Mictlantecuhtli’s Family Tree

About Mictlantecuhtli →

Family

• Mictecacihuatl(spouse)— Marriage

  Mictlantecuhtli took Mictecacihuatl as his wife after she was sacrificed as an infant and grew to adulthood within the nine levels of Mictlan, the two becoming the inseparable lord and lady of the dead.

Guards

• Bones of the Ancestors

  Mictlantecuhtli guarded the Bones of the Ancestors in Mictlan, refusing to relinquish them until Quetzalcoatl outwitted him and fled with the bones.

Rules over

• Mictlan

  Mictlantecuhtli and Mictecacihuatl rule Mictlan together as lord and lady of the dead, presiding over the ninth and deepest level of the underworld.

Equivalent to

• Ah Puch(Maya)

  Mictlantecuhtli and Ah Puch are the skeletal death gods who rule the underworlds of the Aztec and Maya traditions, cognate figures in the broader Mesoamerican religious complex.

Associated with

• Quetzalcoatl

  Mictlantecuhtli tried to prevent Quetzalcoatl from retrieving the bones of previous humanity, setting traps and sending quail to attack him as he fled Mictlan.