The image to the left is a photograph of a carving of the Aztec goddess, Mictlantecihuatl. (A mouthful, no?) She was known as the Queen of Mictlan and wife of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the dead. Her role in, Mictlan, the Aztec underworld, was to preside over the dead with her husband and keep watch over the departed's bones. Worship of her has been transmuted over time and evolved into the rites and celebrations of the Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos, which she oversees in her later (and more Catholic) incarnation of Santa Muerte or Saint Death.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Mictlantechuatl...
The image to the left is a photograph of a carving of the Aztec goddess, Mictlantecihuatl. (A mouthful, no?) She was known as the Queen of Mictlan and wife of Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the dead. Her role in, Mictlan, the Aztec underworld, was to preside over the dead with her husband and keep watch over the departed's bones. Worship of her has been transmuted over time and evolved into the rites and celebrations of the Day of the Dead or Dia De Los Muertos, which she oversees in her later (and more Catholic) incarnation of Santa Muerte or Saint Death.
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2 comments:
Beautiful - I was not previously familiar with Mictlantecihuatl.
Isn't it amazing! I mean, there's so much out there that at one time was so important to thousands of people and even today we do things in honor and in respect of things and gods of old that are now forgotten or on the verge of being forgotten.
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