Chicomecoatl- Aztec GodDeity"Goddess of Maize"

The Great Vigil

Chicomecoatl, "Seven Serpent," was the goddess of ripe maize at the peak of harvest. Where Xilonen embodied the young, tender ears still on the stalk, Chicomecoatl was the grain ready for gathering.

Her festival was Huey Tozoztli ("Great Vigil"), celebrated in the fourth month of the Aztec calendar, roughly April, when planting season approached. Young girls carried seed corn to the temples, their arms laden with ears wrapped in cloth and crowned with flowers. A woman was chosen to embody the goddess, wearing the double-ear headdress and red body paint that marked Chicomecoatl in every codex. Priests blessed the seed corn for the coming season, and the goddess's power entered every kernel. At the festival's climax, the woman who embodied Chicomecoatl was sacrificed. Her death was the goddess returning to the earth so that the blessed seeds would sprout.

The Sacred Ears

Aztec families kept special double ears of corn from each harvest, blessed by priests and stored alongside the household maize supply to ensure it would not run out during the lean months. When planting time came, the sacred ears were brought out, unwrapped, and their kernels planted with prayers to the goddess. Chicomecoatl carries double ears in every depiction, one in each hand: the seeds from which the next season's crop would grow.