Yxpapalotl signifies a Knife of Butterflies (Obsidian Butterfly). He (She) was one of those gods who, as they affirm, were expelled from heaven; and on this account they paint him (her) surrounded with knives, and wings of butterflies. They represent him with the feet of an eagle; because they say that he (she) occasionally appears to them, and that they only see the feet of an eagle. They further add, that being in a garden of delight he (she) pulled some roses, but that suddenly the tree broke, and blood streamed from it; and that in consequence of this they were deprived of that place of enjoyment, and were cast into this world, because Tonacatecutli and his wife became incensed; and accordingly they came some of them to the earth, and others went to hell.

He (she) presided over these thirteen signs; the first of which, the House, they considered unfortunate, because they said that demons came through the air on that sign, in the figure of women such as we designate witches, who usually went to the highways where they met in the form of a cross, and to solitary places; and accordingly, that when any bad woman wished to absolve herself or her sins and to do penance, she went alone by night to these places, and took off her garments, and sacrificed there with her tongue, and left the clothes which she carried, and returned home naked, as a sign of the confession of her sins. He was called, before he sinned Xomunco, and afterwards, Yxpapalotl, which signifies a knife of razors.