Southern Azcelani Ancestor Preservation

Among the Southern Azcelani, preserving the dead in Mutite is closely connected with sacrifice, religious authority, and social standing.

Preservation

South Azcelani (16P) belief holds that offerings to Cuetzpalteōtl delay the consumption of a person’s Tonalli after death.

During this interval, rituals can bind the lingering essence into Mutite. Timely knowledge of a death is therefore important: a person who dies far from their community may be consumed before the necessary rites can be performed.

Priestly authority

Priests oversee the records, obligations, and crystals associated with this system. Their control of preservation gives them considerable influence over the living. Falling out of favour with a priest can threaten a person’s prospects after death.

Status and taboos

Elite prestige is partly measured by the number of ancestors a family has preserved. Breaking a crystal containing a preserved soul is among the gravest taboos. The system also condemns suicide and the withholding of sacrifices.

See Southern Azcelani Belief System (16P) and South Azcelani (16P).