Nochipilli,, Let us assume that this interpretation of 
vochitl as an alternative name for the sacred mushrooms 
holds good. In that case we should turn to Nochipilli, 
adivinity inthe Aztec pantheon, the ‘Prince of Flowers’ 
as Miguel Leon Portilla has translated his name, and 
specifically to the powerful statue that represents him, 
a statue unearthed in Tlalmanalco on the slopes of Po- 
pocatapetl, now on display in the great hall of the Museo 
Nacional in Mexico City. (See Plate XN NIV.) Justino 
Fernandez has given us a detailed description and expla- 
nation of this statue in*Una aproximacion a Nochipilli’ in 
studios de la Cultura Nahuatl, Vol. 1. twill now submit 
for consideration an utterly different interpretation of it. 
Justino Fernandez cannot help but see the ‘ecstasy’ 
(this is his word) in the expression on this man’s face, 
but for his explanation ecstasy is superfluous, perhaps 
even out of place, and he would minimize this trance- 
like pose for the original viewers by suggesting that if 
the eye-sockets were filled with precious materials, as he 
thinks they once were, this impression would be reduced. 
For me ecstasy in this statue is of the essence. The 
skyward tilt of the head, the half-open mouth and jut- 
ting jaw, the hands poised in the air at different levels, ' 
the crossed legs and feet raised off the ground: here is 
the work of a master, a supreme carving of a man en- 
joying an unearthly experience, the formal, hieratic effigy 
of the God of ‘Flowers’, of the God of Rapture. 
If one looks into the eye-sockets or even more clearly 
under the chin, one observes that this man is wearing ¢ 
mask. In the cultures of the West the mask has no 
longer importance: it is relegated to children or to light 
hearted entertainment, as in masked balls and the fes- 
'Here there isa puzzling factor: in the palm of the left hand and 
in the middle of the chest there are indications of something missing, 
broken. What was this lost object? 
[ 808 | 
