xochiquetzal

Today would have been the 57th birthday of my dear friend, Risa, who died in January of this year from breast cancer.  I love this picture of her, and have always loved it, in particular.  It just seems to me to capture her intense love of life.

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered this image of an Aztec goddess called Xochiquetzal.  Here's what I wrote in my journal this morning: "Have been fascinated by the similarity between her photo and the Aztec depiction of Xochiquetzal, Precious Flower, the Goddess of Flowers, Love and Beauty.  She lives in Tamoanchan, the Place of Our Origin and guards over the Xochitlicacan, “the Flowery Tree of Life, whose flowers, with only a single touch, bring good fortune and fidelity to those in love.”

“Xochitl, Flower, is the Aztec symbol of purification and perfection.  Xochitl lives and dies for a moment of beauty.  Xochitl is truth, completion and the maximal statement, the essence that is born at the height of an evolution.  It’s about going for the highest potentials, bringing visions into reality, and art.  Flowers are sexual organs.  Xochitl is love and the search for union.  It’s happiness.  It’s sex.  The Sun of Flowers is when humanity comes to flower.”  (Quotations from "The Aztec Virgin" by John Mini)

"Xochitl lives and dies for a moment of beauty."  Boy, was this ever true of Risa!  I think that's why we all loved her so much!

Here's another contemporary portrayal of Xochiquetzal (from a free online image):
 


and one more message:
Happy Birthday, Risa ~ and fare thee well. 

 

Comments

[kasturi]

I notice I am continuing to feel a special sort of 'spike' in my grief for Risa over the last few days. Grieving is always different, always the same. What's different for me this time, is that the grief seems to be coming in waves quite a long time after the fact. There was a big wave when I first heard she had died - my husband received the call and relayed the news to me the same day she died. And then the waves were very small for a long time, but now they are back. By the way, the bottom picture is not a picture of Risa. The photo of the woman in the hat just reminded me of Risa - it was a free image online. Risa liked to swim, bike, hike, ectetera, but she was not much of a dancer. It's only the hat that makes me think of Risa, but the hat is an important accoutrement of Xochiquetzal, too. I often felt that Risa was sort of 'larger than life' - I didn't know there was an archetype associated with the way she was. yes, she seemed like some kind of goddess, just in herself, but now I know which one! Wish I had known sooner. I can hardly believe how meaningful I'm finding John Mini's book 'The Aztec Virgin.' His approach is just so different from most of what I've read about this kind of spirituality, and he is so clear and readable. As they say in the midwest, anyhoo...