Old Fire-and-Death God

Otomi/Hñähñu (central Mexico). English 'Old Fire-and-Death God' leads; the figure is best known by the Nahuatl exonym Otontecuhtli (Otontēuctli, 'Otomi Lord'), in Otomi the Old Father Šihta (Šihta Sipi). Also identified with the Nahua Xocotl/Ocoteuctli. Spouse of the Old Mother (Zäna). The Nahuatl 'tl' orthography reflects the Aztec record of this originally Otomi deity.

Domains

• fire
• death and the ancestors

Powers

• kindle life from the burnt body

Epithets

• Otontecuhtli
• Xócotl

Relations

• interpretatio: Xiuhtecuhtli
• spouse: Old Mother

Sources

• Carrasco, Pedro (1950). Los otomíes: cultura e historia prehispánicas. México: UNAM.
• Galinier, Jacques (2004 [1990]). The World Below: Body and Cosmos in Otomí Indian Ritual. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.