In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl ("snake woman"; also Chihucoatl, Ciucoatl) was a fertility goddess and patron of mothers, particularly women who died in childbirth. She helped Quetzalcoatl make the current age of humanity by grounding up bones from the previous ages, and mixing it with his blood. She is the mother of Mixcoatl; she abandoned him at a crossroads, and tradition says that she often returns there to weep for her lost son, only to find a sacrificialknife. She ruled over the Ciuteoteo.
She assisted Quetzalcoatl in the creation of the first humans of this era, which are made from the ground bones of the people of the previous era mixed with the blood of the old gods who committed self-sacrifice so that the new era could begin.
Cihuacoatl, which means 'snake-woman', is occasionally portrayed holding a child in her arms.
The center of her cult was at Colhuacan (at the Texcoco Lake in Mexico).
In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl ("snake woman"; also Chihucoatl, Ciucoatl) was one of a number of motherhood and fertility goddesses.
Cihuacoatl was especially associated with midwives, and with the sweatbaths where midwives practiced.
Cihuacoatl was also a noble title among the Aztecs, given to the secondary ruler of Tenochtitlan who was responsible for the day-to-day affairs of the capital city.
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