Itzpapalotl- Aztec GodDeity"Obsidian Butterfly"

The Clawed Butterfly

Itzpapalotl, "Obsidian Butterfly" or "Clawed Butterfly," combined the beauty of the butterfly with the killing edge of volcanic glass. In her true form she appeared as a skeletal woman with jaguar claws for hands and feet, her butterfly wings edged with obsidian blades, her face a death's head. She could shed this form and appear as a beautiful woman, seducing those who wandered too close before revealing what lay beneath the skin.

She ruled Tamoanchan, the paradise where the gods dwelt and where humanity had been created. From there she commanded the Tzitzimime, the star demons who hung in the sky and threatened to devour the sun during eclipses. When the sun darkened, it was Itzpapalotl's legions descending, and the Aztecs beat drums and sacrificed to drive them back.

The Five Flint Knives

In a primordial myth preserved in the Anales de Cuauhtitlán, Itzpapalotl was burned in a great fire along with other beings during a sacred conflagration. When the flames consumed her, five flint knives rose from the fire, each a different color. These were the sacred tecpatl blades, the same used to cut out human hearts on the sacrificial stone. The Chichimec people claimed these knives and carried them on their migrations as relics of the goddess who had been destroyed and reborn as instruments of sacrifice.