| Aztec Deities III |
| Ilmatecuhtli |
| "The Old Princess". Aztec mother goddess. During her winter festival, a woman's heart was cut out and the severed head carried during a procession. She can also be invoked for fertility. |
| Itzpapalotl |
| Beautiful Aztec female demon with symbols of death on her face. Balance of sensuality and evil. Invoke for destiny, fate, agriculture, and cosmic matters, especially with the stars. |
| Iztaccihuatl |
| Iztaccihuatl was the daughter of an Aztec emperor in the Valley of Mexico. She had the misfortune of falling in love with one of her father's warriors. As soon as her father discovered their relationship, he sent her lover away to a war in Oaxaca. He told the young man that if he survived and returned he would give him Iztaccihuatl as his wife. The emperor never intended for the young warrior to return as he planned to marry Iztaccihuatl to another man. While her lover was away, Iztaccihuatl was told he was dead and she died of grief. Upon the young warrior's return, he took Iztaccihuatl's body in his arms and carried her to the mountains. He placed her down on the ground and knelt beside her, himself dying of grief. The gods took pity on them, covering them with a blanket of snow and transforming them into mountains. Iztaccihuatl today is known as the "Sleeping Woman", as the mountain appears to be a woman laying on her side. He became Popocatepetl, or "Smoking Mountain", the volcano that still rains down his revenge for the death of his lover. |
| Mayahuel |
| Aztec goddess who discovered and introduced the gods to pulque. She was pictured naked, holding a bow of pulque and seated on a throne of a tortoise and a snake. She carried a cord that she used to help women in childbirth, and the night was sacred to her. |
| Mictlantecuhtli |
| Aztec lord of the land of the dead, depicted as a red skeleton. Husband of Mictlantecihuatl. Together, they take care of the deceased. |
| Mextli |
| The principal god of the Mexican (hence the name of their country), more usually called Huitzilopochtli. Hundreds of human beings were offered to him annually as sacrifices. Mexitli was the god of war and storms, and was born fully armed. AKA Mixcoatl |
| Mictlan |
| In Aztec mythology, this is the lowest layer of the underworld, situated in the north. Every soul, except those of fallen warriors and women who died giving birth, have to descent to the underworld. Here, their souls will find eternal rest. However, they first have to make the dangerous journey to Mictlan. At the burial, the deceased are given magical powers and with the help of the god Xolotl, they are able to make this journey safely. The ruler of this underworld is Mictlantecuhtli. |
| Mictlantecuhtli |
| Mictlantecuhtli ("lord of the realm of the dead") is the ruler of Mictlan, the lowest layer of the Aztec underworld. He is portrayed as a skeleton, or as a figure wearing a skull with protruding teeth. His symbolic animals are the spider, the owl, and the bat. His wife is Mictecacihuatl. |
| Nagua |
| An Aztec tutelary spirit in the shape of an animal or a plant. Every god and human has his personal Nagual with whom he shares his fate until death. The Nagual of, for instance, Huitzilopochtli is a hummingbird and that of Quetzalcoatl is a feathered snake |
| Nahual |
| The Aztec protectors of mortals. They are created from the same stuff as mortal, and each person has a nahual who looks after him |
| Omacatl |
| Aztec god of joy, festivity, and happiness. The rick worshipped him the most and it was claimed that if guests misbehaved at festivals, the host could invoke Omacatl and make the guests ill. |
| Ometecuhtli |
| "Two Lord". The creator god, god of fire and the highest god of the Aztec pantheon. He is the lord (or androgynous master) of duality and of the unity of the opposites. He had no formal cult and no cult center, but he was deemed to be present in every ritual and in all things in this world |