Centeotl - The Aztec God (or Goddess) of Maize

Centeotl - The Aztec God (or Goddess) of Maize Centeotl (sometimes spelled Cinteotl or Tzinteotl and sometimes called Xochipilli or Flower Prince) was the main Aztec god of American corn, known as maize. Centeotls name (pronounced something like Zin-tay-AH-tul) means â€Å"Maize Cob Lord† or â€Å"the Dried Ear of the Maize God†. Other Aztec gods associated with this all-important crop included the goddess of sweet corn and tamales Xilonen (Tender Maize), the goddess of seed corn Chicomecotl (Seven Serpent), and Xipe Totec, the fierce god of fertility and agriculture. Centeotl represents the Aztec version of a more ancient, pan-Mesoamerican deity. Earlier Mesoamerican cultures, such as the Olmec and Maya, worshiped the maize god as one of the most important sources of life and reproduction. Several figurines found at Teotihuacn were representations of a maize goddess, with a coiffure resembling a tasseled ear of maize. In many Mesoamerican cultures, the idea of kingship was associated with the maize god. Origin of the Maize God Centeotl was the son of Tlazolteotl or Toci, the goddess of fertility and childbirth, and as Xochipilli he was the husband of Xochiquetzal, the first woman to give birth. Like many Aztec deities, the maize god had a dual aspect, both masculine and feminine. Many Nahua (Aztec language) sources report that the Maize god was born a goddess, and only in later times became a male god named Centeotl, with a feminine counterpart, the goddess Chicomecotl. Centeotl and Chicomecotl oversaw different stages in maize growth and maturation. Aztec mythology holds that the god Quetzalcoatl gave maize to humans. The myth reports that during the 5th Sun, Quetzalcoatl spotted a red ant carrying a maize kernel. He followed the ant and reached the place where maize grew, the â€Å"Mountain of Sustenance†, or Tonacatepetl (Ton-ah-cah-TEP-eh-tel) in Nahua. There Quetzalcoatl turned himself into a black ant and stole a kernel of corn to bring back to the humans to plant. According to a story collected by the Spanish colonial period Franciscan friar and scholar Bernardino de  Sahagà ºn, Centeotl made a journey into the underworld and returned with cotton, sweet potatoes, huauzontle (chenopodium), and the intoxicating drink made from agave called octli or pulque, all of which he gave to humans. For this resurrection story, Centeotl is sometimes associated with Venus, the morning star. According to Sahagun, there was a temple dedicated to Centeotl in the sacred precinct of Tenochtitln. Maize God Festivities The fourth month of the Aztec calendar is called Huei Tozoztli (The Big Sleep), and it was dedicated to the maize gods Centeotl and Chicomecotl. Different ceremonies dedicated to green maize and grass took place in this month, which began around April 30th. To honor the maize gods, people carried out self-sacrifices, performing blood-letting rituals, and sprinkling the blood throughout their houses. Young women adorned themselves with necklaces of corn seeds. Maize ears and seeds were brought back from the field, the former placed in front of the gods images, whereas the latter were stored for planting in the next season. The cult of Centeotl overlapped that of Tlaloc and embraced various deities of solar warmth, flowers, feasting, and pleasure. As the son of the earth goddess Toci, Centeotl was worshipped alongside Chicomecoati and Xilonen during the 11th month of Ochpaniztli, which begins September 27th on our calendar. During this month, a woman was sacrificed and her skin was used to make a mask for Centeotls priest. Maize God Images Centeotl is often represented in Aztec codices as a young man, with maize cobs and ears sprouting from his head, handling a scepter with green cob’s ears. In the Florentine Codex, Centeotl is illustrated as the god of harvest and crop production. As Xochipilli Centeotl, the god is sometimes represented as the monkey god Oà §omtli, the god of sports, dancing, amusements and good luck in games. A carved paddle-shaped palmate stone in the collections of the Detroit Institute of Arts (Cavallo 1949) may illustrate Centeotl receiving or attending a human sacrifice. The head of the deity resembles a monkey and he has a tail; the figure is standing on or floating above the chest of a prone figure. A large headdress accounting for over half of the length of the  stone  rises above Centeotls head and is made up of either maize plants or possibly agave. Edited and updated by K. Kris Hirst Sources Aridjis, Homero. Deidades Del Panteà ³n Mexica Del Maà ­z. Artes de Mà ©xico 79 (2006): 16–17. Print.Berdan, Frances F. Aztec Archaeology and Ethnohistory. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Print.Carrasco, David. Central Mexican Religion. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. Eds. Evans, Susan Toby and David L. Webster. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001. 102–08. Print.Cavallo, A. S. A Totonac Palmate Stone. Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 29.3 (1949): 56–58. Print.de Durand-Forest, Jacqueline, and Michel Graulich. On Paradise Lost in Central Mexico. Current Anthropology 25.1 (1984): 134–35. Print.Long, Richard C. E. 167. A Dated Statuette of Centeotl. Man 38 (1938): 143–43. Print.Là ³pez Luhan, Leonardo. Tenochtitln: Ceremonial Center. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. Eds. Evans, Susan Toby and David L. Webster. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001. 712 –17. Print.Menà ©ndez, Élisabeth. Maà ¯s Et Divinites Du Maà ¯s Daprà ¨s Les Sources Anciennes. Journal de la Socià ©tà © des Amà ©ricanistes 64 (1977): 19–27. Print. Smith, Michael E. The Aztecs. 3rd ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Print.Taube, Karl A. Aztec and Maya Myths. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1993.Taube, Karl. Teotihuacn: Religion and Deities. Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia. Eds. Evans, Susan Toby and David L. Webster. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 2001. 731–34. Print.Von Tuerenhout, Dirk R. The Aztecs: New Perspectives. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO Inc., 2005. Print.

Trifecta Not Always Appropriate

Trifecta Not Always Appropriate Trifecta Not Always Appropriate Trifecta Not Always Appropriate By Maeve Maddox Libby Lewis wonders about the different meanings of trifecta.: I had a student use it in a paper addressing racial discrimination: the United States ever growing trifecta of white, black, and brown. another student cited an article from MuscleMag magazine entitled Your Tri-Fecta for success.Can this word be used as a general reference to any trio? First lets look at the term perfecta. The OED identifies the gambling term as chiefly U.S. and defines it as a bet that requires the bettor to predict, in the correct order, the first and second finishers in a race. In New York state, this kind of bet is called an exacta. The OED entry for trifecta identifies it as a betting term used principally in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Its a recent (1971) addition to English and derives from American Spanish perfecta which is a shortening of quiniela perfecta, perfect quiniela. Quiniela, game of chance. Entertainment writers were probably the first to use the word trifecta to mean any three awards won by an artist: Joe Lovano hit the trifecta at the Jazz Awards, with wins for tenor saxophonist, small ensemble and record of the year, but pianist-composer Vijay Iyer walked off with musician of the year honors They may also have been instrumental in turning trifecta into a mere synonym for three or trio. How’s this for a musical trifecta: the intriguing guitarist Charlie Hunter, the swinging Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the imposing saxophone/drums/bass trio known as Fly. Some writers use trifecta in any context in which three of anything figure: Marchesa actually had a trifecta of successes. Marchesa is a fashion house and three women wore its designs to the Emmy awards. Jerrod Niemann Completes a Country Music Trifecta Niemann is going to play at the Grand Old Opry. Hes already played at two other venues on his wish list. Blue Spur eatery up for awards trifecta The restaurant has won the award twice before. MGM Recipients Achieve MacArthur Trifecta Andrea Ghez won the Maria Goeppert Mayer Award in 1999. She was the third woman to win this award, hence the trifecta in the headline. Its probably a reasonable extension of the word trifecta to use it to refer to the winning of a trio of awards as here: McMurray gave Ganassi his first Daytona 500 win in February. In May, Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 in one of Ganassi’s cars. On Sunday, Ganassi hit the unprecedented trifecta. No other car owner has won all three major races, much less in the same year. Used willy-nilly to mean three of anything, however, it smacks of lazy writing. Its use is especially inappropriate in this New Republic piece about the automotive industry: GM, Ford, and Chrysler are taking precisely the sorts of steps everybody says are necessaryor, at least, they were taking those steps until an unexpected trifecta of high gas prices, vanishing credit, and a deep recession hit. The word trifecta implies winning. High gas prices, vanishing credit, and a deep recession hardly fit the connotation. Here are some other three words to consider, depending upon the context: trio triple triad trilogy tripartite triplet troika Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Compared "to" or Compared "with"?What is Dative Case?Drama vs. Melodrama