Mayahuel was the Aztec goddess associated with the maguey plant and pulque.
Mayahuel personified maguey, a group of plants in the genus Agave that were central to life in central Mexico. The plant supplied much more than an alcoholic drink: its fibers could become rope, netting, bags, and cloth, while its thorns were used in ritual bloodletting. This broad usefulness helped make Mayahuel a fertility, nourishment, and maternal figure as well as a plant deity.
Pulque, called octli in Nahuatl, was made by fermenting aguamiel, the sweet sap collected from maguey. Mayahuel is therefore often described in popular sources as a “pulque goddess,” though her strongest and most precise association is with the maguey plant itself—the source of the beverage.
Aztec mythology also links her with the Centzon Tōtōchtin, the “Four Hundred Rabbits,” deities representing pulque’s intoxicating effects. Mayahuel appears in pre-Columbian manuscripts such as the Codex Borgia and Codex Borbonicus, often shown seated on or emerging from a maguey plant. She should not be confused with Tlazolteotl, Xochiquetzal, or Chicomecoatl, who have different religious roles.