80 kilometers east of Mexico City, there is a mountain that looks like a woman lying down looking at the sky. It is no coincidence or optical illusion: Iztaccíhuatl is made up of five twin volcanoes that, together, trace with snow and rock the perfect silhouette of a human body. Its peaks are called the head, the breast, the knees, and the feet. Its name in Nahuatl says it all: iztac means white, cihuatl means woman. 🤍
Behind that shape there is a legend that pre-Hispanic peoples told to explain everything. A princess named Iztaccíhuatl fell in love with a warrior, Popocatépetl. He went off to war with the promise of returning. A jealous rival spread the rumor that he had died in battle. She could not bear it. When Popoca returned victorious and found her lifeless, the gods turned them into volcanoes so they could be together forever: she asleep and inactive, he by her side, awake and burning, watching over her. They say that every eruption of Popocatépetl is him remembering her. 🌋
What you may not have known is that this mountain was also sacred long before the Spanish arrived. At its summit, vessels, obsidian, and musical instruments used in rituals for Tláloc, the god of rain, were found. And its last eruption was on July 20, 1868, at ten in the morning. Since then, the sleeping woman has not awakened.
Look at it closely and you will realize…
