Tlalocan, an even more material Paradise, was that of the
water-god or deity of moisture, Tlaloc. Sahagun calls this
a "terrestrial Paradise" "where they feign that there is surfeit
of pleasure and refreshment, void for a space of torment." In
that delectable region there is plenteousness of green maize, of
calabashes, pepper, tomatoes, and haricots, and it is filled with
variegated blossoms. There dwell the god Tlaloc and his
followers. The persons who gain admittance- are those slain
by lightning or thunderbolt, the leprous, and the dropsical —
those whose deaths have in any way been caused through the
agency of water — for Tlaloc is god of that element ; and
existence there is perpetual. The Paradise of Tlaloc was
situated in the mountains, in a climate of eternal summer.
1 Appendix to Book III, chap. iii.
^ I quote from my own manuscript translation of Sagahun.
2 lO



PARADISE AND PUNISHMENT

The Aztec Abode of the Dead

The Hades of the Aztec race was Mictlan, presided over by
Mictlantecutli (Lord of Mictlan) and his spouse (Mictecaciuatl).
