Iztaccihuatl

Iztaccihuatl (white woman) In Aztec mythology, mountain goddess described by Fray Diego Durán in his Book of the Gods and Rites (c. 1576), which deals with Aztec mythology, as a young woman “wearing clipped man’s hair on the forehead and hanging down to the shoulders on the sides. Her cheeks were always painted with color.” Ixtaccihuatl is also the name of a mountain in Mexico some 16,000 feet high, which, according to some commentators, resembles a woman lying down in a white shroud.

SEE ALSO:

• Aztec Mythology
• Meso American Mythology

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow-Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante