Mictecacihuatl

deity underworld Aztec single tradition · 7

She dwells in a windowless house in Mictlan with her husband, Mictlantecuhtli. Mictlantecuhtli and his wife were the opposites and complements of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl, the givers of life.

↻ synthesized from 7 sources

When

First attested
1500 BCE
Attested period
-1500 – 2020
Historical notes
Documented in Colonial Codex Vaticanus 3738.

Relationships

allied with
Tzitzimimeh
created by
Tezcatlipōca

Expand to full subgraph →

Sources

Source passages

“they put their creation in order and placed Mictlantecuhtli and his wife, Mictecacihuatl, in the underworld. When a person died, they were interred with grave goods, which they carried with them on the long and dangerous journey to the underworld. Upon arrival in Mictlan these goods were offered to Mictlantecuhtli and his wife.”

#13545 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the "Queen of Mictlan" (the Aztec underworld), ruling over the afterlife with her husband Mictlantecuhtli. Other epithets for her include "Lady of the Dead," as her role includes keeping watch over the bones of the dead.”

#14478 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5

“The Tezcatlipocas created four couple-gods to control the waters by Tlaloc and Chalchiuhtlicue; the Earth by Tlaltecuhtli and Tlalcihuatl; the underworld (Mictlan) by Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl; and the fire by Xantico and Xiuhtecuhtli.”

#33336 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001

“The tzitzimimeh are antagonists in Onyx Equinox, though they are associated with Mictecacihuatl.”

#33456 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001