Editing Coyolxāuhqui (section)

== Birth of Huītzilōpōchtli and Coyolxāuhqui's defeat at Coatepec ==
On the summit of [[Coatepec, Veracruz|Coatepec]] ("Serpent Mountain") sat a shrine for Coatlicue, the maternal Earth deity. One day, as she swept her shrine, a ball of hummingbird feathers fell from the sky. She "snatched them up; she placed them at her waist."<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Florentine Codex Book 3|last=Sahagún|first=Bernadino|year=1569}}</ref> Thus, she became pregnant with the deity Huītzilōpōchtli.

Her miraculous pregnancy embarrassed Coatlicue's other children, including her eldest daughter, Coyolxāuhqui. Hearing of her pregnancy, the Centzonhuītznāhua, led by Coyolxāuhqui, decided to kill Coatlicue. As they prepared for battle and gathered at the base of Coatepec, one of the Centzonhuītznāhua, Quauitlicac, warned Huītzilōpōchtli of the attack while he was in utero. Hearing of the attack, the pregnant {{lang|nci|Cōātlīcue|italic=no}} miraculously gave birth to a fully grown and armed Huītzilōpōchtli who sprang from her womb, wielding "his shield, ''teueuelli'', and his darts and his blue dart thrower, called ''xinatlatl''."<ref name=":1" />

Huītzilōpōchtli killed {{lang|nci|Coyolxāuhqui|italic=no}}, beheading her and throwing her body down the side of Coatepec: "He pierced Coyolxauhqui, and then quickly struck off her head. It stopped there at the edge of Coatepetl. And her body came falling below; it fell breaking to pieces; in various places her arms, her legs, her body each fell."<ref name=":1" /> As for his brothers, the Centzonhuītznāhua, he scattered them in all directions from the top of Coatepec. He pursued them relentlessly, and those who escaped went south.<ref name=":1" />

Some authors have written that Huītzilōpōchtli tossed Coyolxāuhqui's head into the sky, where it became the [[Moon]], so that his mother would be comforted in seeing her daughter in the sky every night, and that her scattered brothers became the Southern Star deities.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Aztecs: The History of the Indies of New Spain|last=Durán|first=Fray Diego|publisher=Orion Press|year=1964|editor-last=Heyden|editor-first=Doris|page=347|editor-last2=Horcasitas|editor-first2=Fernando}}</ref> It is difficult to verify these variations of the narrative with 16th century sources.
=== Imagery in Poses ===
The Templo Mayor stone disk served as a cautionary sign to foes of Tenochtitlán. This is exemplified by the dismemberment of her body and its restraints. <ref name=":5" />

The display of Coyolxāuhqui's severed head served this same purpose differently, as it was different than the typical full-body sculptures and art created by the Mexica. 

=== Identifying Elements ===
Gold ornaments adorn the face of Coyolxāuhqui in the form of earrings and bell pendants. The ear ornaments have trapeze-ray signs symbolic of the tail of [[Xiuhcoatl]], the fire serpent.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pillsbury |first=Joanne |title=Golden Kingdoms Luxury Arts in the Ancient Americas |last2=Potts |first2=Timothy |last3=Richter |first3=Kim |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |year=2017 |pages=264}}</ref> This makes them identifiers as they create a direct tie to Huītzilōpōchtli, who used Xiuhcoatl as his weapon.