11. The god of rebirth was worshiped through the death of several victims each year
The god of rebirth, also considered a god of agriculture since the fields were reborn annually and a god of the seasons, was known as Xipe Totec. He was also known as the “lord of the flayed one” due to one of the rituals involved in his worship, the chief of which occurred during a twenty-day month which corresponded to February 22 – March 13 on the Gregorian calendar. Xipe Totec was believed to have provided food for humanity by flaying his own skin, and gods with similar attributes appeared in other prehistoric Mesoamerican cultures. The Aztecs believed that the art and act of war was a creation of Xipe Totec, and the warrior culture of the Aztecs worshiped him through the sacrifice of captured warriors, which were prepared for forty days by dressing as the god and being treated as he was believed to have been treated prior to his own sacrifice.
Xipe Totec was worshiped within his own temple during a festival which took place around the spring equinox. Each day of the twenty-day festival saw victims brought to the temple and killed in a variety of ways, including mock gladiator combat, the heart is cut out, beheading, and other means. Some were shot with arrows in a sort of archery firing squad. The skin was removed from the victims and worn by the victims assigned for the following day until their own execution. At the end of the festival, the skins of all the victims were worn by priests as they performed ceremonial dances. The hearts of all the victims were cut out and the bodies dismembered. Some were burned, others distributed to the warriors who had captured the victim and some were fed to celebrants of the festival. The victims were required to collect gifts from the Aztecs prior to their sacrifice, often their success or failure in collection was a factor in their manner of death.