Isla de Mujeres
With the early establishment of the new world came the discovery of a little island that sits
right off the coast of present day Mexico, the Isla de Mujeres. Before the Old World came
into the picture the whole region enjoyed one thousand five hundred years of peaceful
existence with very few inhabitants; governed by the Mayan Empire, the island was
originally called Ekab and was used as a sanctuary for the goddess Ixchel, the Maya
goddess of the moon, fertility, medicine, and happiness. A temple was erected in honor of
the goddess and it is still located (in ruins) at the southern point of the island. Mayans also
used this temple as a navigation asset for fishermen at sea, with holes in the temple for
torches, which could be seen for miles on a clear night. The island also held a large amount
of salt in its lagoons which was very valuable and mined by the Mayans, since it was the
last salt deposits on the route to the Gulf of Honduras.
By 1517, led by Francisco Fernández de Córdoba, the Spanish Conquistadors had arrived
at the shores of the island in search for silver, gold, and a local population to enslave for
the mines. They soon realized the island was largely uninhabited and the Conquistadors
claimed the island as their own. Their exploration of the island led them to discover
several statues of naked and pregnant women, which were of the goddess Ixchel and her
daughters and daughter-in-law’s Ixchebeliax, Ixhunie, and Ixhunieta, As a result of this
