#cihuateotl

[dwellerinthelibrary]

An Aztec sculpture in grey stone of a cihuateotl, a “divine woman”, a woman who died in childbirth and became a malevolent spirit. At the Met.

[xochitl-nahuatl]

The Cihuateteoh

In Aztec culture, those women who died in childbirth were believed to become dangerous spirits called cihuateteoh. Because of the great harshness of childbirth, labor was viewed as being a different type of ‘war’. It was believed that the child’s spirit was sent down to the earth by the gods, and the woman had to fight and struggle in order to bring it into the world. The newborn child was seen as a sufficient reward if she was successful and emerged victorious from her battle, but if she proved unsuccessful, then she died and became a cihuateotl. 

After the death of such a woman, special funerary practices were carried out, as the body of a woman who had died in childbirth was believed to possess special magic powers. In these special practices, the body was guarded fiercely by an armed entourage that included the widowed husband, his friends, the midwives, and old women. This was deemed necessary due to the need to protect the woman's remains from warriors. Certain parts of her body were believed to be especially powerful relics for warriors, such as her left middle finger and her hair (which contains part of a person’s spirit). According to Aztec belief, “these relics had magical power and, if placed on their shields, would make the warriors brave and valiant, give them strength, and blind the eyes of their enemies.”

The Cihuateteoh all reside in a spiritual domain in the west known as Cihuatlampa, the “place of women.” They were seen as being the female counterparts of the men who died in war, and so they resided in one of the 13 heavens instead of going to Mictlan, the underworld. Each day, the Cihuateteoh guided the sun into the west from noon until sunset. They were assisted by the spirits of the male warriors, and this practice of guiding the sun was seen as exclusive to these two groups of the dead- it was an honor that was not bestowed on any other individuals.

During five specific days of the Aztec calendar, the cihuateteoh descended to the Earth, and became like demons of the night. These five days were the five western trecenas: 1 Eagle, 1 Deer (Ce Mazatl), 1 Monkey (Ce Ozomatli), 1 House (Ce Calli), and 1 Rain (Ce Quiahuitl). They were greatly feared by the Aztecs as they could descend on these particular days to harm women and children with a number of illnesses, including paralyses and epilepsy, or to steal infants. Sometimes they would even induce men to adultery. The cihuateteoh also often haunted crossroads, and so roadside shrines with their statues were often erected to try and appease them. Such depictions show these spirits as women with skeletal faces, wild hair, and skirts fastened with snake belts. Cihuateteoh figures found at the site of El Zapotal are even covered with the flayed skins of victims, and carry staffs bearing human heads as trophies.

However, when still in their domain of Cihuatlampa, these women were at times propitiated by midwives and curers. It was believed that if rituals were performed, and the cihuateteoh were praised, then they would be appeased and would assist in healing the sick, or to protect children. 

[tlatollotl]

Cihuateotl

Date: 15th–early 16th century

Geography: Mexico, Mesoamerica

Culture: Aztec

This stone sculpture depicts a seated female figure wearing a plain skirt and a simple knotted belt. Her skull-like face, with its large, circular eyes, open mouth, and exposed teeth, is framed by a mass of unkempt hair carved in swirls and twists. Leaning forward on clawed feet, her fearsome talons are raised to the sides of her chest as if prepared to seize some unseen prey. Among the Aztecs, a woman in labor was said to "capture" the spirit of her newborn child much like a warrior captures his opponent in battle. But if a woman died while giving birth, her own soul was transformed into a terrifying demon known as a Cihuateotl, or "Divine Woman." The Cihuateteo (pl.) resided in a region in the west known as Cihuatlampa ("place of women") and accompanied the sun daily from its zenith at midday to dusk on the western horizon. As such, these malevolent spirits were regarded as the female counterparts of warriors who had perished on the battlefield and who were thought to escort the sun through the underworld to its rise each morning. The Cihuateteo descended to the earth on five specific days in the Aztec calendar: 1 Deer, 1 Rain, 1 Monkey, 1 House, and 1 Eagle. During these times, they were known to haunt crossroads—places associated with evil and disease—in hopes of snatching the young children they were never privileged to have. The figure seen here has been inscribed on top of her head with the name "Ce Calli" (1 House), thus indicating her prescribed day of descent. Four nearly identical goddesses are housed in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City—each being differentiated only by the date glyph engraved on its head—and, along with the one seen here, may have originally formed a set. Evidence suggests these five sculptures would have been placed in a shrine dedicated to the Cihuateteo, perhaps in the main temple precinct of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Elsewhere in Postclassic art (ca. 1100–1521), the postpartum female body is depicted with pendulous breasts and a creased, flaccid stomach. Here, however, the figure’s taut belly and exposed, youthful breasts serve to underscore her unrealized potential as a mother, as she died before having the opportunity to bear and nurse her newborn child. Examples of female supernatural figures with similar overtones of death (and eventual resurrection) are found in a number of Mesoamerican traditions, from Classic Veracruz statuary (ca. 7th–10th century) to Aztec and Mixtec codices (ca. 13th–16th century). Such a broad distribution indicates that the Cihuateteo were important, long-lasting features of indigenous religious practices. William T. Gassaway, 2014–15 Sylvan C. Coleman and Pamela Coleman Fellow ----- Resources and Additional Reading Aguilar-Moreno, Manuel. Handbook to Life in the Aztec World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Boone, Elizabeth H. Cycles of Time and Meaning in the Mexican Books of Fate. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2007. Diel, Lori Boornazian. "Clothing Women: The Female Body in Pre- and Post-Contact Aztec Art." In Woman and Art in Early Modern Latin America, edited by Kellen Kee McIntyre and Richard E. Phillips, 221–45. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2007. Johansson K., Patrick. "Mocihuaquetzqueh: ¿Mujeres Divinas O Mujeres Siniestras? (Mocihuaquetzqueh: Divine Women or Sinister Women?)." Estudios de Cultura Náhuatl37 (2009): 193–230. Key, Anne. "Death and the Divine: The Cihuateteo, Goddesses in the Mesoamerican Cosmovision." PhD diss., California Institute of Integral Studies, 2005. Klein, Cecelia. "The Devil and the Skirt: An Iconographic Inquiry into the Pre-Hispanic Nature of the Tzitzimime." Ancient Mesoamerica 11 (2000): 1–26. Miller, Mary E., and Karl Taube. The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya: An Illustrated Dictionary of Mesoamerican Religion. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1993. Nicholson, Henry B., and Eloise Quiñones-Keber. The Art of Aztec Mexico: Treasures of Tenochtitlan. Catalogue of an Exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1983. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1983. Pasztory, Esther. Aztec Art. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983. Sahagún, Fray Bernardino. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. 12 vols. Translated by Arthur J. O. Anderson and Charles E. Dibble. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research and University of Utah Press, 1950–82.  

The Met

[aztec-religion]

Cihuateotl

c. 1500

Museo del Templo Mayor, Mexico City, Mexico

According to the Aztecs a woman who died in child birth was awarded the honor as those warriors who died in battle.

[dwellerinthelibrary]

An Aztec cihuateotl, literally a woman-god, the destructive spirit of a woman who died in childbirth. A woman who died in childbirth died a warrior. This statue is in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico.

[legendsofmexico-blog]

http://lecturasennewyorkcity.blogspot.com/2010/11/dia-de-muertos-escultura-mexicana-en-el.html

[legendsofmexico-blog]

Cihuateotl tiene el rostro de calavera por que eran consideradas la contraparte femenina de los guerreros en la sociedad mexica. Las mujeres que morían al dar a luz recibían el alto honor de acompañar al sol desde su cenit al mediodía y hasta la puesta por el oeste.Se creía que vivían en el horizonte del oeste en Ciuhatlampa (lugar sagrado de las mujeres).

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/354799276865507068/

[legendsofmexico-blog]

These pictures depict Cihuateotl with the face of the living dead and arms in a ready position as to grab someone.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/72761350205732054/

http://www.myartprints.co.uk/a/aztec/cihuateotl.html