TYPE: Water Goddess
ORIGIN: Aztec (Classical Mesoamerican) [Mexico]
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: Circa CE 750 to CE 1500 but probably much earlier
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Worshiped widely but chiefly at Teotihuacan
ART REFERENCES: Stone sculptures, murals, codex illustrations
LITERARY SOURCES: Pre-Columbian Codices
INFORMATION: Featuring strongly in creation mythology, Chalchiuhtlicue presided over the fourth of the world ages which terminated in a great deluge. She is the tutelary deity of the fourth of the thirteen heavens identified at the time of the Spanish conquest, Ilhuicatl, Citlalicue (the heaven of the star-skirted goddess). She takes the role of a vegetation goddess responsible for the flowering and fruiting of the green world, particularly maize; she also takes responsibility for such natural phenomena as whirlpools. The consort of the rain god Tlaloc and one of the group classed as the Tlaloc complex, whe is particularly invoked as a guardian goddess of young women and is responsible for unpredictable events. A huge statue, three meters high, was discovered at Teotihuacan, and a larger, unfinished statue, allegedly of the goddess and weighing approximately 200 tons (now in Mexico City), was found on the slopes of the Tlaloc mountain.
ATTRIBUTES: include a rattle on a baton, and her dress is adorned with waterlilies.