Editing Chalchiuhtlicue

{{Short description|Aztec goddess of water, seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, rain, storms, and baptism}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Aztec
| name = Chalchiuhtlicue
| image = Chalchiuhtlicue from Codex Borbonicus.jpg
| alt = 300px
| caption = Chalchiutlicue in the [[Codex Borbonicus]] (page 5)
| god_of = Goddess of Water, Seas, Oceans, Rivers, Lakes, Streams, and Baptism
| other_names = Iztac-Chalchiuhtlicue, Matlalcueye
| member_of = Aztec gods 
| abode = {{plainlist|
* [[Tlalocan]]<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
* [[Thirteen Heavens|Ilhuicatl-Meztli]] ([[Thirteen Heavens|1st Heaven]])<ref name="NahoaMythology">{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|lang=spanish|pages=567, 568, 569, 570, 571}}</ref>
*[[Gulf of Mexico|Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl]] ([[Gulf of Mexico]])<ref name="NahoaMythology"/>
}}
| symbol = 
| parents = Created by the [[Tezcatlipocas]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|lang=spanish|pages=351}}</ref> (Codex Zumarraga)
| siblings = None
| consort = [[Tlaloc]]
| children = {{plainlist|
* With Tlaloc: the [[Tlaloque]] (Nappatecuhtli, Tomiyauhtecuhtli, Opochtli, Yauhtli)<ref name="NahoaMythology"/> and [[Huixtocihuatl]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Cecilio A. Robelo|title=Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa|url=|date=1905|publisher=Editorial Porrúa|isbn=970-07-3149-9|lang=spanish|pages=206, 207}}</ref>
* With Tonatiuh: [[Centzon Mimixcoa]] (Leyenda de los Soles)
}}
| gender = [[Female]]
| region = [[Mesoamerica]]
| ethnic_group = [[Aztec]], [[Tlaxcaltec]] ([[Nahua]])
| festivals = 
| Greek_equivalent = [[Poseidon]]
}}
[[File:Chalchiuhtlicue.jpg|thumb|Chalchiuhtlicue, unknown Aztec artist, 1200–1521, gray basalt, red ochre. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2009.33]]

'''Chalchiuhtlicue''' {{IPA|nah|t͡ʃaːɬt͡ʃiwˈt͡ɬikʷeː|}} (from ''chālchihuitl'' {{IPA|nah|t͡ʃaːɬˈt͡ʃiwit͡ɬ|}} "jade" and ''cuēitl'' {{IPA|nah|kʷeːit͡ɬ|}} "skirt") (also spelled Chalciuhtlicue, Chalchiuhcueye, or Chalcihuitlicue) ("She of the Jade Skirt") is an [[Aztec mythology|Aztec]] deity of water, rivers, seas, streams, storms, and baptism.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Chalchiuhtlicue is associated with fertility, and she is the patroness of childbirth.<ref>Read & González 2002: 140–142</ref> Chalchiuhtlicue was highly revered in Aztec culture at the time of the [[Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire|Spanish conquest]], and she was an important deity figure in the [[Postclassic period|Postclassic]] [[Aztec Empire|Aztec]] realm of central Mexico.<ref>According to the 16th-century [[Dominican friar]] and historian [[Diego Durán]]. "Universally revered" is quoted from his ''Book of the Gods and Rites'', written 1574-1576 and published in English translation (Durán 1971: 261), as cited by Read & González 2002: 141.</ref> Chalchiuhtlicue belongs to a larger group of Aztec rain gods,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Florentine Codex: General history of the things of New Spain: Book I, the Gods|last=Sahagún|first=Bernardino de|date=1970|publisher=School of American Research|others=Anderson, Arthur J. O., Dibble, Charles E.|isbn=9780874800005|edition=2nd, rev|location=Santa Fe, New Mexico|pages=6|oclc=877854386}}</ref> and she is closely related to another Aztec water god called [[Chalchiuhtlatonal]].<ref>Miller & Taube 1993: 60; Taube 1993: 32–35.</ref>

==Religious significance==
Chalchiuitlicue directly translates to "Jade her skirt"; however, her name is most commonly interpreted as "she of the jade skirt."<ref name=":2" /> She was also known as '''Chalchiuhtlatonac''' (chalchihu[itl]-tla-tona-c) "She who shines like jade" and '''Matlalcueye''' "Possessor of the Blue Skirt" by the [[Tlaxcaltec|Tlaxcalans]], an indigenous group who inhabited the republic of [[Tlaxcala (Nahua state)|Tlaxcala]].<ref name="AztecDeity">{{cite journal |last1=Dehouve |first1=Danièle |title=The Rules of Construction of an Aztec Deity: Chalchiuhtlicue, The Goddess of Water |journal=Cambridge University Press |year=2020 |volume=31 |pages=7–28 |doi=10.1017/S0956536118000056 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Chalchiuitlicue was the wife or sister of the Aztec god of rain [[Tlaloc]], depending on the text. Tlaloc and Chalchiuitlicue share similar attributes as they are both water deities; however, Chalchiuitlicue was often associated with groundwater, unlike Tlaloc.<ref name="AztecDeity" /> She was also the mother of the Aztec moon god [[Tecciztecatl]]. In other texts, she was the wife of [[Xiuhtecuhtli]], who was a senior deity for the Aztecs.<ref name="Schwartz, David A.">{{cite book |last1=Schwartz |first1=David A. |title=Maternal Death and Pregnancy-Related Morbidity Among Indigenous Women of Mexico and Central America |date=2018 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-319-71537-7 |pages=11–33 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y053PeFmS5UC&q=Mesoamerican+Mythology:+A+Guide+to+the+Gods,+Heroes,+Rituals,+and+Beliefs+of+.&pg=PR11|title=Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America|last1=Read|first1=Kay Almere|last2=Gonzalez|first2=Jason J.|date=2002-06-13|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=9780195149098|pages=142|language=en}}</ref>

According to myths, Chalchiuhtlicue once ate the sun and the moon. She is often associated with serpents, as most Aztec water deities are.<ref name="Schwartz, David A." /> It is thought that her association with water and fertility speaks to the Aztecs' association with the womb and water. She often withheld a dual role in Aztec mythology as both a life-giver and life-ender.<ref>Miller & Taube 1993: 60</ref> 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.<ref>Taube 1993: 34–35</ref> 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 developed. The Fifth Sun is the world which we now occupy. During her reign the Aztecs first began to use maize, which became a paramount staple in their diet and economy.<ref name="Schwartz, David A." />

Chalchiutlicue was associated with the many fasciates of water as well as being credited with being involved with the death of those who died in drowning accidents.<ref name=":0" />

In addition to water-related deaths, Chalchiuhtlicue presided over birth rituals, bathing of sacrificial victims and ceremonial actors, judiciary purification, royal investiture, and the recycling of ritual waste.<ref name="AztecDeity" />

Chalchiuhtlicue was often depicted as "a river, out of which grew a prickly pear cactus laden with fruit, which symbolized the human heart." (Schwartz 2018, 14). She was believed to be the personification of youth, beauty, and zeal, although she should not be confused with [[Tlazolteotl]] (also known as Ixucuina or Tlaelquani), who was the Aztec goddess of midwives, steam baths, purification, sin, and was the patroness of adulterers. Although the two goddesses often overlapped, they were distinct from one another.<ref name="Schwartz, David A." />

==Archaeological records==
[[File:Chalchiuhtlicue copy.jpg|thumb|Chalchiuhtlicue in [[Codex Borgia]], page 65. Chalchiuhtlicue pictured at right.]]

Chalchiutlicue is depicted in several central Mexican manuscripts, including the [[Pre-Columbian]] [[Codex Borgia]] (plates 11 and 65), the 16th century [[Codex Borbonicus]] (page 5), the 16th century [[Codex Ríos]] (page 17), and the [[Florentine Codex]] (plate 11). When represented through sculpture, Chalchiutlicue is often carved from green stone in accordance with her name.

[[Pyramid of the Moon|The Pyramid of the Moon]] is a large pyramid located in Teotihuacán, the dominant political power in the [[Mexican Plateau|central Mexican region]] during the [[Mesoamerican chronology#Classic Era|Early Classic period]] (ca. 200–600 CE). 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. The sculpture was excavated from the plaza forecourt of the [[Pyramid of the Moon]] structure. The sculpture was relocated by [[Leopoldo Batres]] to Mexico City in 1889, where it is presently in the collection of the [[Museo Nacional de Antropología]].<ref>Berlo 1992: 138; Pasztory 1997: 87–89.</ref>
[[File:Teotihuacán - Chalchiuhtlicue.jpg|thumb|Statue of Chalchiuhtlicue (or other water goddess) from the [[Pyramid of the Moon]]|alt=|left]]

==Visual representations==
Chalchihuitlicue wears a distinctive headdress, which consists of several broad, likely cotton bands trimmed with [[amaranth (disambiguation)|amaranth]] seeds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/HD/azss/hod_00.5.72.htm |title=Water Deity (Chalchihuitlicue) &#91;Mexico; Aztec&#93; (00.5.72) &#124; Object Page &#124; Timeline of Art History &#124; the Metropolitan Museum of Art |access-date=2008-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070315221220/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/azss/hod_00.5.72.htm |archive-date=2007-03-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Large round tassels fall from either side of the headdress. Chalchihuitlicue typically wears a shawl adorned with tassels and a skirt. She is often depicted sitting with a stream of water flowing out of or from behind her skirt.

In the [[Codex Borbonicus]] (page 5), Chalchihuitlicue wears an elaborate blue and white headdress. She sits on a red stool and a stream of water flows out from the bottom of her stool. A male baby and female baby, who are depicted as if swimming, are carried in the water.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Codex Borbonicus|pages=5}}</ref>

In the [[Codex Borgia]] (page 65), Chalchihuitlicue sits on a red throne and a river flows outwards from behind her body. Two figures stand in the water and Chalchihuitlicue gesticulates out towards them. She wears an elaborate yellow headdress.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Codex Borgia|pages=65}}</ref>

==Rites and rituals==
Five of the 20 big celebrations in the [[Aztec calendar]] were dedicated to Chalchiutlicue and her husband (or brother) 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''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Florentine Codex|last=Sahagun|first=Bernardino de|publisher=University of Utah Press|year=1970|isbn=0874800005|pages=6|quote=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.}}</ref> She is associated with the fertility of both people and land, and the Aztecs asked Chalchiutlicue for a good harvest of crops.

A series of ritualistic ceremonies were performed and dedicated to Chalchiuhtlicue and other childbirth/water deities called Atlcahualo. These ceremonies would last the entire month of February.<ref name="Schwartz, David A." />

===Childbirth===
Chalchiutlicue was the guardian of the children and newborns. When children fell ill, healers called on the goddess as they practiced [[hydromancy]] in order to find the ''[[tonalli]]'' (spirits) of sick children.<ref>Olivier, Guilhem, and Susan Romanosky. "Chalchiuhtlicue." In [[David Carrasco|Davíd Carrasco]] (ed). [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001/acref-9780195108156 ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures''.] Vol 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|9780195188431|}}</ref> She also played a central role in the process of childbirth. Mothers and babies often died in the process of childbirth; the role of the midwife was also of utmost importance in the process.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hernández |first1=Francisco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TKE_J2M6P-8C&dq=Chalchiutlicue+rites&pg=PA68 |title=The Mexican Treasury: The Writings of Dr. Francisco Hernández |last2=Varey |first2=Simon |last3=Chabrán |first3=Rafael |date=2000 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-3963-4 |language=en}}</ref> During labor, the midwife spoke 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 washed the new baby with customary greetings to Chalchiutlicue.<ref name=":3" /> Four days after the birth, the child was given a second bath and a name.

As reported by Sahagún's informants, the midwife said, "The gods [[Ometecutli]] and Omecioatl who realm in the ninth and tenth heavens, have begotten you in this light and brought you into this world full of calamity and pain take then this water, which will protect you life, in the name of the goddess Chalchiutlicue."<ref name=":3" /> She then sprinkled water at the head of the child and said, "Behold this element without whose assistance no mortal being can survive." She also sprinkled water on the breast of the baby while saying, "Receive this celestial water that washes impurity from your heart."  She then went to the head and said, "Son, receive this divine water, which must be drank that all may live that it may wash you and wash away all your misfortunes, part of the life since the beginning of the world: this water in truth has a unique power to oppose misfortune." Finally, the midwife washed the entire body of the baby and said, "In which part of you is unhappiness hidden? Or in which part are you hiding? Leave this child, today, he is born again in the healthful waters in which he has been bathed, as mandated by the will of the god of the sea Chalchiutlicue."<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|title=Florentine Codex: general history of the things of New Spain, Book 6: Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy|last=Sahagún|first=Bernardino de|publisher=School of American Research|year=1970|pages=175}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of water deities]]
* [[Creation myth]]
* [[Codex Borgia]]
* [[Chicomecoatl]]
* [[Aztec religion]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |author=Berlo, Janet Catherine |author-link=Janet Catherine Berlo |year=1992 |chapter=Icons and Ideologies at Teotihuacan: The Great Goddess Reconsidered|editor=Janet Catherine Berlo|title=Art, Ideology, and the City of Teotihuacan: A Symposium at Dumbarton Oaks, 8 and 9 October 1988 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection]] |pages=129–168|isbn=0-88402-205-6 |oclc=25547129}}
* {{cite book |author=Durán, Diego |author-link=Diego Durán |year=1971 |orig-year=1574–79 |title=Book of the Gods and Rites ''and'' The Ancient Calendar |others=Translated and edited by Fernando Horcasitas and [[Doris Heyden]], with a Foreword by [[Miguel León-Portilla]] |edition=translation of ''Libro de los dioses y ritos'' and ''El calendario antiguo'', 1st English |series=Civilization of the American Indian series, no. 102 |location=Norman |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=0-8061-0889-4 |oclc=149976}}
* Olivier, Guilhem, and Susan Romanosky. "Chalchiuhtlicue." In [[David L. Carrasco|Davíd Carrasco]] (ed). [https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001/acref-9780195108156 ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'']. Vol 1. New York : Oxford University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|9780195188431}}
* {{cite book |author=Miller, Mary |author-link=Mary Miller (art historian) |author2=Karl Taube |year=1993 |title=The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |location=London |isbn=0-500-05068-6 |oclc=27667317 |url=https://archive.org/details/godssymbolsofa00mill |author2-link=Karl Taube }}
* {{cite book |author=Pasztory, Esther |author-link=Esther Pasztory |year=1997 |title=Teotihuacan: An Experiment in Living |others=foreword by Enrique Florescano |location=Norman |publisher=[[University of Oklahoma Press]] |isbn=0-292-76597-5 |oclc=56405008 |url=https://archive.org/details/thinkingwiththin00pasz_0 }}
* {{cite book |author=Read, Kay Almere |author2=Jason J. González |year=2002 |title=Handbook of Mesoamerican Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs of Mexico and Central America |location=Oxford and New York |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-514909-2 |oclc=77857686 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mesoamericanmyth0000read }}
* {{cite book |author=Taube, Karl A. |author-link=Karl Taube |year=1993 |title=Aztec and Maya Myths |edition=4th University of Texas printing |location=Austin |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=0-292-78130-X |oclc=29124568 |url=https://archive.org/details/aztecmayamyths00taub }}

{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Chalchiuhtlicue}}

{{Aztec mythology}}

[[Category:Aztec goddesses]]
[[Category:Aztec mythology and religion]]
[[Category:Sea and river goddesses]]
[[Category:Childhood goddesses]]
[[Category:Water goddesses]]
[[Category:Snake goddesses]]
[[Category:Sky and weather goddesses]]