CIHUACOATL

[Aztec] An Aztec earth and mother-goddess, patroness of birth and of women who died while giving birth. 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. Mixcoatl is her son. Cihuacoatl, which means 'snake-woman', is occasionally portrayed holding a child in her arms. Cihuacoatl's roaring signalled war. The center of her cult was at Colhuacan (at the Texcoco Lake in Mexico).