Coatlicue vs Coyolxauhqui

Earth mother goddess who gave birth to the moon, stars, and Huitzilopochtli. Depicted wearing a skirt of writhing serpents and a necklace of human hearts and hands.

While sweeping a temple on Coatepec, a ball of feathers fell on her and she became miraculously pregnant with Huitzilopochtli. Her other children plotted to kill her, but Huitzilopochtli was born fully armed and defended her.

Coatlicue, meaning "She of the Serpent Skirt," was the primordial **earth mother goddess** of the Aztecs, embodying both the terror and the nurturing power of the earth itself. Her famous statue in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City depicts her with a skirt of writhing serpents, a necklace of human hearts, hands, and skulls, clawed feet, and two serpent heads forming her face - representing the duality of life and death.

The moon goddess, daughter of Coatlicue and leader of the 400 stars. Coyolxauhqui was slain and dismembered by her brother Huitzilopochtli at his miraculous birth, her defeat reenacted at every sunrise.

Coyolxauhqui was born to Coatlicue along with her 400 brothers, the stars. When her mother became pregnant through miraculous means, Coyolxauhqui led her brothers to kill her, but Huitzilopochtli was born at that moment and slew his sister, casting her dismembered body from the mountaintop.

Coyolxauhqui ("She of the Bells on Her Cheeks") was the Aztec **moon goddess** and daughter of the earth mother **Coatlicue**. Her name comes from the golden bells (coyolli) she wore on her face. Her violent dismemberment by her brother Huitzilopochtli is one of the central myths of Aztec religion.