The Hungry Woman

As well as Medea, The Hungry Woman draws heavily on ideas from Mesoamerican spirituality. Mesoamerican spirituality encompasses the complex and diverse religious practices, beliefs, and cosmologies of pre-Columbian civilizations such as the Aztecs, Maya, and others. These traditions are characterized by a deep connection to nature, a cyclical understanding of time, and a focus on balance between cosmic forces. Deities from several pantheons are either explicitly or implicitly referenced in The Hungry Woman.

Coatlicue, whose name means “She of the Serpent Skirt,” is a central deity in Aztec mythology and represents the earth, life, death, and regeneration. She is depicted as a fearsome figure wearing a skirt of intertwined snakes and a necklace of human hands, hearts, and skulls. In Aztec cosmology, Coatlicue embodies the duality of creation and destruction. She is both nurturing and terrifying, reflecting the natural world’s capacity to give life and reclaim it. As the mother of Huitzilopochtli, the sun and war god, Coatlicue is central to the Aztec creation myth. According to legend, she became pregnant after a ball of feathers fell from the sky and touched her, inciting the wrath of her other children, who plotted to kill her. Huitzilopochtli sprang from her womb fully armed and defeated his siblings, securing his place as a key deity. Coatlicue symbolizes the perpetual cycle of life, death, and rebirth, a theme integral to Mesoamerican spirituality. Her image also reminds practitioners of the earth’s sustenance and the sacrifices it demands.

Chac-mool refers to a type of stone sculpture found in many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya and Aztecs. These reclining figures, with heads turned to the side and hands holding a bowl or disk on the abdomen, are associated with offerings to the gods. Chac-mool figures often appeared in temples and ceremonial sites, serving as intermediaries between humans and the divine. Offerings placed on the bowls included food, incense, and even human hearts in rituals seeking divine favor or maintaining cosmic balance. While Chacmool is not a specific deity, the figure embodies the Mesoamerican belief in reciprocity with the gods. Sacrifices and offerings were considered essential for sustaining the universe, ensuring agricultural fertility, and averting cosmic chaos. Chac-Mool, in this sense, is a messenger between realms.

La Llorona is a spectral figure whose legend blends Indigenous beliefs and post-conquest influences, making her a symbol of sorrow, loss, and retribution. The story tells of a woman who, after being abandoned by her lover, drowns her children in a fit of despair and subsequently wanders as a ghost, crying for her lost children. Though often considered a folkloric figure, La Llorona’s roots can be traced to Mesoamerican deities like Cihuacóatl, a goddess associated with motherhood, midwifery, and death. Cihuacóatl was said to appear as a weeping woman, foretelling disaster, particularly during times of war or conquest. In Mesoamerican spirituality, La Llorona serves as a cautionary figure and a reminder of the consequences of imbalance and despair.

The Cihuatateo are spirits of women who died in childbirth, a fate considered equivalent to dying in battle. These women were revered as warriors and were believed to accompany the sun from its zenith to its setting in the west, where they were honored as celestial beings. However, the Cihuatateo also had a darker aspect. They were thought to descend to the earthly realm, haunting crossroads and bringing misfortune. They were often associated with night, the underworld, and the goddess Itzpapalotl, a fierce figure linked to obsidian and transformation. The duality of the Cihuatateo encapsulates a core tenet of Mesoamerican spirituality: the interdependence of life and death. They symbolize the valor of sacrifice and the thin boundary between the mortal and spiritual worlds.

Huitzilopochtli, whose name means “Hummingbird of the South,” was the principal deity of the Mexica (Aztecs). As the god of the sun and war, Huitzilopochtli played a central role in Aztec cosmology and daily life. He was the driving force behind the Mexica’s militaristic expansion and the inspiration for their rituals of human sacrifice. According to myth, Huitzilopochtli was born in battle. When his siblings, led by Coyolxauhqui, sought to kill their mother, Coatlicue, he emerged fully armed and defeated them. This narrative represents the eternal struggle between light and darkness, day and night. The Aztecs believed that Huitzilopochtli required sustenance in the form of human blood to maintain his strength and ensure the sun’s journey across the sky. This belief underpinned the Aztec practice of large-scale human sacrifices performed at grand temples such as the Templo Mayor in Tenochtitlán.