Chalchiuhtlicue

She is the "Lady of the Jade Skirt," the goddess of the turbulent waters who once drowned the previous world to punish the wickedness of men. Is the river a path to the sea, or a watery grave waiting for the unwary? She is the protector of the newborn, washing away the "original stains" with a water that is as pure as it is deadly. Her power is the flow that carves the canyon and the whirlpool that swallows the boat, a reminder that the feminine principle is as much a force of destruction as it is of life. She is the patroness of the fishermen and the bathers, the one who governs the horizontal waters of the earth. To her, the human life is a small stone being smoothed by the infinite patience of the tide.