Mictlantecuhtli

Water covered the earth in a great flood, and the people who had lived there became fish. When the waters receded, no humans remained on the surface. The gods had agreed that a new race, one that would last longer, should inhabit the earth. They chose Quetzalcoatl to lead this work. He knew that the bones of the former humans lay in the deep caverns of Mictlan.

Quetzalcoatl entered the underworld with help from his faithful dog, Xolotl. He crossed the nine rivers that formed the final obstacle for the dead and reached Mictlantecuhtli, the bony-headed ruler of Mictlan. The god had great power and enormous claws. Quetzalcoatl said that he had come for the precious bones. When Mictlantecuhtli asked what he would do with them, Quetzalcoatl replied that the gods wanted someone to inhabit the earth.

Mictlantecuhtli appeared to consider the request. He said that Quetzalcoatl could take the bones if he sounded his shell horn and went around the circular realm four times. The condition was a trick. The shell had no holes, so the god of the winds could not play it. Quetzalcoatl nevertheless sounded the horn and completed the required circuit. Mictlantecuhtli then sent a quail against him. The bird caused Quetzalcoatl to fall into a pit.

Mictlantecuhtli tried to stop Quetzalcoatl from escaping with the bones. Quetzalcoatl recovered them and fled from Mictlan. He carried the bones towards the earth. On the way, he passed through Tamoanchan, a paradise of tranquil forests and flower-covered meadows where gods often travelled. There he sought the aged mother goddess Cihuaoatl.