Laura Wright 
Among the supernatural beings found in Mexican mythology were terrifying female spirits associated with death, childbirth, disease, and the crossroads.
They were known as the Ciuateotio, and also as the Ciuapipiltin.
According to tradition, a woman who died while giving birth to her first child could become one of these vampire-like creatures after death.
The name Ciuateotio was translated as “right, honorable mother.” But whatever honor may have been associated with these women, people had good reason to fear what they might become after death.
When a Mother Died in Childbirth
The death of a woman during her first labor required special precautions.
Her husband and his friends were expected to watch over her body for four days following her death.
Their vigilance continued when the corpse was finally taken for burial.
The woman was buried at sunset in a court belonging to the temple of the Ciuapipiltin.
These precautions reflected the unusual supernatural status attributed to women who died during childbirth.
Death did not necessarily mean that they were gone.
The Ciuapipiltin Take to the Air
One variation of the legend described the Ciuapipiltin as noble women who wandered through the air.
They searched for children.
When they discovered the victims they wanted, the spirits descended upon them.
Their attacks were blamed for paralysis and other illnesses.
One disease particularly associated with the Ciuapipiltin was epilepsy.
The spirits were therefore more than wandering ghosts.
They were considered genuinely dangerous to the living.
And there was one place where encountering them was especially likely.
Beware the Crossroads
The crossroads belonged to the Ciuapipiltin.
The female spirits supposedly haunted these intersections while searching for victims.
Their appearance was distinctive.
Their faces and bodies seemed to be covered with chalk.
On particular days, the danger became serious enough that parents took special precautions.
Children were kept safely inside their homes whenever the Ciuapipiltin were believed to have been unleashed.
Going outside could mean encountering one of the wandering women.
And an encounter could mean sickness.
Goddesses of the Crossroads
The relationship between the Ciuapipiltin and crossroads extended beyond simple haunting.
They were also described as goddesses of the crossroads.
Mortals sometimes constructed temples for them at these intersections, creating places where offerings and sacrifices could be made.
One of the most common offerings was surprisingly simple:
A twisted piece of bread.
The same supernatural beings feared for attacking children could therefore also receive ritual recognition and offerings.
Like many figures from ancient mythology, they occupied an uneasy position between the divine and the monstrous.
Women Who Went to War
Another variation of the tradition offered a different explanation for the origins of the Ciuapipiltin.
According to this version, they could also be the souls of women who had gone to war.
The interpretation was disputed even within accounts of the legend, but it offered another possible origin for the strange women who wandered through the air and gathered at crossroads.
Sorcerers and Vampires
The Ciuapipiltin were not the only figures associated with vampirism in the traditions described in the original account.
Another fascinating belief from ancient Mexico regarded sorcerers and magicians as vampires.
This places the Ciuateotio within a much broader supernatural tradition in which the boundary between human beings, spirits, magic, and vampiric creatures was not always clearly defined.
The Ciuateotio
The Ciuateotio were unlike the familiar vampires of later European folklore.
There were no aristocratic counts sleeping inside coffins.
Instead, these were the spirits of women.
They wandered through the air.
They haunted crossroads.
They descended upon children and were blamed for paralysis, epilepsy, and disease.
Their presence was feared strongly enough that children were kept indoors on particular days.
Yet people also constructed temples at crossroads and left offerings for them.
The Ciuateotio therefore occupied a strange place between the honored dead and the dangerous supernatural.
They were mothers, spirits, goddesses, and vampires.
And at the crossroads, they were something to be avoided.
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