Mayahuel (deity)

Symbols: White; agave plant

Culture: Aztec

Mother: Unknown; grandmother was Tzitzimitl

Mayahuel was the Aztec goddess of the maguey plant, a kind of agave cactus. She was also the goddess of pulque, a fermented alcoholic drink made from maguey, and of drunkenness. Her place as goddess of maguey held great importance because the Aztecs used maguey to make many products, including rope from its fibers, sandals and roofing materials from its leaves, tools for ritual bloodletting from its sharp thorns, and medicine from its sap. Drunkenness was not a state pursued lightly or recreationally. Rather, it was considered a spiritual condition in which one united with the gods. Drinking pulque was, in essence, taking in god-ness. Although drinking was a significant part of feasts and festivals, the Aztecs believed that drunkenness should be limited—there was only so much god-ness that a human could absorb. Thus, drunkenness was reserved for feasts and ritual use, and public drunkenness was judged seriously.

In addition to her close ties to the maguey plant, Mayahuel was associated with fertility and is called Woman with Four Hundred Breasts. This association may refer to the abundance of sap that can be harvested from the maguey plant. The Aztecs harvested the maguey sap by cutting into the central stalk of the plant while leaving the stalk attached rather than completely cutting it off. Thus, they could keep the sap flowing for months. Mayahuel nursed the Centzon Totochtin, (translation: "Four Hundred Rabbits"), who were all gods of pulque.

In Mythology

There are three versions of the story of Mayahuel, of the origins of the maguey plant, and of pulque. One story involves the god Quetzalcoatl ("Feathered Serpent"), the sky god and one of the chief deities of the Aztecs. In this story, Mayahuel was a young woman who lived with the goddess Tzitzimitl, her grandmother. Tzitzimitl was an evil-minded spirit who took the light from the world each day. Frustrated by the darkness, Quetzalcoatl—in his form as the wind god—came to Tzitzimitl, hoping to defeat her. Instead, he saw the beautiful young Mayahuel, and the two instantly fell in love. When her grandmother was asleep, he carried the maiden off to Earth. The two bonded into one being, which became a great tree with two large branches, one that was Mayahuel and one that was Quetzalcoatl. When Tzitzimitl awoke, she was dismayed that her granddaughter was missing. She summoned the tzitzimime, female demons, to seek her granddaughter. They quickly found the tree and brought Tzitzimitl to it. Angry, she broke off the branch that was Mayahuel and smashed it to bits, giving the pieces to the demons to devour. When they finished eating, they departed along with the grandmother. Quetzalcoatl then emerged from the tree. Despondent over the death of his love, he gathered all the pieces and buried them. From that site, the first maguey plant grew.

Another story of Mayahuel casts her as an inventive human. One day, as the young woman explored the area near her home, she saw a mouse that was dancing with joy. She realized that the mouse had been eating maguey leaves. Curious, she drained some sap from the plant and brought it home. She turned the sap into a drink, drank it, and realized that it made her feel happy. She gave some to her husband, who had the same reaction. Thrilled at this discovery, they brought the news to the gods. The gods tried the drink as well and were equally happy. Grateful to the pair for the discovery, the gods turned the couple into deities. Mayahuel became the goddess of the maguey. Her husband Xochipilli became the god of flowers, love, games, beauty, and song.

A third myth about Mayahuel has her as a farmer’s wife who often made pulque. One morning, she discovered that some of the pulque she had left out overnight had disappeared. There was less now than there had been the night before, and what remained has been tainted by drool. Puzzled, she left out some more that night but remained awake to watch over the pulque. Eventually, Patecatl, the god of healing, appeared and drank the pulque. He drank so much that he fell asleep, and in his drunken sleep, he drooled into the liquid that remained. From then on, Mayahuel added strong flavors like garlic to her pulque so that the god would not drink it up again.

Origins and Cults

Mayahuel was associated with white, the color of the maguey sap. She typically has hair adorned by flowers, and she is sometimes shown nursing or giving birth. She is also sometimes shown in the midst of the maguey plant, either with only her head and arms visible or nursing a baby. No stone carvings of her remain in existence; it is possible that none were ever made. The Aztecs often used dough made of maize or amaranth to create effigies, or representations, of deities associated with food and drink. These dough effigies would be consumed in rituals, which would thus leave no remains. Even if they were not eaten, they would have decayed over the centuries, leaving no trace.

Mayahuel was one of four Aztec goddesses linked to fertility and productive agriculture. The others were Chalchiuhtlicue ("Jade Skirt"), the goddess of all sources of water and also of marriage; Chicomecoatl ("Seven Snakes"), the goddess of maize (corn), the Aztec staple crop, and of plenty; and Huixtocihuatl, goddess of salt and saltwater .

The myths of Mayahuel, maguey, and pulque reveal much about what the Aztecs valued and how they saw the world. The myth of her death reinforces a motif often found in the Aztec worldview—new life can only come from death. Her status as a symbol of fertility underscores the importance of productive crops to the Aztecs. Being taken from Tzitzimitl reflects the practice of Aztec nobles, who freely took women as prizes after defeating an enemy army. The emphasis on using pulque for spiritual ends rather than mere pleasure reflects Aztec spirituality. The story of Patecatl’s drunkenness reinforced the idea that intoxication was not a desirable state. Another myth involving Quetzalcoatl makes this point as well. In this story, he was tricked by his brother, Tezcatlipoca, into drinking too much pulque and becoming drunk. When he awoke the next day, he was ashamed of his behavior and sailed east over the sea.

Bibliography

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