Name and Etymology:
Cihuacoatl, "Snake Woman"
Chihucoatl
Ciucoatl
Ilamatecuhtli
Religion and Culture of Cihuacoatl:
Aztec, Mesoamerica
Symbols, Iconography, and Art of Cihuacoatl:
Cihuacoatl is usually depicted holding a shield with eagle feathers and with an open mouth. She is also often portrayed with a large serpent. Sometimes her image may be skeletal and hag-like, other times she looks young and beautiful. Sometimes she is depicted as a young girl with flowers or as a mother using the sun like a shield. Statues of Cihuacoatl were generally kept in darkness and her priests avoided touching her image.
Cihuacoatl is Goddess of:
Midwifery
Motherhood
Sweatbath
Agriculture
Earth
Warriors
Death
Equivalents in Other Cultures:
unknown — please email me if you have any information to add about this.
Story and Origin of Cihuacoatl:
Vice-ruler of Tenochtitlan, Cihuacoatl helped Quetzalcoatl create humanity by grinding up the bones of previous races and mixing them with Quetzalcoatl's own blood from his penis or, in some accounts, with the blood of many different Aztec gods.
Family Tree and Relationships of Cihuacoatl:
Aspect of Ilamatecuhtli, Toci, Tlazolteotl
Mother of Mixcoatl
Temples, Worship and Rituals of Cihuacoatl:
Cihuacoatl's temple was called Tititl where New Fire ceremonies were performed; the center of her cult was in Colhucan. Women giving birth called to Cihuacoatl because giving birth was the act of a female warrior; woman who died in childbirth were honored as fallen warriors. Male warriors wove into their shields the hair of women who had given birth to increase their strength during battle. During Hueytecuilhuitl, "great feast of lords," a female impersonator was sacrificed.
Mythology and Legends of Cihuacoatl:
Cihuacoatl helped Quetzalcoatl create the humans of the current world by mixing bones from people of past world with the blood of gods — gods who sacrificed themselves so that the world could be created.
