Mictlantecuhtli

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Mictlantecuhtli

("lord of Mictlan"), in Aztec mythology, was a god of
the dead and King of Mictlan (Chicunauhmictlan), the
lowest and northernmost section of the underworld. He
was one of the principal gods of the Aztecs and was
the most prominent of several gods and goddesses of
death and the underworld (see also Chalmecatl). The
worship of Mictlantecuhtli sometimes involved ritual
cannibalism, with human flesh being consumed in and
around the temple.[1]

He was depicted as a blood-spattered skeleton or a
person wearing a toothy skull. His headdress was shown
decorated with owl feathers and paper banners, and he
wore a necklace of human eyeballs. He was not the only
Aztec god to be depicted in this fashion, as numerous
other deities had skulls for heads or else wore
clothings or decorations that incorporated bones and
skulls. Although such imagery might seem morbid today,
in the Aztec world skeletal imagery was a symbol of
fertility, health and abundance, alluding to the close
symbolic links between death and life.[2]

His wife was Mictecacihuatl, and together they were
said to dwell in a windowless house in Mictlan.
Mictlanteculhtli was associated with spiders, owls,
bats, the eleventh hour, and the northern compass
direction. He was one of only a few deities held to
govern over all three types of souls identified by the
Aztecs, who distinguished between the souls of people
who died normal deaths (of old age, disease, etc),
heroic deaths (e.g. in battle, sacrifice or during
childbirth), or non-heroic deaths.

Mictlanteculhtli was the god of the day sign
Itzcuintli (dog), one of the 20 such signs recognised
in the Aztec calendar, and was regarded as supplying
the souls of those who were born on that day. He was
seen as the source of souls for those born on the
sixth day of the 13-day week and was the fifth of the
nine Night Gods of the Aztecs. He was also the
secondary Week God for the tenth week of the
twenty-week cycle of the calendar, joining the sun god
Tonatiuh to symbolise the dichotomy of light and
darkness. [3]

According to Aztec legend, the twin gods Quetzalcoatl
and Xolotl were sent by the other gods to steal the
bones of the previous generation of gods from
Mictlanteculhtli. The god of the underworld sought to
block Quetzalcoatl's escape with the bone and,
although he failed, he forced Quetzalcoatl to drop the
bones, which were scattered and broken by the fall.
The shattered bones were collected by Quetzalcoatl and
carried back to the land of the living, where the gods
transformed them into the various races of mortals.

[edit] References

1. ^ Michael E. Smith, Jennifer B. Wharton and Jan
Marie Olson, "Aztec Feasts, Rituals and Markets", in
Archaeology and Politics of Food and Feasting in Early
States and Empires, Tamara L Bray (ed.), p. 245.
(Springer, 2003)
2. ^ Michael E. Smith, Aztecs, p. 206. (Blackwell,
2002)
3. ^ Rick Holmer, The Aztec Book of Destiny, pp.
78-79. (BookSurge, 200

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[Acantha-Tara]

The skulls also represented the soul stripped bare, the essence of one's real being, when
there was no further need for the posturings and impression-creating activities of day-to-
day life, before that life ended and what you were left with was the "real you", the soul.
Quite a wonderful concept, really. We of this day and age might find it somewhat morbid
because it comes from a culture different than what many of us are used to, yet in Mexico
today skull imagery is still widespread.

(The veneration of the gods was pushed underground with the coming of xtianity, but in
many of the xtian churches lie remanants of the old, smashed, images of the gods and
pieces of their teocallis, also smashed, which the people intentionally interred in the walls/
foundations of the churches. Then, when they walked by these places and bowed their
heads, genuflecte, whatever., THEY could do this knowing they were simply using these
signs to respect, honor, and acknowledge their real gods who, they believed, were still in
residence even though the forms and formalities had changed.)

Acantha-Tara

--- In [url=mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url], <telco_nl@... wrote:

...He was not the only
Aztec god to be depicted in this fashion, as numerous
other deities had skulls for heads or else wore
clothings or decorations that incorporated bones and
skulls. Although such imagery might seem morbid today,
in the Aztec world skeletal imagery was a symbol of
fertility, health and abundance, alluding to the close
symbolic links between death and life.[2]