Tlazōlteōtl
In Aztec mythology, Tlazolteotl (or , , ) is a deity of vice, purification, steam baths, lust, filth, and a patroness of adulterers. She is known by three names, ("she who eats or filthy excrescence [sin]") and ("the death caused by lust"), and or (, Deity of Cotton), the latter of which refers to a quadripartite association of four sister deities. Tlazolteotl played an important role in the confession of wrongdoing through her priests. Aztec religion. Tlazolteotl may have originally been a Huaxtec deity from the Gulf Coast who would have been assimilated into the Aztec pantheon. Quadripartite deities. Under the name of  she was thought to be quadrupartite, composed of four sisters of different ages known by the names (the first born), (the younger sister, also ), (the middle sister, also ) and (the youngest sister). When conceived of as four individual deities, they were called or ; individually, they were deities of luxury. Sin. Encouragement of sin. According to Aztec belief, it was Tlazolteotl who inspired vicious desires and who likewise forgave and cleaned away sin. She was also thought to cause disease, especially STDs. It was said that Tlazolteotl and her companions would afflict people with disease if they indulged themselves in forbidden  love. The uncleanliness was considered both on a physical and moral level and could be cured by steam bath, a rite of purification, or calling upon the Tlazōltēteoh, the deities of love and desires. Purification. For the Aztecs there were two main deities thought to preside over purification: Tezcatlipoca, because he was thought to be invisible and omnipresent, therefore seeing everything; and Tlazolteotl, the deity of lechery and unlawful love. It is said that when a man confessed before Tlazolteotl everything was revealed. Purification with Tlazolteotl would be done through a priest. One could only receive the "mercy" once in  their life which is why the practice was most common among the elderly. The priest ("tlapouhqui") would be consulted by the penitent and would consult the 260-day ritual calendar (tonalpohualli) to determine the best day and time for the purification to take place. On the day of, he would listen to the sins confessed and then render judgment and penance, ranging from fasts to presentation of offerings and ritual song and dance, depending on the nature and the severity of the sin. Dirt eating. was called "Deity of Dirt" () and "Eater of Ordure" (, 'she who eats dirt [sin]') with  her dual nature of deity of dirt and also of purification. Sins were symbolized by dirt. Her dirt-eating symbolized the ingestion of the sin and in doing so purified it. She was depicted with ochre-colored symbols of divine excrement around her mouth and nose. In the Aztec language the word for sacred, , comes from , the buttocks, and religious rituals include offerings of "liquid gold" (urine) and gold (Nahuatl teocuitlatl "divine excrement", which Klein jocularly translated to English as "holy shit"). Through this process, she helped create harmony in communities. Festival. was one of the primary Aztec deities celebrated  in the festival of (meaning "sweeping") that was held September 2–21 to recognize the harvest season. The ceremonies conducted during this timeframe included ritual cleaning, sweeping, and repairing, as well as the casting of corn seed, dances, and military ceremonies.