Mictlantecuhtli
Mictlantecuhtli (from Nahuatl: Miktlāntēkwtli 'lord of Mictlán' or 'lord of the place of the dead' 'Miktlān, Mictlan or place of the dead; mikki, dead; -tlān , between, place; tekwtli, señor') in Mexica, Zapotec and Mixtec mythology, he is the god of the underworld and of the dead. It was also called Popocatzin (from Nahuatl: Popōkatsin 'smoky being''popōktli, smoke, fire; -katl, being: popōkatl or popōka, smoky, smoky, burning being; -tsin, honorific'), in Zapotec Pitao Pezeelao, god of the underworld, therefore, he was the god of the shadows Together with his wife Mictecacíhuatl, he ruled the underworld, the land of the dead or the kingdom of Mictlan.
He exercised his sovereignty over the "nine subterranean rivers" and over the souls of the dead. He is depicted as the skeleton of a human with a skull with many teeth. When he was drawn, he was represented with curly black hair, with stellar eyes or stars, since he lives in the region of complete darkness. The sculpture on the right was found in the Casa de las Águilas, inside the sacred precinct where the Templo Mayor de México-Tenochtitlan was located. When a person died, a xoloescuintle accompanied him to the afterlife.
In the Zapotec culture, when someone lost their life, a turkey was offered to the god Pitao Pezeelao, it was also requested when going to war to obtain victory and to calm epidemics of great mortality, the sacred city of Mitla was its largest ceremonial center.
The god appears with his body covered with human bones and a skull-shaped mask on his face. It contains some paper decorations in the form of rosettes from which cones emerge, one on the forehead and the other on the nape of the neck (ixcochtechimalli and cuechcochtechimalli), it also wears a folded white flag, the pantololli and a stole of white paper, called stigma, which is very characteristic of their attire. Mictlantecuhtli wears a human bone as an earmuff. The associated animals of him are the bat, the spider, the owl (tecolotl), an animal of bad omen and whose nocturnal song is considered, even today, fatal for those who listen to it.
Mictlantecuhtli can also be referred to as Tzontémoc, “the one who falls headlong”, like the sun at twilight. The Borgia Codex represents him carrying a black sun on his back, which refers to the sun of the dead, of the night, which leads a mysterious life underground between twilight and dawn.
In the codices it is represented with open jaws receiving the stars that fall to its center during the day. His symbol is miquiztli, "death."
Mictlantecuhtli is the patron of the “dog” day in the divinatory calendar; The day mizquiztli also dominates, "death", whose sign is a emaciated skull.
The meaning of the word "mictlantecuhtli", from right to left (according to the grammatical rules of Nahuatl): tecuhtli, means "sir"; -tlan, "place of", and mic, which is the root of "morir", "dead"; therefore, "Lord of the place of the dead".
Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlán
Those dead who were not chosen by Tonatiuh, Huitzilopochtli or Tláloc simply went to the underworld Mictlán, which is to the north, and there the souls suffer a series of obstacles during their journey through nine regions.
Mictlán was known as the home of the vast majority of deceased humans. This space was in the depths of the nine lower floors, located below the surface of the earth. Mictlán also received other names that reflect what pre-Hispanic man thought about it. It was called <<Our common home, our common home of getting lost, the place where everyone goes, the place where there is somehow an existence, the region of the emaciated>>.
All those who died a natural death went to Mictlán, without distinction of persons and without taking into account their behavior on earth. In the thought of the Mexica, the final destination was determined not by the moral conduct developed in life, but by the kind of death with which this world is abandoned.
In the Anahuac culture there were a series of beliefs around the world of the lord of the dead, where insects and vermin abounded. Mictlán was a dark place, home to centipedes, scorpions and spiders, as well as nocturnal birds. In the myth that describes the creation of man, it is mentioned that Quetzalcóatl went down to the underworld in search of the bones of past generations and, upon obtaining them, Mictlantecuhtli ordered all the animals of his kingdom of darkness to pursue the civilizing god and prevent him from completing his adventure.. The epilogue of this beautiful story describes how Quetzalcóatl mixed those old bones with his own blood and thus gave body and life to humanity.
In their conception of the universe, the Mexicas, like other peoples, believed that it was made up of thirteen higher planes and nine underworlds in order to achieve definitive rest. To the center and in the middle of which was placed the earth.
First of all, to get to Mictlán they have to pass through a mighty river, the Chignahuapan, which is the first test to which the infernal gods submit them. It is for this reason that the corpse of a dog is buried along with the deceased, so that he can help his master to cross the river. Then the soul has to pass between two mountains that come together; thirdly, by a mountain of obsidian; fourthly, where an icy wind blows, which cuts as if it carried obsidian blades. Fifth, where the flags float; the sixth is a place where arrows are shot; in seventh place are the beasts that eat hearts; in the eighth, you go through narrow places between stones and in the ninth and last, Chignahumictlan, you reach the place where souls rest or disappear.
To help him with his trials in the afterlife, he would put a set of amulets on the corpse, which enabled it to withstand magical trials. For the way they were given a jug with water, the deceased was shrouded in a squatting position, wrapping him tightly with blankets and papers. Other roles were used to cross the mountain ranges that meet or to pass where a large snake was or where the green lizard called Xochitónal was, the nine páramos, Chicunaixtlahuaca and the nine hills and they burned the garments that the deceased had used during his life, so that he would not be cold when crossing where the wind blows as sharp as a razor. They put a jade bead in her mouth, to serve as her heart and perhaps to leave her as a pledge in the seventh hell, where wild beasts devour the hearts of men. Finally, they gave him certain valuable objects, so that he would deliver them to Mictlantecuhtli or Mictecacíhuatl when he arrived at the end of the day. They burned the bundle of the dead and kept the ashes and the jade stone in an urn, which they buried in one of the rooms of the house and made offerings to them eighty days and every year, up to the four that the trip to the afterlife lasted. and then they didn't do it anymore.
The Mexica believed that the north was a grim and terrible region ruled by Mictlantecuhtli, who was also sometimes associated with the south. That is why, with the exception of warriors and women who died in childbirth, according to the Aztecs, the dead went to Mictlán. Having to overcome the aforementioned dangers, before they could continue their lives, they were provided with amulets and gifts for the trip, which would serve them during the four-day journey (four; sacred number for their culture).
Many are the gods and goddesses that inhabited the various regions of the Aztec hell. The most important are Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacíhuatl, "the Lord and Lady of Hell", who inhabited the ninth or the deepest of the underground places, the Chicnauhmictlan. There are other gods of the dead who always appear to us in pairs, of god and goddess and who apparently had an empire in other hells, less profound than the one in which the former ruled. It was believed that the outstanding deities, associated with death, ruled the northern region and also the underworld, in the bowels of the Earth.
The thirteen celestial gods who inhabit the thirteen heavens, as well as the nine lords of hell, have great importance in the calendar and give their fateful or grim character to the days with which they are associated.
Mictlantecuhtli played an important role in Mexica human sacrifice rituals (commonly to enemy warriors captured in combat). After those sacrifices they positioned many large clay jars of human flesh in front of idols, on several occasions in front of Mictlantecuhtli. After emptying the blood into these containers, the priests, who were called tlamacazqui, gave it and distributed it to the nobles and supervisors. The latter distributed it to those who served in the temple of the Lord of Death. All of them in turn distributed the individual's meat that had been offered as an offering among their friends and family. There is a belief that the taste of said meat simulated that of the pig and it is for this reason that the animal was quite desired among them as well.
In the book of earthly things in the Florentine Codex, which talks about the different herbs, it begins with the names of the different herbs that disturb or drive one mad. The first is ololiuqui, the morning glory, the seeds of which "disorder one." The second is peyotl, a plant that grows only in Mictlán, north of Mexico in desert lands, in the place of the dead for the Mexicas. There is also the tlapatl or jimson weed, which removes all hunger. And the nanacatl or teonanacatl, the "meat of the gods", which are the small bitter mushrooms that gave visions to their eaters.
The myth of the origin of people
Within the Aztec myths is the belief of the origin of people under an interaction between Quetzalcóatl and Mictlantecuhtli. The following version comes from the legend of the suns (Histoyre du Mechique).
The gods decide they want to reshape the world, the people need the Earth to be repopulated. It is believed that the god of the wind, Quetzalcóatl must go to the underworld to recover the human bones of the last creation, the race turned into fish by the flood. The underworld is a dangerous place, known as Mictlán, which is ruled by the cunning skeletal god Mictlantecuhtli or Lord Mictlán. Once in the underworld, Quetzalcóatl asks Mictlantecuhtli and his wife about the gods of the ancestors.
The cunning god of death agrees to give him the bones if Quetzalcóatl can completely complete a seemingly simple test. The god tells Quetzalcóatl to travel through his realm four times as a trumpet-like conch shell sounds. However, instead of the shell trumpet Mictlantecuhtli offers him a simple shell without holes. In order not to be mocked, Quetzalcóatl calls the worms to perforate the shell and create holes for it, and the bees to enter and make the trumpet roar. (As an emblem of the power of the wind and the life of it, Quetzalcóatl is commonly represented wearing the cut shell on his chest, as a wind jewel).
Hearing the shell blow, Mictlantecuhtli at first allows it to take the bones of the latest creation, but quickly changes his mind. However, Quetzalcoatl outsmarts Mictlantecuhtli and his minions and escapes with the bones. The already angry Mictlantecuhtli orders his followers to dig a deep well. As Quetzalcoatl runs, a quail startles him causing him to stumble into the hole. He falls into the dead pit and is tormented by the animal; the bones were scattered. The quail begins to gnaw on the bones.
Despite the fall, Quetzalcóatl eventually revives and recovers his already broken bones. It is for that reason that people today are of different sizes. Once he escapes from the underworld, Quetzalcóatl takes the precious cargo to Tamoanchan, a miraculous place of origin. Right there the ancient goddess Cihuacoatl, or the goddess of Serpent Woman, pulverizes the bones until they have an edible flour which she places in a special ceramic container. The gods gather around this vessel and drop drops of blood. It is then that from the crushed bones and drops of the gods the current race of humans is born.
Genealogy
The history of Mexicans through their paintings confers a certain primacy on Quetzalcóatl. The source states that the original creator gods, Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacíhuatl, spawned four important deities: the first was Tlatlauhqui-Tezcatlipoca (“Red Tezcatlipoca”, Xipetótec); the second, Yayauhqui-Tezcatlipoca (“Black Tezcatlipoca”, Tezcatlipoca), the third, Iztac-Tezcatlipoca (“white Tezcatlipoca”, Quetzalcóatl, also called Yohualli Ehécatl); the fourth, the youngest son, was Matlaltic-Tezcatlipoca (“Blue Tezcatlipoca”), who in the earliest accounts was associated with gods as ancient as Ometecuhtli (also associated with Maquizcóatl), and in his later version, named Huitzilopochtli by the Mexica, who made him their main god. According to this source, the Mexica god was born without meat covering his bones, possibly the reason why he is related to Mictlantecuhtli.
He ruled on the 10th day called Itzcuintli (dog), the thirteenth number 10 and his special date (of birth) was the 6th house. The Mayan version of him is Ah Puch.
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