What do Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui have in common?

They share no domain in this atlas: Coatlicue holds earth, fertility, life, death, while Coyolxauhqui holds moon, night, stars, warfare.

Which traditions do they belong to?

Both belong to the Aztec Pantheon.

Side by side

Coatlicue vs Coyolxauhqui

Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui are recorded in a parent-and-child line within the Aztec Pantheon.

At a glance

Aztec Pantheon

tradition

Aztec Pantheon

earth, fertility, life, death

domains

moon, night, stars, warfare

serpent skirt, skull necklace, clawed hands

symbols

copper bells, severed limbs, crescent moon, dismembered body

She of the Serpent Skirt, Teteoh Innan

also called

She of the Bells on Her Cheeks, Golden Bells

Where they meet

The atlas records no shared domain or symbol between them. What connects them is elsewhere: Coatlicue and Coyolxauhqui are recorded in a parent-and-child line within the Aztec Pantheon.

Where they part

Coatlicue alone

earth, fertility, life, death

Coyolxauhqui alone

moon, night, stars, warfare

How each was worshipped

Coatlicue

Cult sites: Templo Mayor as mother of Huitzilopochtli, Teteoinnan shrines in the Mexica calendar.

Festivals: Linked to mother-goddess days rather than a feast in her name alone.

The serpent-skirt statue is a temple object, not a parlour icon. Her cult is the earth that eats and feeds, tied to Coatepec and the war god's birth.

Coyolxauhqui

Cult sites: The great disk at the foot of Templo Mayor.

She is the dismembered moon on the stairs, a warning more than a goddess you petition. Cult evidence is the sculpture and the myth of Coatepec, not a living priesthood in her name.

Coatlicue

Aztec Pantheon

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.

Read the full Coatlicue entry

Coyolxauhqui

Aztec Pantheon

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.

Read the full Coyolxauhqui entry

Compare something else

Build your own comparison

Preparing comparison data...

At a glance

Aztec Pantheon

tradition

Aztec Pantheon

earth, fertility, life, death

domains

moon, night, stars, warfare

serpent skirt, skull necklace, clawed hands

symbols

copper bells, severed limbs, crescent moon, dismembered body

She of the Serpent Skirt, Teteoh Innan

also called

She of the Bells on Her Cheeks, Golden Bells

How each was worshipped

Coatlicue

Cult sites: Templo Mayor as mother of Huitzilopochtli, Teteoinnan shrines in the Mexica calendar.

Festivals: Linked to mother-goddess days rather than a feast in her name alone.

The serpent-skirt statue is a temple object, not a parlour icon. Her cult is the earth that eats and feeds, tied to Coatepec and the war god's birth.

Coyolxauhqui

Cult sites: The great disk at the foot of Templo Mayor.

She is the dismembered moon on the stairs, a warning more than a goddess you petition. Cult evidence is the sculpture and the myth of Coatepec, not a living priesthood in her name.