- Minor Name: Coatlantonan = “Our Serpent Mother.”
- Relationship: Mother of Uitzilopochtli by Mixcoatl; mother of Coyolxauhqui and the Centzonuitznaua; wife of Tezcatzoncatl or Izquitecatl.
- Festival: Feast of the flower-sellers in the second month, tlacaxipeuliztli.
- Symbol: The eagle’s foot.
ASPECT AND INSIGNIA
Sahagun MS.—The face of the goddess is painted with white infusorial earth of the kind known as tiçitl. She wears a crown of eagle-feathers and a white overdress. Her skirt is formed of serpents, as her name implies. On her feet she wears white sandals and shells. Her shield is inset with eagle-feathers, and she bears a serpent-staff in her hand.
STATUES
Much argument has circled around the colossal statue of Coatlicue (see Introduction) which formerly adorned one of the entrances to the great temple of Mexico, and which was evidently supported by upright stones, so that it formed the key-stone of a gateway where it could be seen by all who passed in