Mictlāntēcutli: Aztec God of the Dead

"Representation of Mictlantecuhtli in the municipality of Cuautitlán, State of Mexico, Mexico" by Emiliano Eslava under this license, unmodified

Mictlāntēcutli is an Aztec (Mexica) god of the dead and the King of Mictlan, the Mexica underworld in which most souls are sent by the gods after death. For reference, there are multiple underworlds in Mexica mythology, and where people go depends on how they die. So back in the day, if a person was killed by something like sickness or old age, it was believed that their soul had probably ended up in Mictlan.

Mictlāntēcutli lives in a windowless house in Mictlan with his wife, Mictēcacihuātlis, and is usually depicted as a tall skeleton doused with blood. Although his head is often only a skull, he's generally shown to still have eyeballs. He wears earspools fashioned from human bones, a necklace crafted with people's eyes, and a headdress embellished with owl feathers. (It appears the owl is one animal associated with him - spiders and bats are a few others.) So, yes, he sounds a bit scary, but also quite fascinating. Don't you think?

At any rate, what us modern folk consider scary and what the ancient Nahua people considered scary is quite different. Many Mexica gods are depicted as skeletal, or adorned with bones and blood - even the ones who aren't associated with death. The Nahua people believed that life and death were intertwined, and this viewpoint is evident in their religious imagery.

Photograph of the disk of Mictlāntēcutli by Anagoria under this license, unmodified

However, what I find most interesting about Mictlāntēcutli isn't his macabre appearance, but his domain. Mictlan is a terrifying, enthralling realm that I would never want to visit. It's made up of nine regions - or "levels" - in which the souls of the dead must pass through. The journey is said to take four years, and the objective is to reach Mictlāntēcutli and his wife and be "released" from the suffering of the mortal form.

1) In the first level of Mictlan, souls have to cross a river guarded by a humongous iguana with the help of a sacred dog - one of the Xoloitzcuintle breed, also known as the Mexican hairless dog. But the dogs only help souls who are worthy; unworthy souls are left behind.

2) The next region consists of two mountains that are constantly slamming into each other. Here, souls are tasked with finding just the right moment to slip through the mountains without being squished.

3) Here, souls must climb a mountain covered with sharp obsidian.

4) This time, souls must trek through a region where it's always snowing, the terrain made of rock and ice, the winds so violent that one can be seriously harmed by them.

5) A place with no gravity, where souls are at the mercy of the winds until they're allowed into the next level.

6) A region in which souls must dodge the arrows shot at them (the arrows are said to be ones lost on the battlefield).

7) A level in which jaguars eat the hearts of souls.

8) Here, the flesh is removed from the soul's body.

9) In the final region of Mictlan, souls pass through nine lagoons and meet Mictlāntēcutli and his wife.

I hope you enjoyed October 2021's Myth of the Month!