Mictlan
The nine-level Aztec land of the dead, where Quetzalcoatl went to steal the bones of earlier humans to create a new humanity.
- Culture
- Aztec (Mexica), central Mexico
- Rulers
- Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl
- Structure
- Nine levels; a four-year journey for the dead
- Guide
- Xolotl, often as a dog
- Myth
- Quetzalcoatl fetches bones to make new humans
What is Mictlan known for?
Mictlan is the underworld of Aztec, or Mexica, religion in central Mexico. It was ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, 'lord of Mictlan', and his wife Mictecacihuatl. Most people who died of ordinary causes went there, while warriors, women who died in childbirth and the drowned went to other afterlives.
Accounts describe Mictlan as nine levels, reached by a hard journey of four years past mountains, winds of blades and a river. The dead were helped by the dog-god Xolotl, and dogs were sometimes buried with them.
In the Legend of the Suns, after the destruction of the previous age, Quetzalcoatl goes down to Mictlan to ask for the bones of earlier humans. Mictlantecuhtli tries to trick him; Quetzalcoatl escapes with the bones but falls, breaking them, which explains why people are of different sizes. The gods then grind the bones and give them life with their own blood.
Quetzalcoatl's journey to Mictlan for the bones of earlier humans appears in the Legend of the Suns.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeLegend of the Suns
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Mictlán'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Mictlantecuhtli'Reference
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