The Obituary
Coatlicue, “she of the serpent skirt,” was the Aztec earth goddess and mother of the gods, of the moon and stars, and of Huitzilopochtli. While sweeping a temple she was impregnated by a ball of feathers; her affronted daughter Coyolxauhqui and the stars attacked her, but the newborn Huitzilopochtli sprang out armed to defend her. Her monumental statue, unearthed in Mexico City in 1790, shows her in a skirt of serpents and a necklace of hearts and hands. Her cult ended with the Spanish conquest in 1521.
Worth remembering
- She conceived Huitzilopochtli from a ball of feathers that fell into her bosom while she swept a temple.
- Her colossal statue wears a skirt of woven serpents and a necklace of hearts, hands, and a skull.
Sources
- Coatlicue was the Aztec earth goddess, mother of Huitzilopochtli Wikipedia
- A monumental statue of Coatlicue was unearthed in Mexico City in 1790 Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.