Chalchiuhtlicue (also Chalciuhtlicue, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") was an Aztec

Aztec mythology

The aztec civilization recognized a polytheistic mythology, which contained the many deities and supernatural creatures from their religious beliefs. "orlando"- History :...

 goddess of love, beauty, youth, lakes, rivers, seas, streams, horizontal waters, storms, and baptism. Reputedly universally revered at the time of the Spanish conquest, she was an important deity figure in the Postclassic Aztec realm of central Mexico. Chalchiuhtlicue was also patroness of childbirth. She was also called Matlalcueitl by the Tlaxcalans

Tlaxcaltec

The Tlaxcalteca were an indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity that inhabited the Kingdom of Tlaxcala located in what is now the Mexican state of Tlaxcala.-Pre-hispanic history:...

, enemies of the Aztecs.

Mythology

Chalchiuitlicue's name means "She Who Wears a Jade Skirt". She was also known as Matlalcueye—"She Who Wears a Green Skirt". This goddess was the wife (in some myths, sister) of the rain god, Tlaloc

Tlaloc

Tlaloc was an important deity in Aztec religion, a god of rain, fertility, and water. He was a beneficent god who gave life and sustenance, but he was also feared for his ability to send hail, thunder and lightning, and for being the lord of the powerful element of water. In Aztec iconography he...

. Like other water deities, she was often associated with serpents. She was the mother of Tecciztecatl

Tecciztecatl

In Aztec mythology, Tecciztecatl was a lunar deity, representing the old "man-in-the-moon". He could have been the sun god, but he feared the sun's fire, so Nanahuatzin became the sun god and Tecciztecatl was promptly thrown into the moon...

, an Aztec moon god. He was called "he who comes from the land of the sea-slug shell" because of the similarity between the moon and the slug. Tecciztecatl was portrayed as an old man who carries a large white seashell on his back.

For the Aztecs, Chalchiuhtlicue was the water goddess who was a personification of youthful beauty and ardor. She was represented as a river from which grew a prickly pear

Opuntia

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...

 cactus laden with fruit, symbolizing the human heart.

Chalchiutlicue's association with both water and fertility is derived from the Aztecs' common association of the womb with waters. This dual role gave her both life-giving and a life-ending role in Aztec mythology In the Aztec creation myth of the Five Suns

Five Suns

Five Suns is an album by progressive rock group Guapo released in 2003.- Track listing :#Five Suns, Pt. 1 #Five Suns, Pt. 2 #Five Suns, Pt. 3 #Five Suns, Pt. 4 #Five Suns, Pt...

, Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the fourth sun, or creation, in her aspect as goddess of streams and standing water. This world—in the mythology, the world preceding the current (fifth) one—was destroyed by a great flood and its people transformed into fish.

In her aquatic aspect, Chalchiutlicue was known as Acuecucyoticihuati, goddess of oceans, as well as the patron of women in labor. She was also said to be the wife of Xiuhtecuhtli

Xiuhtecuhtli

In Aztec mythology, Xiuhtecuhtli , was the god of fire, day and heat. He was the lord of volcanoes, the personification of life after death, warmth in cold , light in darkness and food during famine...

, also called Huehueteotl

Huehueteotl

Huehueteotl is a Mesoamerican deity figuring in the pantheons of pre-Columbian cultures, particularly in Aztec mythology and others of the Central Mexico region. He is also sometimes called Ueueteotl...

 "old god", the senior deity of the Aztec pantheon. He was the personification of light in the darkness, warmth in coldness, and life in death. A god of light and fire, he is often depicted with a red or yellow face, with a censer on his head.

The mythology of Chalchiuitlicue reports that she helped Tlaloc rule the paradise kingdom of Tlalocan

Tlalocan

Tlalocan is the first level of the upper worlds, or the Aztecs' thirteen heavens, that has four compartments according to the mythic cosmographies of the Nahuatl-speaking peoples of pre-Columbian central Mexico, noted particularly in Conquest-era accounts of Aztec mythology...

. Chalchiutlicue brought fertility to crops and is said to have been the protector of children. According to legend she devoured the sun and moon.

Archaeological record

Chalchiutlicue is depicted in several central Mexican manuscripts, including the Pre-Columbian

Pre-Columbian

The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...

 Codex Borgia

Codex Borgia

The Codex Borgia is a Mesoamerican ritual and divinatory manuscript. It is generally believed to have been written before the Spanish conquest of Mexico, somewhere within what is now today southern or western Puebla...

 (plates 11 and 650), the 16th century Codex Borbonicus

Codex Borbonicus

The Codex Borbonicus is an Aztec codex written by Aztec priests shortly before or after the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The codex is named after the Palais Bourbon in France. It is held at the Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale in Paris...

 (page 5), Codex Ríos

Codex Rios

Codex Ríos is an Italian translation and augmentation of a Spanish colonial-era manuscript, Codex Telleriano-Remensis, that is partially attributed to Pedro de los Ríos, a Dominican friar working in Oaxaca and Puebla between 1547 and 1562...

 (page 17), and the Florentine Codex

Florentine Codex

The Florentine Codex is the common name given to a 16th century ethnographic research project in Mesoamerica by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún. Bernardino originally titled it: La Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espana...

, (plate 11). When depicted in sculpture, she is often carved from green stone as befits her name.

In the ceremonial center of Tenochtitlan, several sculptural representations show the veneration that the natives had for frogs (Cueyatl or Cuiyatl.) Some of them can be seen at the museum of the Great Temple, others can be seen in their original context in the excavated ruins.

A 20 tonnes (22 ST) monolithic sculpture unearthed at Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...

, the dominant political power in the central Mexican region

Mexican Plateau

The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano or Altiplanicie Mexicana, is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico...

 during the Early Classic period (ca. 200–600 CE), is believed to represent a water goddess that is a potential prototype for the later Aztec deity Chalchiuhtlicue. The sculpture was excavated in the mid-19th century from the plaza forecourt of the Pyramid of the Moon

Pyramid of the Moon

The Pyramid of the Moon is the second largest pyramid in Teotihuacan after the Pyramid of the Sun. It is located in the western part of Teotihuacan and mimics the contours of the mountain Cerro Gordo, just north of the site...

 structure, and it is possible that the pyramid was dedicated—for at least some period of time—to this Teotihuacan water deity. The sculpture was relocated by Leopoldo Batres to Mexico City in 1889, where it is presently in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Antropología

Museo Nacional de Antropología

The Museo Nacional de Antropología is a national museum of Mexico. Located in the area between Paseo de la Reforma and Calle Mahatma Gandhi within Chapultepec Park in Mexico City, the museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Columbian heritage of...

.

Visual depiction

To her people, Chalchihuitlicue was seen as a flowing river, producing a prickly pear tree encumbered with a tremendous amount of fruit. The fruit was a symbol for the human hearts that were sacrificed to the goddess. Chalchihuitlicue's distinctive hairdressing denotes her status. Her headdress consisted of several broad bands that in all probability were made of cotton and trimmed with amaranth

Amaranth (disambiguation)

- Botany :* Amaranth, a genus of plants* Amaranth grain* Gomphrena or globe amaranth, genus of plants in the family Amaranthaceae* Purpleheart, also called "amaranth wood"- Colors :* Amaranth , a bright reddish crimson rose color...

 seeds. Large round tassels fell from the goddess's headdress. Chalchihuitlicue was viewed as beautiful lady whose clothing is that of a noble woman, which consisted of an extravagant shawl adorned with tassels and a green skirt. A stream of water, which usually included a baby from both genders, was often depicted flowing from of the goddess’ skirt. In addition, Chalchihuitlicue could also be seen carrying a cross

Cross

A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two lines or bars perpendicular to each other, dividing one or two of the lines in half. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally; if they run obliquely, the design is technically termed a saltire, although the arms of a saltire need not meet...

. For the Aztecs the cross was a symbol of fertility, and also stood for the four winds that brought the rain to water the crops.

Cult and rites

Five out of the twenty big celebrations in the native calendar were dedicated to Tlaloc and his wife Chalchiutlicue (the one having skirt of green stones), which symbolized waving water, floods and rivers. During these celebrations the priests dived into the lake and imitated the movements and the croaking of frogs, seeking to bring rain.

Chalchiutlicue presides over the day 5 Serpent and the trecena

Trecena

A trecena is a 13-day period used in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican calendars. The 260-day calendar was divided into 20 trecenas. Trecena is derived from the Spanish chroniclers and translates to 'a group of thirteen' in the same way that a dozen relates to the number twelve...

 of 1 Reed. She was connected with serpents, maize, and shells. She was responsible with bringing about good harvest to the crops. She was worshiped in marriage. Women who worshiped her would dedicate their nuptials to her. Chalchiutlicue was also held to be the guardian of the children and new born. The fathers would choose the best midwife to bring their child to the world. It was very important for them because the father was concerned about the well being of the mother and the baby, (many times the mother and the baby died in the process of giving birth) A midwife would speak to children who were being delivered as if they were adults, able to reason and understand, and then implore the gods that his birth insure a prime place among them. After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife would wash the new baby with customary greeting to the goddess of the sea Chalchiutlicue. Four days after the birth, the child was given a second bath and a name. According to the customs and tradition, the family and relatives prepared everything for the big celebration with food and drinks. The family of the baby would send for the midwife to lead the rite. After of the rising of the sun the midwife would place a bowl of water in the middle of the patio and hold the naked child with both hands. If the baby was a boy, he had a small shield, a bow and four little arrows; if the baby was a girl, she had a huipilli, distaff and a spindle. As reported by Sahagún's informants, the midwife would say in florid language: "My son, the gods Ometecutli and Omecioatl who realm in the ninth and tenth heavens, have begotten you in this light and brought you into this world full of calamity and pain take then this water, which will protect you life, in the name of the goddess Chalchiutlicue." Then with her right hand she would sprinkle water at the head of the child and say, "Behold this element without whose assistance no mortal being can survive." She also would sprinkle water on the breast of the baby saying, "Receive this celestial water that washes impurity from your heart." Then she would go again to the head and say, "Son receive this divine water, which must be drank that all may live that it may wash you and wash away all your misfortunes, part of the life since the beginning of the world: this water in truth has a unique power to oppose misfortune." At the end, she would wash the entire body of the little baby, "In which part of you is unhappiness hidden? Or in which part are you hiding? Leave this child, today, he is born again in the healthful waters in which he has been bathed, as mandated by the will of the god of the sea Chalchiutlicue."