literally, noblewomen; also considered sacred or diine forces and spirits of women who died in childbirth; they were believed to haunt people at crossroads (see attestations)
Vtlamaxac manca civapipilti
motenevaia, yn inechichiuh
mixticauitimanca
inteteucuitlanacoch
ypiloio in iuipil
tlalpipitzauac in incue
ipan i quimocuetiaia tlaitzcopintli in amatl
ym iyztaccac.
=
The Array of Those Called Cihuapipiltin,
Who Hover Over the Crossroads
Their faces are painted with chalk.
Their gold ear plugs.
Their shifts have fringes.
Their skirts have thin black lines.
On these were [banks] of paper painted with obsidian points.
Their white sandals.
"Sahagún tell us that at certain times the five Cihuapipiltin ('Noble Women'), who 'hate,' 'mock,' and cast spells upon people, descended upon and resided at the crossroads (omaxac chaneque). During this time parents kept their children at home and people made offerings to the Cihuapipiltin at the crossroads (omaxac). The Cihuapipiltin were also known as Cihuateteo (';Goddesses'): angry, malevolent spirits of women who had died in their first childbirth with child in utero. They were female counterparts of warriors fallen in battle or on the sacrificial stone.... The Primeros memoriales states the Cihuapipiltin 'over over the crossroads (otlamaxac).'"
"They haunt the crossroads at night, can cause seizures and insanity in people, and are known to steal children."
"They came to earth on five specified days of notorious ill-fortune as 'Ilhuica Cihuapipiltin', the Celestial Princesses, or 'Cihuateteo', the Goddesses, malevolence incarnate, haunting the crossroads, seeking out those they would afflict."
"...the Aztecs set up statues of the Cihuapipiltin at crossroads to receive offerings from anxious mothers seeking to appease them."
"In Mexico the cihuapipiltin, in default of males, sometimes succeeded to the subordinate chieftaincies. The status conferred on them by birth, aided by a regular education and considerable shrewdness and command of popular sympathy...."
"Las mujeres que morían en el primer parto eran elevadas a la categoría de diosas Cihuapipiltin o Cihuateteo...."
"Expresado por fray Bernardino 'se hacían diosas y las llamaban Cihuateteo', que significa mujeres deificadas o dioses hembra, y por otros nombres Cihuapipiltin o mujeres nobles y mocihuaquetzque o mujeres valientes...."
"Cuando una mujer moría de parto, su marido llevaba el cadáver a cuestas hasta el lugar donde había de enterrarse: el patio del templo de las diosas cihuapipiltin. Además, el cuerpo era acompañado y custodiado por varias parteras que iban armadas y dando voces como los guerreros cuando acometían a los enemigos en la batalla. Los telpochtin o guerreros de baja jerarquía, salían a su encuentro y combatían con ellas para quitarles el cuerpo de la mujer...."