair and an ichcaxochitl of unspun cotton, as well as the head-loop previously described. Only in this MS. is he so adorned. The instrument of self-mortification, the bone dagger, juts out from above his forehead, whence issues a trickle of blood, sometimes delineated symbolically as a feather-ball string completed with a flower, and at others represented as real blood. He grasps an obsidian knife, which implement also projects from his mouth along with a flower, while a copal bag is portrayed in front of him. In some MSS., as in Codex Telleriano-Remensis and Vaticanus A, he is represented as wearing a mask on his girdle.