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Cihuacoatl, Aztec Motherhood and Fertility Goddess

In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl was one of a number of motherhood and fertility goddesses. Cihuacoatl was especially associated with midwives, and with the sweatbaths where midwives practiced. She is paired with Quilaztli and was considered a protectress of the Chalmeca people and patroness of the city of Culhuacan. She helped Quetzalcoatl create the current race of humanity by grinding up bones from the previous ages, and mixing it with his blood. She is often shown as a fierce skull-faced old woman carrying the spears and shield of a warrior. Childbirth was sometimes compared to warfare and the women who died in childbirth were honored as fallen warriors. Image taken from page 124 of "Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican: or historical, geographical, political, statistical and social account of that country from the period of the invasion to the present time" by Brantz Mayer, 1852.
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Title:
Cihuacoatl, Aztec Motherhood and Fertility Goddess
Caption:
In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl was one of a number of motherhood and fertility goddesses. Cihuacoatl was especially associated with midwives, and with the sweatbaths where midwives practiced. She is paired with Quilaztli and was considered a protectress of the Chalmeca people and patroness of the city of Culhuacan. She helped Quetzalcoatl create the current race of humanity by grinding up bones from the previous ages, and mixing it with his blood. She is often shown as a fierce skull-faced old woman carrying the spears and shield of a warrior. Childbirth was sometimes compared to warfare and the women who died in childbirth were honored as fallen warriors. Image taken from page 124 of "Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican: or historical, geographical, political, statistical and social account of that country from the period of the invasion to the present time" by Brantz Mayer, 1852.
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Image size:
3166 x 4500 px | 40.8 MB
Print size:
26.8 x 38.1 cm | 10.6 x 15.0 in (300 dpi)
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