1. Mound that is Mujeres
2. Mujeres, Maya, and Malevolence
3. Majestic Mujeres
4. Isla Mujeres is Hopefully for You

Isla Mujeres is a Mexican island northeast of the Yucatan’s city of Cancun. There’s more to this small place than appears.

Courtesy of World Atlas

Courtesy of World Atlas

Mound that is Mujeres

The Yucatan and underwater parts surrounding it are part of a carbonate platform. Carbonate rocks on the eolian-ridge islands and horst-platform island record the influence of glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations on carbonate sedimentation along the northwestern margin of the Caribbean Sea during the late Quaternary (had a mouthful?). The islands of Mujeres, Cancun, Contoy, and Blanca are ridges of Quaternary eolianites. Cozumel is an emergent part of a horst block capped by Pleistocene limestones.

Courtesy of ResearchGate

Mujeres, Maya, and Malevolence

Over 1500 years ago, the isle was in the Maya province of Ekab. The island’s lagoons were used for salt harvesting, and Punta Sur’s height meant a lighthouse aided Caribbean sailors.

Isla Mujeres’ Punta Sur – courtesy of Pueblos Magicos – Mexico Desconocido

Mujeres was also a sanctuary for the gods. It remained that way until 1516 A.D. The most important deity for the isle was Ixchel, goddess of abundance, fertility, medicine, joy, and the moon.

Ixchel – courtesy of Antiguena Spanish Academy

Ixchel, according to Maya mythologies, married the sun god and left after he abused her. In the mountains, she lived with the Vulture King, only for the sun god to capture her and scar her face. Afterwards, Ixchel swore to appear only at night. She guided travelers, healed the ill, controlled rain and floods, and carried the spindle which was the universe’s center. Ixchel was said to protect people who pilgrimaged to her temple.

Visually, Ixchel is presented as crowned with serpents, carrying a jug or jar of water, and wearing a skirt with crossbones. The serpents symbolize wisdom, the jar/jug shows her water control, and the crossbones imply she is a giver of life and keeper of dead souls. In Maya depictions, Ixchel was a young woman when the moon waxed and an old lady when the moon waned.

Courtesy of Spectrum News

In 1517 A.D., Spaniards arrived at the island under the command of Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba. The Spanish found statues to Ixchel, her daughters, and her daughters-in-law were spread about the isle. From this, the island got its Spanish name, Isla Mujeres, or Island of the Women.

Francisco Fernandez de Cordoba – courtesy of Prabook

As the mainland, the Spanish conquered the isle and politically assimilated it into what was to be Mexico.

European colonies in the Americas – courtesy of Philatelic Database

Mexico’s National Institute of History and Anthropology has uncovered five temples, including that to Ixchel, on the island.

Ixchel’s temple – courtesy of Fravel

Majestic Mujeres

Mangroves and seagrass meadows are marine plants of Mujeres.

Isla Contoy mangroves, similar to those at Isla Mujeres – courtesy of Isla Contoy Tour

Sargassum, a seagrass, at Isla Mujeres – courtesy of Cancun Sun

Palm trees, coconut trees, and banana trees root themselves in Mujeres’ soil.

Palm trees at the isle – courtesy of Sky vs World

Isla Contoy coconut trees – courtesy of Taste of Isla

Banana tree on the Yucatan mainland – courtesy of Backyard Nature

Isla Mujeres’ terrestrial and aquatic species types add to a total of 120. Hummingbirds, iguanas, cat sharks, sailfish, and sawfish are components of the ecosystems.

Cozumel emerald hummingbird – courtesy of eBird

Iguana on the island; unrelated to this, on a diving cruise in the Bahamas, we stopped at an island populated by iguanas; we were handed fruits on sticks and allowed to feed the reptiles; the larger ones were gentle, while the smaller ones were aggressive, to where a few people were bitten; the difference between small and large may’ve been that the larger iguanas were more successful at finding food when people weren’t there, while the smaller ones weren’t as successful and opted to use the opportunity to snatch free food – courtesy of Reading Eagle

Catshark – courtesy of Tennessee Aquarium

Sailfish (pictured) can be distinguished from similar-looking swordfish and marlins by their distinctive fins resembling those of ship sails – courtesy of Sport Fishing Magazine

Junks are a type of sailboat common in China and coasts surrounding it (one pictured from Hong Kong); larger, ship versions of junks have been made, but today these boats are more regularly seen among fishermen; other sailboat and sail ship types resemble sailfish fins, but the junk is debatably closest – courtesy of ZOLIMA CITYMAG

Swordfish differ from sailfish and marlins through their almost completely silver coloration and their “sword” (nose tip) being thicker – courtesy of National Fisherman

Marlin off Costa Rica; note the fin is closer to a shark’s shape-wise, and doesn’t go along the entirety of the back – courtesy of CR Fishing Charters

Marlin the clownfish, a main character of Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo (2003); he was probably named after the marlins in part because he’s a stark contrast to actual marlins; unlike his fierce namesake, Marlin is tiny, timid, and overprotective – courtesy of Distractify

Sawfish – courtesy of Georgia Aquarium

Isla Mujeres is Hopefully for You

Courtesy of The Mexican Caribbean

Sources:

1. “About Isla Mujeres”. Isla Mujeres Trips. https://islamujerestrips.com/about-isla-mujeres/
2. Ward, William C. “Chapter 7 Geology of coastal islands, northeastern yucatan peninsula”. ResearchGate. December 2004. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/251449955_Chapter_7_Geology_of_coastal_islands_northeastern_yucatan_peninsula
3. Araya, David. “Mayan Ruins of Isla Mujeres: The Goddess Ixchel & The Temple”. Good Times Mexico. 25 January 2023 (Updated). https://www.goodtimesmexico.com/mayan-ruins-isla-mujeres/
4. “Flora & Fauna of Isla Mujeres”. Hotel Belo. 17 May 2021. https://beloislamujeres.com/flora-fauna-of-isla-mujeres/