Chicomecoatl

Literally “seven serpents,” Chicomecoatl was the Aztec corn goddess, which by extension also made her a goddess of fertility, since corn, as the staple food of the Aztecs, was venerated for its life-giving properties. Every year in the month of September, a young girl was sacrificed by decapitation, her blood poured on a statue of Chicomecoatl and her skin worn by the attending priest. Chicomecoatl is usually depicted in three ways: as a girl carrying flowers, as a woman who brings death, or as a mother holding the sun as a shield.