Coatlicue

In the Mexica cosmological account summarized in the available sources, Coatlicue occupies a progenitor role: she is named as the mother who brought forth the moon, the stars, and Huītzilōpōchtli, the principal god associated with the sun and war. The sources present her as a foundational maternal figure in creation narratives and note that other important female deity-titles—most notably Toci (rendered 'our grandmother') and Cihuacōātl ('snake woman', patron of women who die in childbirth)—are seen as aspects or identifications of Coatlicue, situating her within a network of maternal, kinship, and childbirth-related meanings in Mexica religious thought.

Traditional iconography commonly associated with Coatlicue in modern reference works (as reflected in the cited summary material) emphasizes snake imagery and a composite maternal-earth visual identity. She is widely known by the epithet often translated into English as 'She of the Serpent Skirt' and in modern descriptions is connected with snake motifs (the element -coātl, 'snake', appearing in related titles such as Cihuacōātl). While the present source set does not supply a full primary-source iconographic catalogue, available summaries and usages present Coatlicue as a terrestrial/maternal deity strongly linked to serpentine dress and mortuary motifs in Aztec representational practice.

Sources identify Coatlicue's principal role as giving birth to major cosmological entities—the moon, the stars, and the deity Huītzilōpōchtli—which frames her as a maternal progenitor within Mexica cosmogony. Through her identification with Toci and Cihuacōātl, she is associated with the social and ritual domains surrounding grandmothership and the fate of women who die in childbirth. Modern theatrical and literary treatments reuse and dramatize these birthing and life-death cycle themes, but the cited materials limit claims to her status as mother of celestial bodies and as an archetypal maternal figure rather than specifying additional supernatural faculties.