Symbol of purification, fertility, birth.
Tlazolteotl was the goddess of rebirth, fertility, and purification. Centeotl is Centeotl’s mother. Sinners would be cursed by Tlazolteotl, who would cure them with steam baths and sacrifices to her. She was also a dirt and purification deity. Her dual character was exemplified by pictures of her devouring dirt. Like a sin eater, she would devour the dirt and then purify it. Tlazolteotl was the goddess of new life-giving compost dirt. During the harvest season, cleansing rites were done in her honor. She was the Aztec culture’s keeper of the Tree of the West, a tree of life.