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Discover the majesty of the Cihuateteo, representations of the Divine Mother in the Totonaca culture. They accompanied the Sun on its journey and symbolize the struggle for balance between life and death. #Art #Culture #Mexico https://wp.me/p3JLEZ-4VO

Rosa Maria López Martínez *

The Cihuateteo are images originating from the Totonaca culture. The ceramic piece presented is located in the Museum of Anthropology of Xalapa, Veracruz. The elaboration of these pieces made of terracotta meant great mastery of the technique, especially due to the large size of the pieces. The polychrome they are supposed to have makes them more attractive. The volume and proportion accentuate the representation of the Divine Mother. It would be assumed that large-format terracotta pieces require great knowledge and skill in the low-temperature ceramic technique. There is no certainty, but it is believed that the producers of these works specialized and that they were carried out on behalf of the lords in power.

The pieces are the female representation, with open hands in the shape of feline claws, a naked torso and a skirt that covers from the waist to the feet. Its greatness and strength is in the upright posture of its body and its clawed hands. Its monumentality imposes an aesthetic presence of strength. It represents women who died in childbirth, who were considered divine and on the same level as warriors killed in battles. The Cihuateteo accompanied the Sun in its transit to illuminate the earth.

I relate the Cihuateteo with the Sphinx of the Tarot, the world, since it represents the search for balance. She who gives life has a special place, and even more so if she loses it due to this fact, and is granted to travel next to the sun, in a representation of the continuity of life. Balance is also given by the sense of divinizing them, and recognizing that the moment of giving birth is that of a great battle to generate life. The Cihuateteo are equipped with feline claws, since this element relates them to and places them on the same plane as warriors; Both face a battle to achieve balance. It is also notable that the sphinx is also endowed with feline claws. By accompanying the sun on its journey, in their death they do not go to the underworld, but rather continue giving birth and living each dawn.

*This text was the result of the Creative Consciousness workshop taught by Ra’al Ki Victorieux, teacher of arts, in Realia, Xalapa Veracruz, Mexico.

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