Coatlicue (part1)

Coatlicue (Kwat-LEE-kay)  . She's a dark one.

Coatlicue means "she wears snakes"

She is also known as Toci (Our Grandmother) , and Teteoinan (Mother of Gods) , and  Cihuacoatl  (Our Lady of the serpent).

Coatlicue  is represented  wearing a skirt of rattlesnakes and a necklace  of human hearts, hands and skulls.  These are the remains of her  children, who she has devoured.

 She has claws on her feet, for digging graves. 

She has 2  rattlesnake heads arising from her neck, and smaller snake heads arising from her shoulders. Her flaccid breasts sag, from centuries of maternal nurturing. (Yes. She nurtures AND destroys.... Make no mistake everything born will have an end.)

Her massive image,  in  Stone was uncovered  in 1790, by one Antonio de León y Gama , during excavation on the Main  Plaza of Mexico City.

The stone is nearly 9 feet tall, and nearly writhes with basalt snakes.

The European conquerors who first dug her up, regarded the statue as an appalling and dreadful monster , but the children of the Mexica  recognized her.

 Indigenous people greeted the newly excavated Goddess by lavishing her with candles and flowers. They burned incense. They sang songs.

The Europeans, followers of a pastel colored religion that pretends there is no death ,  wasted no time re-burying  the fearsome and repellent monument. They re-interred Coatlicue where she could not be seen. They built a massive patio over her, so that denizens of the surface of Earth would no longer be disturbed by so grisly a statue, and by the inevitable end to mortality she promised.

And in the ground she stayed....for 13 years, until curious anthropologists dug her up again..., briefly.  Upon viewing her loathsome visage, they immediately re-buried her yet again. 

The statue of Coatlicue was dug up again in 1823.

A cast image of the stone was sent to London where it was publicly displayed to thousands of  English Ladies and Gentleman.

The English (followers of the palest of pastel gods)  came to no quantifiable harm from viewing Coatlicue's horrid visage.

The great stone of Coatlicue has been allowed to remain on the Earths'surface , in full view.....for now.

She resides in the National Museum of Archaeology in Mexico City.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More about Coatlicue later.  She is complicated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~