Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

Coyolxauhqui was the Moon goddess according the Aztec mythology. Her name means "Golden Bells." She was the daughter of the Earth goddess, Coatlicue and the sister of the Sun god, Huitzilopochtli.

Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli after a ball of feathers fell into the temple where she was sweeping and touched her. Coyolxauhqui and her brothers and sisters got mad and tried to kill their mother. Huitzilopochtli saved her mother just in time.

Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

Coyolxauhqui was the Moon goddess according the Aztec mythology. Her name means "Golden Bells." She was the daughter of the Earth goddess, Coatlicue and the sister of the Sun god, Huitzilopochtli.

Coyolxauhqui encouraged her four hundred sisters and brothers to kill their dishonored mother. Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli after a ball of feathers fell into the temple where she was sweeping and touched her. Huitzilopochtli sprang out of his mother as an adult fully armed and saver her.

Coatlicue regretted such violence. Thus, Huitzilopochtli cut off Coyolxauhqui's head and threw it into the sky to form the Moon.

Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

Coyolxauhqui represents the Moon in the Aztec mythology. Her name means "Golden Bells." She was slain and dismembered by her brother, the Sun god Huitzilopochtli because she instigated their other four hundred sisters and brothers to kill their mother, Coatlicue.

Coatlicue was magically impregnated with Huitzilopochtli after a ball of white feathers fell from the heavens and touched her breast. Coatlicue's children thought that their mother had disgraced them with her mysterious pregnancy. Huitzilopochtli, born fully clothed in a blue armor from his mother, killed Coyolxauhqui and his other four hundred star sisters and brothers.

Coatlicue regretted such violence. Thus, Huitzilopochtli cut off Coyolxauhqui's head and threw it into the sky to form the Moon, aglow with the golden color of her bells. Huitzilopochtli was also known as the god of war and the chief god of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital city.

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Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Click on image for full size (287K JPEG) Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Click on image for full size (287K JPEG) Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

Coyolxauhqui

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Click on image for full size (287K JPEG) Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.

The image above reproduces "The Coyolxauhqui Stone," a giant monolith found at the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan.
Click on image for full size (287K JPEG)
Image courtesy of the Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico.