by Esperanza Beltran
Xochitl and Huitzilin were childhood friends who fell in love in their adolescence. One day, they decided to go to the top of the hill where they knew that the sun god, Tonatiuh, lived and shone the brightest. They asked him to bless their love, and seeing how strong their love was, he did just that, blessing them with his light.
Not long after, war broke out in their village, and Huitzilin was called to defend his people. Xochitl was sad to be separated from him but hoped they would be joined soon, once the war was over. She waited and waited until one day she received news that her lover, Huitzilin, had died on the battlefield.
Completely devastated, Xochitl ran up the hill to Tonatiuh and pleaded with him to let her be joined with the love of her life. Seeing her immense pain, the sun god shone his bright light on her with such force that she dissolved into the ground. There, a flower grew but remained a closed bud for a very long time.
Attracted by the bud’s strong scent, a hummingbird one day approached it and touched its beak to the center of the bud. Recognizing the hummingbird as Huitzilin, Xochitl opened herself, revealed her bright orange color, and released the strong scent of what she had become– the cempasúchil flower that Tonatiuh had turned her into.
It has since been said that as long as there are
hummingbirds and cempasúchil flowers, the love of Xochitl and Huitzilin will endure.
This article is part of
the Fall 2023 issue of the Comadres Connect Newsletter.
Copyright @2023 Las
Comadres Para Las Americas
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