Earth

Earth, called Naaxwiiñ ('Earth-Surface') in Ayuujk, is in Mixe religion the living ground revered as the source of sustenance and of wisdom. From her the maize and all produce arise, and to her the people return offerings deposited upon or within the soil. Standing among the principal Mixe deities alongside Thunder and the Lord of the Underworld, the Earth embodies the fertility on which highland subsistence agriculture depends and is treated as a sentient power to be respected and repaid.

Domains

• earth
• fertility
• sustenance
• wisdom

Powers

• to bring forth crops and nourish the living
• to impart wisdom and sustain understanding

Epithets

• Naaxwiiñ

Sources

• Frank J. Lipp, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing (University of Texas Press, 1991)
• Etsuko Kuroda, Under Mt. Zempoaltepetl: Highland Mixe Society and Ritual, Senri Ethnological Studies 12 (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 1984)