Mictecacihuatl watches over the bones of all who descend to Mictlan, keeping them gathered in the deepest level of the underworld where no living hand may reach them.
Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl rule Mictlan together as lord and lady of the dead, presiding over the ninth and deepest level of the underworld.
Tonatiuhichan, Tlalocan, and Mictlan divide the Aztec dead by manner of death — warriors and sacrificial victims ascend to the House of the Sun, the water-claimed enter Tlaloc's paradise, and all others descend through the nine layers of Mictlan.
Quetzalcoatl descended to Mictlan to retrieve the bones of the previous humanity, overcoming traps set by Mictlantecuhtli.
Xolotl, the dog-headed twin of Quetzalcoatl, guides the souls of the dead through Mictlan's nine treacherous levels, serving as their companion on the four-year journey to the underworld's deepest darkness.
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