Editing Ixchel (section)

==Cult of Ixchel==
In the early 16th century, Maya women seeking to ensure a fruitful marriage would travel to the sanctuary of Ix Chel on the island of [[Cozumel]], the most important place of pilgrimage after [[Chichen Itza]], off the east coast of the Yucatán peninsula. There, a priest hidden in a large statue would give [[oracles]].<ref>Tozzer 1941: 109-110n500</ref> To the north of Cozumel is a much smaller island baptized by its Spanish discoverer, [[Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (discoverer of Yucatán)|Hernández de Córdoba]], the "Island of Women" ([[Isla Mujeres]]), "on account of the idols representing the Goddesses of the country which he found there, such as Ixchel, Ix Chekel Yax, Ixhunie, Ixhunieta. They were clothed from the waist down and had their breasts covered, as is the custom of Indian women."<ref>Tozzer 1941: 9-10</ref> On the other side of the peninsula, the head town of the [[Chontal Maya people|Chontal province]] of [[Acalan]] (Itzamkanac) venerated Ixchel as one its main deities. One of Acalan's coastal settlements was called Tixchel "At the place of Ixchel". The Spanish conqueror, [[Hernán Cortés]], tells us about another place in Acalan where unmarried young women were sacrificed to a goddess in whom "they had much faith and hope", possibly again Ixchel.<ref>Ixchel in Acalan, see Scholes and Roys 1968: 57; 383, 395</ref>