Mesoamerican Pantheon
Chalchiuhtlicue
Also known as She of the Jade Skirt, Matlalcueye
- water
- rivers
- lakes
- fertility
- childbirth
The Aztec goddess of flowing water, rivers, and lakes. Consort of Tlaloc, Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the Fourth Sun before its destruction by flood. She is the patron of newborns and purification.
About Chalchiuhtlicue
She of the Jade Skirt
Chalchiuhtlicue ("She of the Jade Skirt") is the Aztec goddess of flowing water: rivers, streams, lakes, and seas. While Tlaloc rules rain from the sky, Chalchiuhtlicue governs water upon the earth.
The Fourth Sun
Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the Fourth Sun (Nahui-Atl, the Water Sun) which ended in a catastrophic flood.
Goddess of Childbirth
Chalchiuhtlicue was patron of newborn infants and midwives. Babies were ritually bathed and dedicated to her.
Purification
Water was the element of purification in Aztec religion. Warriors, priests, and all people sought spiritual cleansing through water.
The Whirlpool
Chalchiuhtlicue had a dangerous aspect as well. She could send floods and create whirlpools. Those who drowned went to Tlalocan, suggesting drowning could be a blessed fate.
Origin story
Chalchiuhtlicue was among the primordial deities who participated in the creation. She became consort of Tlaloc and ruled over the Fourth Sun until its destruction.
Across traditions
Parallel figures
Figures who play a role like Chalchiuhtlicue's in other traditions.
GreekPoseidonIllustrationBoth rule over waterways, though Chalchiuhtlicue focuses on freshwater
Compare Chalchiuhtlicue and Poseidon side by side
HinduGangaIllustrationBoth are river goddesses associated with purification
Compare Chalchiuhtlicue and Ganga side by side
Worship and cult
Temples, festivals, and practices recorded for Chalchiuhtlicue
Jade-her-skirt. Standing water, birth, and drowning. Infants and lakes belong to her. The cult is wet, not solar.
Sacred sites
- Water shrines; sister-wife of Tlaloc at Templo Mayor
Festivals
- Atlcahualo and other water months
Family
In the museums
Chalchiuhtlicue in art
Real objects in public collections, released into the public domain by the museums that hold them. Dates refer to when each object was made. Objects made within the tradition come first, later depictions after.
(opens the museum record)Ancient object
Chalchiuhtlicue (opens the museum record)
A Mexica (Aztec) basalt figure the museum catalogs simply as Chalchiuhtlicue, goddess of lakes, rivers, and running water. Stone images like this were carved in the century before the Spanish conquest.
(opens the museum record)Ancient object
Head of a Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue) (opens the museum record)
A basalt head the museum titles Head of a Water Deity (Chalchiuhtlicue), broken from a larger figure of the Mexica water goddess.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Florentine Codex
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Parallels are editorial comparisons across traditions: a shared role does not, by itself, establish a shared origin.
Family relationships come from the atlas's kinship records. Ancient sources often disagree on divine genealogy.
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Genealogy
Family tree
Chalchiuhtlicue's parents, consorts, children and rivals, as recorded in the atlas.