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Xipe -Totec "Our Lord the Flayed One" is the god of the shedding of skins.He was also the patron of metal workers,God of Seedtime,the Elemental force of rebirth.He is associated with rejuvenation and springtime.Xipe-Totec Flayed himself to give food to humanity,symbolic of the maize seed losing the outer layer of the seed before germination.The victims sacrificed in honor of this god were flayed (skinned alive).Semi-conscious from the drugs,bathed in incense,the victim was first scorched,presumably to seperate the skin from the bone.Cuts were made around the neck,the arms,and the legs,and down the back so the skin could be ripped away from the body.The carcass,bloody Xipe-Totec red,was thrown over a ceremonial stone and the heart was cut out by the Youallauan,the high priest who offered it to the gods.The skin,dyed yellow and called teocuitlaquemitl or "golden clothes" was there upon donned by the warrior who had originally taken the victim prisoner who then proceeded to dance feverishly crying to the heavens for new life and new strength.He wore a mask made from the victim's face.After flaying the victim,priest would wear the victims skin.This symbolized the annual spring renewal of vegetation-in other words,the renewal of the "earth's skin."