Curanderismo Soul Retrieval: Ancient Shamanic Wisdom to Restore the Sacred Energy of the Soul - Erika Buenaflor M.A. J.D. 2019

The North for The Ancient Mexica
The North: The Space of Ancestral Medicine and Guidance

For soul retrieval purposes, the North is the space of ancestral wisdom and guidance, where we continue to open up as well as strengthen our connection to the divine within us and around us. It can be a very comforting and healing space, especially after being in the West. It is also where we learn to trust and develop our intuition. If we are receptive, the gifts of the North will inspire our mundane world to become more magical and full of synchronicities.

For the Mexica, the North was the direction in which people went after they died, and where it would be determined whether they would go to one of the Upperworld realms or the Underworld:¹ where someone went was determined by how they died rather than just by their deeds while they were alive. For the Maya, the North was similarly regarded as the space of ancestors and death.² It was associated with the space where the sun reached its zenith, the direction of going up, the Upperworld and its realms, burgeoning life, ascension, and eminence and could also refer to the sun’s right or left side.³

The North for The Ancient Mexica

The Space of Ancestors

The Mexica associated the North with war and the color black. It was the direction toward which the dead set out.⁴ The souls of dead children went to Chichihualcuauhco, the place of the celestial nursemaid tree, that had breasts hanging from the tree, which children drank from (see plate 7).⁵ Those who died by lightning, drowning, dropsy, or gout went to Tlalocan, a fertile earthly paradise abundant in vegetables and fruits.⁶

The souls of people who died of old age, natural causes, diseases, accidents, or other circumstances not specified by the gods occupied the Underworld, Mictlampa or Mictlan. It was ruled by the Black Tezcatlipoca, god of fate, destiny, and night, and was inhabited by the principal death god, Mictlantecuhtli.⁷ It was imagined as a cold, barren area with extensive plains and open deserts. It was a place of uncertainty and mystery.⁸

Xochitlan, the land of flowers, was one of the abodes of the dead, situated in the Upperworld.⁹ Xochitlan or Tonatiuhilhuicac was the place of warriors who had died in battle or by sacrifice. Mixcoatl, god of hunting, the North, the Milky Way, the stars, war, and the nebulae that formed the cloud serpent in the night sky, was one of the principal deities associated with these dead warriors.¹⁰ After four years, they would become birds and butterflies and spend an eternity drinking the nectar of flowers both in the heavenly realm of the sun and on Earth. The warrior souls would accompany the rising sun to the zenith, the paradisal Flower World realm of the warrior spirits. When the sun reached its zenith point, the warriors dispersed everywhere to enjoy the nectar of different flowers.¹¹ In their flowery ritualistic wars, warriors would sing Cantares Mexicanos to evoke the ancestors from their paradisal Upperworld. The first song of the Cantares Mexicanos refers to this flower paradise as a “mountain within.”¹²

The Thirteen-Year Bearer sign of the North was tecpatl (flint knife). These were fearful, fruitless years, characterized by cold, ice, and hunger.¹³ The North presided over the following five tonalpohualli day signs: ocelotl (jaguar or tiger), miquiztli (death), tecpatl (flint), itzcuintli (dog), and ehecatl (wind).¹⁴ The ocelotl was associated with the Underworld.¹⁵ One miquiztli was the day sign of the deity Tezcatlipoca; it was a mixed sign, very good but possibly bad. A person born on this day sign would prosper and be rich, if they observed their religious duties and were humble. If not, Tezcatlipoca would curse and punish them.¹⁶ One tecpatl was the day of the tutelary war deity Uitzilopochtli, and it was a good-fortune sign. A person born under it would be valiant and would have respect and riches.¹⁷ One itzcuintli was the day sign of the fire deity, Huitzilopochtli, and was also fortunate.¹⁸ It was said that one ehecatl was the domain of sorcerers and shape-shifters; those born on this day would become such.¹⁹ Although the Year Bearer sign of the North may have been approached with apprehension, the day signs of the North seemed to be generally fortunate, unless, of course, someone failed to be humble and make offerings to the deities.