Lord of the Underworld
Mixe · deity · Mixe traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Mɨjku is the Mixe Lord of the Underworld, the master of the lower world who is at once the source of illness and death and the giver of wealth and luck. Riches are held to lie within his power, sought through dangerous dealings and offerings, while sickness and death likewise issue from him; this ambivalent character led, under Christian influence, to his frequent identification with the devil. He is one of the central deities of Mixe religion, his cult bound to caves and the threshold of the underworld.
Domains
- underworld
- death
- disease
- wealth
Powers
- to send illness and death upon the living
- to bestow hidden wealth and fortune upon those who treat with him
Epithets
- MɨjkuFrank J. Lipp, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing (University of Texas Press, 1991) (secondary)
Sources
- Mɨjku, the Lord of the Underworld, is the Mixe deity of death, illness, and wealth, often equated with the Catholic devil.: Frank J. Lipp, The Mixe of Oaxaca: Religion, Ritual, and Healing (University of Texas Press, 1991) (secondary); Etsuko Kuroda, Under Mt. Zempoaltepetl: Highland Mixe Society and Ritual, Senri Ethnological Studies 12 (National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka, 1984) (secondary)