A skeletal figure, she stands with her hands raised in the posture of women who die in childbirth. Angel Cer�n sculpts the image of Coatlicue, "she of the serpent skirt." Aztec earth goddess and mother of the gods, her image bears the symbol "Eight Malanalli, " or "grass." Her son Huitzilopochtli, the sun god and god of war defended her from the powers of the night.