On the Aztecs

Doing research for my story, Visitation, I've been reading a lot about Aztec culture, particularly centered around death. It's very interesting, though I may have to fudge a little in order to make the story work. Specifically, only women who died in childbirth tended to return as ghosts, which... does not work given the scenario I need to set. There are a few other Aztec legends to work off of, but this story is one that deserves care and effort, particularly as the Aztecs were a fascinating and complex society whose reputation was dragged through the mud by gold-hungry conquistadors who killed more people in a shorter time than the Aztecs ever sacrificed.

What I'm saying here is, don't expect chapter two anytime soon.

One thing I learned is that their realm of the dead-- well, most of the dead, anyway-- was called Mictlan. I thought that was interesting, because that's where the Celestis from Doctor Who lived. It was a pocket universe built by defecting Time Lords when it became clear that Gallifrey might not be able to win the Time War. It was described by the Doctor as the closest thing you can get to Hell in the Taking of Planet 5.

The Aztec Mictlan was a pretty gloomy place, full of the inglorious dead. Warriors who fell in battle got to become hummingbirds, chasing the sun, and even drowning victims got their own level of afterlife. Everyone else spent eternity mooning around a hot, muddy plain underground.

Also on Doctor Who, I highly recommend the first Doctor story "the Aztecs". It isn't a great analysis of their culture, but it is a very very very entertaining story, and more balanced than its contemporary portrayals.