The Goddess Ixchel

December 21, 2011

Ixchel is the Mayan goddess of fertility, childbirth, love, and medicine. I first heard about her when a former technician in my lab, who had a history of infertility and multiple miscarriages, went to her temple to pray for a child. Her prayers were answered. Given that I am now the Director of an Institute devoted to improveing the health of pregnant women and their infants I thought that it would be important for me to pay my respects to Ixchel as well. In fact, a statue of Ixchel sits on a shelf above my computer at my work desk (see March 6, 2009 posting). In the top photo is a modern interpretation of Ixchel. She has multiple other names, including goddess of the sea, patronness of weaving, and "lady rainbow." Her temple is at the southernend of Isla Mujeres on the "cliff of the Dawn," which is the most eastern point in Mexico. There is not much left of the temple but the setting is spectacular. There are also multiple sculptures that have been commissioned for the park, and they are set against the turquoise sea.