Turquoise Serpent

Coatlicue
(Aztec)1. THE MYTH OF COATLICUE (Earth Monster): In the darkness and chaos before the Creation, the female Earth Monster swam in the waters of the earth devouring all that she saw. When the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca decided to impose form upon the Earth, they changed themselves into serpents and struggled with the Earth Monster until they broke her in two. Coatlicue's lower part then rose to form the heavens and her upper part descended to form the earth. Coatlicue has an endless, ravenous appetite for human hearts and will not bear fruit unless given human blood. One day while performing penance and sweeping at Coatepec, the chaste and pious Coatlicue discovers a ball of feathers. Wanting to save the precious feathers, Coatlicue places them in her waistband. However, when she later looks for the ball of feathers, it is gone. Unknown to her at the time, the feathers had impregnated her with the seed of Huitzilopochtli. Gradually Coatlicue grows in size until her sons, the Centzon Huitznahua, notice that she is with child . Enraged and shamed, they furiously demand to know the father. Their elder sister, Coyolxauhqui, decides that they must slay their mother. The news of her children's intentions terrifies the pregnant goddess, but the child within her womb consoles Coatlicue, assuring her that he is already aware and ready. Dressed in the raiment of warriors, the Centzon Huitznahua follow Coyolxauhqui to Coatepec. When her raging children reach the crest of the mountain, Coatlicue gives birth to Huitzilopochtli fully armed. Wielding his burning weapon, known as the Xiuhcoatl or Turquoise Serpent, he slays Coyolxauhqui and, cut to pieces, her body tumbles to the base of Coatepec.

2. Another MYTH of COATLICUE: "Mother of Gods": Earth goddess. Coatlicue conceived Quetzalcoatl, God of creation, after keeping in her bosom a ball of hummingbird feathers (the soul of a fallen warrior) that dropped from the sky. Quetzalcoatl, with Tezcatlipoca, pulled her down from the heavens, and in the form of great serpents, ripped her into two pieces to form the earth and sky. Coatlicue was known as "The Mother of Gods", "The Devourer of Filth", "Our Grandmother". She wears a skirt made of braided serpents secured by another serpent and a necklace of human hands and hearts with a human skull. Her feet and hands are adorned with claws. Coatlicue was seen as an insatiable deity feasting on the corpses of men. Her breasts are depicted as hanging flaccid from nursing. Also known as Teteoinan, (Teteo Inan), "The Mother of Gods", gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli (the Sun god). She was also known as Toci, "Our Grandmother", and known as Cihuacoatl, patron of women who die in childbirth. Cihuacoatl was transformed into modern Mexican culture as La Llorona, "The Weeping Woman", said to carry the body of a dead child and weep at night in city streets.   Information taken from:   Pantheons/Central America

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Virginia