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Coatlicue



Drawing from a monumental stone sculpture of the goddess Coatlicue.
Click on image for full size (146K GIF)
Coatlicue, whose name means "Serpent Skirt," was the Earth goddess of the Aztecs. Aztecs were an ancient civilization living in Mexico. Coatlicue wore a skirt of snakes and had sharp claws in her hands and feet. Her husband was Mixcoatl, the cloud serpent and god of the chase.

Coatlicue was the mother of the god Huitzilopochtli. She gave birth to Huitzilopochtli after a ball of feathers fell into the temple where she was sweeping.

Her other children did not like this, and tried to kill her. However, Huitzilopochtli saved his mother just in time. Huitzilopochtli cut off the head of his sister, Coyolxauhqui and threw it into the sky to become the Moon.


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Last modified March 19, 1997 by the Windows Team

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