`Chalchiuhtlicue` the Aztec goddess of running water and springs.

Chalchiuhtlicue : the Aztec Goddess of Running Water and Springs

Among ancient deities , only a few have garnered a broad spectrum of important roles that accented peoples ' cultures . Among these was the Aztec Chalchiuhtlicue . She represented water , the main source of what all humans , animals , crops and all other living things on this earth need to survive , and my painting reflects this with its iconography and bright colors

This deity ruled over running water and guarded the lakes and streams which Aztec life traversed every day . The rich jungle and swamp that

invited a vast array of animal life were seen as miracles from the goddess . Chalchiuhtlicue therefore allowed the Aztecs to live off her blessings and the people yearned to appease her with shrines beside bodies of water , including springs and aqueducts and appointed priests to observe important rites

The Aztecs , warlike as history portrays them , seem to have been tamed in an opposite spectrum by the cult of Chalchiuhtlicue . So much was their respect for this deity that she soon saturated Aztec life . It was as if the goddess was unclothing more of herself to these people that she began to be approached as the one in charge over birth . Special nativity and baptismal rites were imperative in Aztec midwifery . As soon as a live infant was delivered , the midwife recited continuous adulations of the goddess to the child from the severing of its umbilical cord to its first bath . This amazing association of water to the beginnings of human life is now shared by Science , from the natal principles to even those of paleontology

Though beneficial as she was worshipped for , Chalchiuhtlicue was also known to have punished the wicked by drowning them in a great flood This presented a darker aspect of life . The importance of possessing this dark side ' signified that Chalchiuhtlicue had the capacity for justice and retribution , something a godhood would not be complete without . Life takes care of its own - it is an axiom that requires the servitude of vengeance but only as an effect to an adversity that will stifle regeneration

Water , birth , and regeneration are summed up in one image , of which she was also in mastery over : youth . It is the peak of mortal power , and a short glimpse of eternity . It is something a warrior prays to never relinquish and be like the gods . Interestingly , a legend of a fountain of youth was known to have sprung somewhere within the Mesoamerican region . It is the unwaning beauty and vivacity dreamt of by the female to produce nations of offspring to rule the world with a culture of her weaving . This is signified by the vibrant colors that stud the garments of Chalchiuhtlicue . She wore raiment of blue , or white sometimes green - hence , her name The Lady of the Jade Skirt ' - with tassels hanging down the sides of her face . Prominent depictions of her include infants issuing from her skirt . The lower part of face was adorned with...