A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com –\u00a0<\/strong>From the beginning of human history, water has held a significant role in people’s belief systems. Long ago, they realized that they couldn’t live without it.<\/p>\n Chalchiuhtlicue Aztec Goddess Of Water (Mus\u00e9e du quai Branly). Image credit: Sailko – CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED<\/em><\/p>\n They also recognized the profound influence of water on nature<\/strong><\/a> as a whole. Even our ancestors acknowledged water as one of the four fundamental elements, which, together with earth, fire, and air, constituted their understanding of the world’s order. Water was personified in almost every culture and was worshiped as a powerful deity. People turned to their powerful deities during times of both scarcity and abundance of water, during droughts and floods alike.<\/p>\n Like in many cultures worldwide, also the inhabitants of what we today call Mesoamerica, worshiped the deities closely associated with water. These divine figures had once a most important position in the pantheon of gods.<\/p>\n Chalchihuitlicue, who represented the advanced civilization of the city of Teotihuacan<\/a><\/strong>, was a young goddess. Beautiful and dangerous, changeable and at the same time unpredictable, Chalchihuitlicue had water as her predominant element. She watered the earth, promoting fertility, and flooded it, causing destruction and death of people and animals.<\/p>\n Legends usually vary; in one of them, Chalchuihtilcue is the wife of Tlaloc, but in another she is his sister. Among some other scholars, Chalchuihtilcue is the god Tlaloc himself in disguise. Anyway, she is the one who\u00a0governs over rivers, lakes, horizontal waters, and streams. Translated as \u2018She of the Jade Skirt\u2019, the goddess\u2019 name came from the word \u2018Chalchuitl\u2019 (in Nahuatl<\/em>\u00a0 language: jade<\/em>). Her name was, therefore, a metaphorical allusion to the blue-green waters of the tropical ocean, shining like the colors in the precious stone.<\/p>\n Perhaps because of its association with water, jade was the most valued rock in Mesoamerica.<\/p>\n Illustration of Chalchiuhtlicue, one of the deities described in the Codex Borgia.<\/strong><\/a> Image credit: Unknown – Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n Chalchiutlicue was often held responsible for floods and storms on the seas. Additionally, her female aspect linked her with the watery nature of the womb, and therefore, she played a vital role in the birth and traditional baptismal ceremonies.<\/p>\n The Aztecs (like other agricultural societies) depended heavily on water for their and land\u2019s survival, so the Aztecs always asked Chalchiutlicue for a good harvest of crops.<\/p>\n She was highly revered in the Aztec culture at the time of the Spanish conquest, and she was an important deity figure in the Postclassic Aztec realm of central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521.<\/p>\n Interestingly, some still believe that the presence of this powerful goddess still persists in modern Mexican folklore. Did Chalchiutlicue\u2019s association with Chalchiuhtlatonal,\u00a0 another Aztec water god, also survive to modern times?<\/p>\n His area of special protection included the sea and the animals living in it.<\/p>\n Drawing of (Mesoamerican deity)\u00a0Chalchiutlicue\u00a0from (17th century manuscript)\u00a0Codex R\u00edos. Chalciutlicue is shown with implements of spinning and weaving. The figures swimming in the stream emanating in her dress could be read as offspring or as those being carried away toward death. Image credit: Unknown author \u2013 Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n Ancient tradition has it that god Chalchiuhtlatonal grants one human the gift of water every 10,000 years to help look after the sea.<\/p>\n Chalchiutlicue is depicted in several central Mexican manuscripts, including the Pre-Columbian Codex Borgia, <\/a><\/strong>the 16th century Codex Borbonicus, the 16th century Codex R\u00edos, and the Florentine Codex.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n In Aztec art, craftsmen usually carved her sculptures using green stone like jade or similar green stones with respect to her name.<\/p>\n In pre-Columbian and colonial codices, the goddess is described as wearing a bluish-green skirt, from which flows a long, abundant stream of water. Her skirt is like seawater additionally ornamented with water lilies.<\/p>\n National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City. Aztec mask of Chalchuihtlicue, goddess of water. Image credit: Wolfgang Sauber –\u00a0<\/em>CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Her depictions also emphasize a green stone necklace hanging from her neck and a blue cap with beautiful quetzal feathers on the goddess\u2019s head. Other accents of her outfit include turquoise-colored clappers and earplugs.<\/p>\n Chalchuihtilcue ( \u201cShe of the Skirt of Precious Stones\u201d) was believed to be the goddess of running water and was also known as Matlalcueitl (Matlacueye) – \u201cShe of thee Blue Skirt\u201d). This name she shares with the mountain peak, today known as \u201cLa Malinche\u201d, an inactive volcano (dormant for the last 3,100 years), which is the sixth-highest in Mexico.<\/p>\n![\"Chalchiuhtlicue](\"https:\/\/www.ancientpages.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/chalchiuhtlicuemach19.jpg\")
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