Editing Mictlān

{{short description|Underworld of Aztec mythology}}
{{About|the Aztec underworld|the archaeological site|Mitla|the rapper|Mike Mictlan|the wrestler|Mictlán (wrestler)}}
{{Aztecbox}}

'''Mictlan''' ({{IPA|nah|ˈmikt͡ɬaːn}}) is the [[underworld]] of [[Aztec mythology]].  Most people who die would travel to Mictlan, although other possibilities exist (see "[[#Other destinations|Other destinations]]", below).<ref name="Smith2009p207" />  Mictlan consists of nine distinct levels.<ref name="Smith2009p207" />

The journey from the first level to the ninth is difficult and takes four years, but the dead are aided by the [[psychopomp]], [[Xolotl]]. The dead must pass many challenges, such as crossing a mountain range where the mountains crash into each other, a field with wind that blows flesh-scraping knives, and a river of blood with fearsome jaguars.{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Mictlan also features in the Aztec creation myth. Mictlantecuhtli set a pit to trap Quetzalcoatl. When [[Quetzalcoatl]] entered Mictlan seeking bones with which to create humans, Mictlantecuhtli was waiting. He asked Quetzalcoatl to travel around Mictlan four times blowing a conch shell with no holes. Quetzalcoatl eventually put some bees in the conch shell to make sound. Fooled, Mictlantecuhtli showed Quetzalcoatl to the bones. But Quetzalcoatl fell into the pit and some of the bones broke. The Aztecs believed this is why people's height are different.

Mictlan is believed to be ruled by King [[Mictlantecuhtli]] ("Lord of the Underworld")<ref name="Smith2009p206" /> and his wife, [[Mictecacihuatl]] ("Lady of the Underworld").<ref>Soustelle, Jacques (Patrick O'Brian, translator) (1961). ''Daily Life of the Aztecs on the Eve of the Spanish Conquest''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. p. 107.</ref>

Other deities in Mictlan include [[Cihuacoatl (goddess)|Cihuacoatl]] (who commanded Mictlan spirits called [[Cihuateteo]]), [[Acolnahuacatl (deity)|Acolmiztli]], [[Chalmecacihuilt]], [[Chalmecatl]] and [[Acolnahuacatl (deity)|Acolnahuacatl]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2010}}

==Relationship to Nahuatl creation mythology==
[[File:Codex Borgia page 52.jpg|thumb|350px|Mictlampa, the Northern hemisphere of Mictlan according to the [[Codex Borgia]].]]
The nine regions of Mictlán (also known as Chiconauhmictlán) in [[Mexica mythology|Aztec mythology]] take shape within the Nahua worldview of space and time as parts of a universe composed of living forces. According to [[Mexica]] mythology, in the beginning, there were two primordial gods, [[Ometeotl|Omecíhuatl]] and Ometecuhtli, whose children became the creator gods. The names of these creator gods were [[Xipe Totec|Xipetótec]], [[Tezcatlipoca]], [[Quetzalcóatl]], and [[Huitzilopochtli]], and they inherited the art of creation from their parents. From the preexisting matter, after 600 years of inactivity, Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcóatl organized the vertical and horizontal universes, where the horizontal universe was composed of cardinal or hemispheric directions and the vertical universe was composed of two parts, a higher and a lower. The higher part was supported by four gigantic trees, growing in each corner of the [[Tlalocan|Tlalocán]] (the central part of the universe). Such imagery is also found in the idea of a [[world tree]], such as [[Yggdrasil]] in Norse mythology, Jian Mu in Chinese mythology or the [[Ashvattha]] fig in Hindu mythology. These trees impeded the joining of the Overworld (the higher world) and the [[Underworld]] (the lower world) to Tlaltícpac (the earth). The earth was a land formed from the body of [[Cipactli]], the crocodilomorphic sea monster, and was a solid, living land that generated food for humankind. Cipactli was [[mother nature]], from whom was created the surface and soil that was Tlaltícpac.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=Linda B. |title=The Cipactli Monster: Woman as Destroyer in Carlos Fuentes |journal=Southwest Review |date=1975 |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=246–255 |jstor=43471223 }}</ref>

The myth recounts the following. From Cipactli's hair sprang trees, flowers and plants, from her skin sprang plains, valleys and river sediments, from her eyes came wells, caves, and fountains, from her mouth sprang rivers, lakes and streams, from her nose came valleys, ranges and mesas, from her shoulders the saw-toothed mountain ranges, volcanoes and mountains. As they organized the universe horizontally and vertically, the four creator gods forged the pairs<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stross |first1=Brian |title=Oppositional Pairing in Mesoamerican Divinatory Day Names |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |date=1983 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=211–273 |jstor=30027669 }}</ref> of gods who would control each area of power: the water ([[Tláloc|Tlaloc]] and [[Chalchiuhtlicue]]), the earth ([[Tlaltecuhtli]] and Tlalcíhuatl), fire ([[Xiuhtecuhtli]] and [[Xantico|Chantico]]) and the dead ([[Mictlantecuhtli]] and [[Mictecacihuatl|Mictecacíhuatl]]).

==Other destinations==
In addition to Mictlan, the dead could also go to other destinations:
*Warriors who died in battle and those who died as a sacrifice went east and accompanied the sun during the morning.<ref name="Smith2009p207" />
*Women who died in [[childbirth]] went to the west and accompanied the sun when it set in the evening.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Coe| first=Michael D. |title=Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs |year=1994| edition=4 |place=London |publisher=Thames and Hudson |page=183 }}</ref>
*People who died of drowning — or from other causes that were linked to the rain god [[Tlaloc]], such as certain diseases and lightning — went to a paradise called [[Tlalocan]].<ref name="Smith2009p207" />

==See also==
*[[Tlalocan]]
*[[Xibalba]]
*"[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57875/the-soldier-of-mictlan The Soldier of Mictlán]," a poem by [[Rigoberto González|Rigoberto Gonzalez]]
*[[Grim Fandango]], a video game in which the player follows along a journey through the Mictlán

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Smith2009p206">Smith, M. E. (2009). ''The Aztecs'' (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p. 206. {{ISBN|978-0-631-23016-8}}</ref>
<ref name="Smith2009p207">Smith, M. E. (2009). ''The Aztecs'' (2nd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. p. 207. {{ISBN|978-0-631-23016-8}}</ref>
}}

{{Aztec mythology}}
{{Hell}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mictlan}}
[[Category:Locations in Aztec mythology]]
[[Category:Locations in Mesoamerican mythology]]
[[Category:Underworld]]