Mictlantecuhtli

Mictlantecuhtli was known as the god of the land of the dead in other words, he was an Aztec god who was in charge of death and was actually a well-known god since he was practically worshiped throughout Mesoamerica . He was very imposing because he was also the governor of the underworld and he was the equivalent of the Mayan god known as Yum Cimil Zapotec called Kedo.

Characteristics of Mictlantecuhtli

There were many characteristics that made this god a very representative being in their culture. Among the most recognized of them the following are mentioned.

• It had all its sovereignty over the Mictlán area .
• He ruled over the souls of all those who had died .
• It was usually depicted in the shape of a human skeleton .
• He had a wife named Mictecacíhuatl , the lady of death.
• It was not a true relevant god for men because it did not have much importance for them, however it did have various representations and rituals, especially within the Mexica pantheon.
• In his honor it was made one sacrifice so annually to a person during the month of tititl.

History

The story tells that Mictlantecuhtli had not been born of other deities as other gods had, he had been created through the four gods who were in charge of giving all the shape to the universe. According to the story, his parents were then Ometecuhtli and his wife Omecihuatl . After being created together with his wife who was the lady of the underworld, they began to exercise their work receiving the first souls that died in the newly populated earth.

According to the story, Quetzalcóatl had decided to travel to the underworld in order to recover bones of people who had died, this because many men had died and humanity was dying very quickly, so he wanted to use those bones to be able to create more people . However, Mictlantecuhtli did not want his kingdom to be filled too quickly and so he thought of a way to fool Quetzalcóatl, challenging him to travel through Mictlán four times while sounding a shell . Quetzalcóatl thought that this would be a very simple task but thegod of the underworld had given him a horn that didn’t have any holes .

When Quetzalcóatl realized the deception then he called in worms to make holes in the horn and bees so that they could make shell buzzes , after the challenge was finished, the god of the underworld had no choice but to give him the bones of the dead. For the moment he wanted to change his mind but Quetzalcoatl picked up the bones very quickly and fled to the surface.

This made Mictlantecuhtli was enraged and had his minions dig one deep pit in one of the routes done the other god would flee, then a quail was in charge of surprise to Quetzalcoatl and caused it to fall into the pit. Quetzalcóatl then fell into her and appeared to be dead but was revived , despite this his bones were broken and scattered everywhere. He collected all their bones and took them to a holy place so that he could turn them into men andwomen and according to history, because their bones were broken people then began to be born of different sizes.

What was god of

Mictlantecuhtli was the god of the underworld to the worldview of the Mexica , was the god who was responsible for rule over the dead of Mictlan to the side of his wife.

What role did Mictlantecuhtli play?

To fully understand the function that this god fulfilled, it is necessary to remember that in the Mexica pantheon the people who died went to four different places depending on the way in which they died. These places could be; Mictlán when they died naturally, Tlalocan when they died due to accidents in the water or when a Lightning was responsible for the death, to Tonatiuhihuícac when women died during childbirth or warriors and finally Chichihuacuauhco what were those babies who died in childbirth.

Then, its main function was to be able to care for , watch over and protect the bones of all those people who had died while celebrating the Mexican festivals that were dedicated to the deceased.

Can

Mictlantecuhtli had the power to be the lord of the underworld and shadows . He could exercise all his power over the Mictlán , over the underground rivers, which numbered nine in total, and over the souls of all those who died.

How Mictlantecuhtli is represented

It was represented within the Aztec images with the shape of a skeleton which was splattered with blood , it was 1 meter 80 high and its face was completely skeletal , with large and bulging eyes that were fixed within its eye sockets. His jaw had the ability to open wide to make way for the stars that fell into the underworld in the daytime and his arms were always raised in a threatening position .

He also had a headdress made of owl feathers and some paper flags. She wore sandals that represented her noble position. Images can be seen to have a series of somewhat macabre jewelry because her necklace was made with a chain of human eyes and in her ears she had a kind of earrings that were also made from the bones of the deceased.

Temples

He did not have any temple built in his honor because it must be remembered that he was a god who lived in the underworld.

Symbols

It was probably his skeletal and incarnate nature and his head was dominated by his jaw which was shaped like a skull with small portions of skin on it. He had an earmuff which is believed to be made of bones and some also thought that it was an eye that was dangling. His tongue was hanging out of his mouth and was sometimes depicted with a knife. He had a rather peculiar stellar- type eye , long nails, and thick hair .

Although he had no eyes, a dominant gaze , full of strength and power , could be perceived in him . In its joints there was a type of decoration with masks and large fangs and instead of hands what it had were large claws . Sometimes he could also be treated by wearing a necklace with two snakes and various seashells , with bracelets made of human hearts on his wrists and a fire serpent on his neck .

Importance of Mictlantecuhtli

In reality, this god did not have a true importance for living beings and in fact they did not pay any type of worship to him, however, if some rituals were made for the gods.