Lord of Mictlan
Mictlantecuhtli is the skeletal god of death who rules Mictlan, the lowest level of the Aztec underworld. With his consort Mictecacihuatl, the "Lady of the Dead," he receives the souls of those who die ordinary deaths — not in battle, sacrifice, or by water. He is portrayed as a blood-spattered skeleton or a figure with a fleshless, toothy skull, often crowned with owl feathers and surrounded by spiders.
His name combines Nahuatl Mictlan, "place of the dead," with tecuhtli, "lord" — "Lord of the Land of the Dead." Mictlan lay at the end of a four-year, nine-level journey the dead had to complete before reaching rest.
In the myth of the Fifth Sun, Quetzalcoatl travels to Mictlan to retrieve the bones of earlier humanity. Mictlantecuhtli grudgingly allows it but lays traps to keep the bones; Quetzalcoatl escapes with them, and from them — mixed with his blood — the present human race is reborn.
Skeletal lord of Mictlan who guards the bones of the dead.
The feathered serpent who steals those bones to recreate humankind.
Common Questions
What does Mictlantecuhtli's name mean?
It means "Lord of the Land of the Dead," from Mictlan ("place of the dead") and tecuhtli ("lord").
Who goes to Mictlan?
Souls who died of ordinary causes traveled to Mictlan, undergoing a four-year journey through nine levels — unlike warriors and the sacrificed, who joined the sun.
