Sahagun MS.—The Sahagun MS. states that Chicomecoatl’s face is coloured red and that she wears a paper crown on her head and a collar of green precious stones round her neck. She has an overdress and skirt of spring flowers and wears bells and shells on her feet. Her shield has the emblem of the summer flower painted upon its surface, and she carries the double maize-ear in her hand.
MYTHS
The hymn to Chicomecoatl as given in the Sahagun MS. is as follows: [[171]]
Goddess of the seven ears, arise, awake!
For, our mother, thou leavest us.
Thou returnest to Tlalocan.
Arise, awake!
Mother, thou leavest us now,
Thou goest to thy home in Tlalocan.
Which may, perhaps, be interpreted thus: The expression “seven ears” is an allusion to the seven ears of maize, sprinkled with rubber oil and wrapped in paper and cloth, which each maiden in a procession of virgins carried to the temple of the goddess, the cinteopan, at the festival of uei tozoztli (April 27th). The maize is now full grown and the goddess’s labours are over for the time being, so that she is enabled to return to Tlalocan, the paradise of her brother Tlaloc.