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Coatlicue

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Aztec earth goddess wearing a skirt of serpents and necklace of hearts

Detailed Definition
Coatlicue gave birth to Huitzilopochtli after a miraculous conception, symbolizing creation through violence. She represents duality—life and death, fertility and destruction. In poetry, Coatlicue is a powerful symbol of indigenous resilience, maternal ferocity, and the grotesque beauty of cosmic cycles.
Example
Example in poetry:
Coatlicue, the Aztec earth goddess with a skirt of serpents, looms in Mexican poetry as a symbol of terrifying creation; In Octavio Paz’s work, Coatlicue embodies Mexico’s violent yet fertile history; Poets use her decapitated head to explore sacrifice and rebirth; In feminist poetry, Coatlicue’s monstrous beauty reclaims female power from colonial shame; Some eco-poems depict Coatlicue as the planet itself, her serpents choking on plastic; Contemporary works frame Coatlicue as a warning: creation demands respect, not domination.
Additional Notes
Coatlicue is the Aztec (Mesoamerican) earth mother goddess, depicted with a skirt of serpents and a necklace of hearts—while not South American, her iconography influences Andean poetic representations of devouring femininity; useful in comparative mythology or poems exploring sacred violence and rebirth.
Also Known As
Cōātlīcue Teteoinnan Toci
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