A Monstrous Morality: Tzitzimime and their Relatives as Enforcers of Social Control

The tzitzimime – as reflected in central Mexican ethnohistorical sources and precolumbian imagery – represent a diverse array of mostly female divinities associated with fertility. Under Spanish influence, they were re-conceptualized as malevolent, mostly male agents of the Christian devil. Related beings attested elsewhere, especially in the ethnography of eastern Mesoamerica, are distinctly monstrous. They are particularly salient in “wild” contexts, outside the realm of culture, and serve as enforcers of social norms. This paper traces the development of these creatures from their quasi-monstrous tzitzimime forbears and considers how they have been – and continue to be – conceptualized in relation to sociopolitical differences in their cultural contexts.