Coatlicue: The Mother of the Serpent Skirt

The Womb of Stone and Blood

Before the world took the shape we know today, the earth was a hungry and colossal force that demanded to be appeased. From that very earth arose Coatlicue, she of the serpent skirt, a monumental presence embodying both the origin of life and the abyss of the grave. Her appearance is not meant to inspire serene devotion, but rather a reverent trembling. Coatlicue does not have a human face; instead, two gigantic rattlesnakes meet face-to-face where her head should be, joined in an eternal gush of blood that represents the duality of the cosmos. Her neck is adorned with a heavy necklace of human hands and hearts, a tribute from those who have returned to her, and her hands are sharp claws ready to tear apart and sow at the same time.

She is the womb from which all living things spring and, at the same time, the open mouth of the ground that devours corpses to transform them into fertile dust. In her skirt, vipers intertwine alive, hissing in unison with every step she takes upon the summit of Coatepec, the sacred mountain. For Coatlicue, creation is not an act of peaceful love, but a violent and painful birth that demands a constant tribute of life force.

The Tempest on the Sacred Mountain

Coatlicue's existence changed forever the day she was performing her penance duties in the temple of Coatepec. While she was sweeping the altars, a beautiful hummingbird feather fell from the sky, and she, fascinated by its bluish sheen, tucked it gently into her bosom. Upon finishing her labor, she looked for the feather, but it had disappeared; in its place, she felt a sudden warmth growing in her womb. She was pregnant with the god of war, Huitzilopochtli.

Upon learning of her mother's pregnancy, her firstborn daughter, Coyolxauhqui, the goddess of the moon, felt an unbearable humiliation. She summoned her four hundred brothers, the southern stars, and armed them to march against the sacred hill with the intention of beheading Coatlicue and erasing the affront. The mountain trembled beneath the tread of the stellar host. At the summit, Coatlicue wept, fearing for her life, but from the depths of her womb, a deep and warrior-like voice consoled her, telling her not to fear.

At the exact instant Coyolxauhqui reached the summit with her weapon raised, Coatlicue's womb tore open with the roar of thunder. Huitzilopochtli was born fully grown, clad for battle, wielding the fire serpent, the Xiuhcoatl. With a single devastating strike, the solar god beheaded his sister Coyolxauhqui and cast her body down the mountain, dismembering it in the fall, while he pursued and scattered the southern stars. Coatlicue beheld the massacre with horror and relief, knowing that the light of day had just been born from the pain of her own broken body.

The Devourer of the End of Times

Despite her role as the mother of the sun, Coatlicue remains in the shadows of the earth, waiting. She is not a deity to whom one turns for easy comfort. She is revered with the understanding that every grain of corn that feeds mankind is a loan from her body, and that sooner or later, she will reclaim the debt. Her presence is felt in the earthquakes that crack the ground and in the stillness of graves carved into the rock. She is the constant reminder that life and death are not enemies, but rather the two heads of the same serpent biting its tail at the center of the universe.