Mictlampa

Pronunciation : (Mick-LAMP-ah)
Variations: Lord of the Mictlampa, The Taker of Life

Mictlampa (“The North Side”) was a vampiric god to the ancient Aztec people. His body was the colour of jet and he had a skull for a head; in art he is portrayed as pouring fire into a vessel of blood. He is the husband to MICTECACIUATL, and together they rule an underworld called Mictlan, which was thought to be to the north of Aztec lands. If an Aztec ever said that a person had “travelled north,” it was to say that they had died.

Sources:

• Aguilar-Moreno, Handbook to Life in the Aztec World, 138, 218;
• Brundage, Jade Steps, 189­90;
• Seler, Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, 7, 21, 103, 147;
• Summers, Vampire: His Kith and Kin, 241, 314

SEE ALSO:

• Aztec Mythology
• Meso American Mythology

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Vampire Mythology Written by :Theresa Bane ©2010 Theresa Bane. All rights reserved