Chalchihuitlicue
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| Chalchihuitlicue | ||
|---|---|---|
| Petticoat | ||
| Aliases | Goddess of the Jade Petticoat, She of the Jade Skirt | |
| Alignment | 2E: Chaotic Good 3E: Neutral Good |
|
| Divine Rank | 2E: Intermediate Goddess 3E: Lesser Goddess |
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| Pantheon | Aztec | |
| Portfolio | 2E: Children, flowing water, love 3E: Beauty, water, youth |
|
| Domains | 2E: All, Charm, Creation, Divination, Healing, Guardian, Protection, Weather 3E: Good, Healing, Luck, Water |
|
| Home Plane | Prime Material, Tlalocan (Arcadia) | |
| Worshippers | Farmers, lovers | |
| Favoured Weapon | 2E: Dagger 3E: Trident |
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Chalchiuhtlicue is an Aztec deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, ritual baptism, and childbirth. Chalchiuhtlicue belongs to a larger group of Aztec rain gods and she is closely related to another Aztec water god, Chalchiuhtlatonal. She is related to or married to Tlaloc.
Historical Rites and rituals
Five of the twenty big celebrations in the Aztec calendar were dedicated to Chalchiutlicue and Tlaloc. During these celebrations, priests dove into a lake and imitated the movements and the croaking of frogs, hoping to bring rain.
Chalchiutlicue presides over the day 5 Serpent and the trecena of 1 Reed. Her feast is celebrated in the ventena of Etzalqualiztli (6th month in the Aztec calendar). As she is associated with the fertility of both people and land, the Aztecs asked Chalchiutlicue for a good harvest of crops. It is important to note that the Aztecs first began to use maize under her reign, which became a paramount staple to the Aztec diet and economy.
A series of ritualistic ceremonies were performed and dedicated to Chalchiuhtlicue and other childbirth/water deities called Atlcahualo. These ceremonies last for most of February.
"And sometimes she sank men in the water; she drowned them. The water was restless: the waves roared; they dashed and resounded. The water was wild."
Childbirth
Chalchiutlicue was the guardian of the children and newborns. When children fell ill healers would call on the goddess as they practiced hydromancy in order to find the tonalli (spirits) of sick children. As mothers and babies often died in the process of childbirth, the role of the midwife was also of utmost importance in the process. During labor the midwife would speak to the newborn and ask the gods that the baby's birth ensure a prime place among them. After cutting the umbilical cord, the midwife would wash the new baby with customary greetings to Chalchiutlicue. Four days after the birth, the child was given a second bath and a name.
Midwives have their own diety, Tlazolteotl, who presides over steam baths, purification, sin, and was the patroness of adulterers. Although the two goddesses often overlapped, they are not the same.
Historical Mythology
In Aztec religion, Chalchiuitlicue helps Tlaloc to rule the paradisial kingdom of Tlalocan. Chalchiutlicue brings fertility to crops and is thought to protect women and children.
Chalchiuhtlicue once ate the sun and the moon. She is often associated with serpents, as most Aztec water deities are. It is thought that her association with water and fertility is directly associated with the womb and water. She often held a dual role in Aztec mythology, as both a life-giver and life-ender. In the Aztec creation myth of the Five Suns, Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the Fourth Sun, or the fourth creation of the world. It is believed that Chalchiuhtlicue retaliated against Tlaloc's mistreatment of her by releasing 52 years of rain, causing a giant flood which caused the Fourth Sun to be destroyed; in another version of this story, the flood is caused by her crying tears of blood because Tezcatlipoca hurt her feelings. She built a bridge linking heaven and earth and those who were in Chalchiuhtlicue's good graces were allowed to traverse it, while others were turned into fish. Following the flood, the Fifth Sun, the world which we now occupy, developed.
The Pyramid of the Moon is a large pyramid located in Teotihuacán, the dominant political power in the central Mexican region during the Early Classic period. The pyramid is thought to have been at one point dedicated to Chalchiutlicue. It accompanies The Pyramid of the Sun, which is thought to have been dedicated to Chalchiutlicue's husband, Tlaloc.
In the mid 19th century, archaeologists unearthed a 20-ton monolithic sculpture depicting a water goddess that is believed to be Chalchiuhtlicue from underneath The Pyramid of the Moon plaza.