El Mictlán: the nine levels of the Mexica underworld

What is Mictlán

Mictlán is the realm of the dead of the Mexica, the underworld ruled by Mictlantecuhtli and his wife Mictecacíhuatl. It was not a hell of punishment: it was the destination for almost everyone. Anyone who died a common death, from old age or illness, undertook a four-year journey through nine regions full of dangers, guided by a dog, until reaching the place of final rest. The offerings that the living left in the tomb were the provisions for that path, and they are the origin of the Day of the Dead altar.

Not everyone went to Mictlán

For the Mexica, the destination of the soul did not depend on how one had lived but on how one had died.

- **Warriors killed in battle or sacrificed** went to the heaven of the Sun and accompanied him from dawn until noon. After four years, they returned to earth as hummingbirds and butterflies. - **Women who died in childbirth** were considered warriors: they accompanied the Sun from noon until sunset. - **Those who drowned, those struck by lightning**, and those who died from diseases linked to water went to Tlalocan, the green and eternal paradise of Tláloc, the rain god. - **Children who died before eating corn** went to Chichihuacuauhco, where a tree with breasts breastfed them until they could be born again. - **Everyone else**, the vast majority, went to Mictlán.

The four-year journey

The accounts that survived the conquest, gathered by chroniclers like Fray Bernardino de Sahagún and in painted codices, describe the path. The names change depending on the source, but the journey is this:

**1. The river of dogs.** The first obstacle is the Chiconahuapan, a wide, rushing river. The dead person cannot cross it alone: they need the dog that was buried with them. The animal recognizes its owner and carries them across on its back. This is the job of the xoloitzcuintle, the dog of the god Xólotl.

**2. The clashing hills.** Two mountains that separate and come together, crashing against each other. The soul has to pass through at the exact right moment or be crushed.

**3. The obsidian hill.** A mountain covered in volcanic glass blades that must be climbed.

**4. The wind of blades.** An icy place where the wind blows loaded with obsidian edges that cut like knives. That is why the dead were buried with clothes and blankets: to protect themselves there.

**5. Where bodies float like flags.** A wasteland where the wind is so strong that it lifts souls and waves them in the air.

**6. Where arrows rain.** A pass where invisible hands shoot arrows at those who cross.

**7. Where hearts are eaten.** Beasts, often described as jaguars, that devour the hearts of the dead.

**8. The river of black waters.** A narrow path between dark and deep waters that the soul must cross without falling.

**9. The place of rest.** At the end, the soul arrives before Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacíhuatl, hands them the offerings brought from earth, and dissolves into the silence of the ninth level, where it finally rests.

What was taken to the grave

Since the journey was long and dangerous, the family equipped the deceased: food, water, clothes, blankets, tools, green stones that acted as a heart, and gifts to deliver to the lords of the underworld. For four years, during the festivals dedicated to the dead, offerings continued to be burned for them. After that time, the soul had reached its destination.

That custom of feeding and clothing the dead for their journey never completely disappeared: it is exactly what every Mexican family does today when they set up an altar with water, food, flowers, and candles for the Day of the Dead.

Quetzalcóatl in Mictlán

The most famous myth of the underworld tells that, at the beginning of the current era, Quetzalcóatl went down to Mictlán to search for the bones of previous human creations to create the new men. Mictlantecuhtli set impossible tests for him and laid a trap: Quetzalcóatl fell into a pit and the bones broke. With those pieces, mixed with his own blood, the gods created current humanity. That is why, they say, people have different heights, and that is why everyone carries death inside them from the moment they are born.

Mictlán today

The movie *Coco* (2017) showed a colorful and bright version of the world of the dead, with bridges of marigold petals and xoloitzcuintles as guides. The original Mictlán was much darker and colder: a place of silence, wind, and stone. But both versions share the same idea: the dead continue to exist somewhere, and once a year they find their way back home.