Aztec Moon Goddess

Coyolxauhqui, the Aztec moon goddess, appears in this elegant museum replica by artisans from the Angel Cerón Artisan Association. Discovered beneath the plaza in Mexico City, the low relief sculpture dates from the 1400s and tells the story of the deity known as 'Golden Bells.' Her mother Coatlicue, the earth goddess, was defiled when a ball of feathers fell into the temple. Thus Coyolxauhqui encouraged her 400 brothers and sisters to kill their mother, but the sun god Huitzilopochtli sprang from his mother's body as a fully armed adult and saved her. He cut off his sister's head and threw it into the sky, where it became the moon.