An Exploration of the Nahua Netherworld

Resumen

The most concise exposition of the Nahua beliefs concerning the afterlife is found in the first three chapters of the appendix to Book III of the Florentine Codex of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún. There we read that there are three possible abodes for the soul and that the manner of death determined its ultimate destination. Those who drowned, were struck by lightening or died of a disease associated with the rain god, Tlaloc, went to his paradise where there was eternal springtime and absence of suffering. Those warriors who died in battle or were taken captive and subsequentIy sacrificed went to the horne of the sun, a desert-like, but not barren place. For four years the souls of the warriors accompany the sun on its daily journey from the east. At the end of this time they are transformed into hummingbirds and butterflies. As such, they sip honey from the flowers there in the sun's heaven and on earth. The vast majority of people, nobles and commoners alike, went to Mictlan. Here, after enduring eight trials on a journey lasting four years, the soul encounters Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of the Dead, and oblivion.