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Ix-Chel was "too pretty for her
own good", as some like to say. All the gods
were captivated by her. All but one, that is.
Kinich Ahau, the Sun God,
seemed immune to Ix-Chel’s charms. Yet
he was the only one she really ever wanted.
Like many moon goddesses Ix-Chel was a fine weaver, and it was the beautiful cloth she
wove that finally captured Kinich Ahau’s attention. Soon they
became lovers.
Their relationship was
turbulent—Kinich Ahau had a suspicious nature and was often
consumed with jealousy. To make matters worse, he also had a
fiery temper. Suspecting that the innocent Ix-Chel was having an
affair with his brother (the Morning Star), Kinich Ahau threw
her out of the sky.
Ix-Chel quickly found
refuge with the vulture gods. Hearing this, Kinich Ahau rushed
to plead with her to return and promised never to treat her so
poorly again. But little time passed before he became jealous and
abusive again.
Finally Ix-Chel realized
he was not going to change. She decided to leave him for good.
Waiting until he fell asleep, she crept out into the night,
taking the form of a jaguar and becoming invisible whenever he
came searching for her. She escaped to her sacred islands and
spent much of her time nursing women during their pregnancies
and childbirth.
Ix-Chel encourages us to
acknowledge the negative forces affecting our lives. And she
prompts us to assert ourselves fully in the face of physical or
emotional violence that would diminish our sense of self. |
