The nine Lords of the Night
They run on a wheel of their own that restarts with each 260-day count
The nine, in order
- Xiuhtecuhtli Lord of fire and of time
- Itzli Obsidian, the flint knife
- Piltzintecuhtli The child lord, the young sun
- Cintéotl Maize, in its living form
- Mictlantecuhtli Lord of the place of the dead
- Chalchiuhtlicue She of the jade skirt
- Tlazoltéotl Nuestra abuela, tejedora del deseo
- Tepeyóllotl Corazón del monte
- Tláloc The one who makes things sprout
What they are
Nine, running on a wheel of their own that restarts with each count of two hundred and sixty days.
The old reading associates them with the intimate face of a person: who they are when nobody is watching, in rest and in sleep.
Since there are nine of them, a Lord of the Night returns every nine days, regardless of the sign or the numeral. That is why the same day-sign can carry a different night lord in different rounds, and why the omen was read from the combination and not from the sign alone.
How to cite this page
Alma Mexica, «The nine Lords of the Night», Alma Mexica. Revised 2026-09-17. https://almamexica.org/en/lords/night/
Questions that reach this page
Who are the Nine Lords of the Night?
Nine deities that accompany the days in a continuous cycle: Xiuhtecuhtli, Itztli, Piltzintecuhtli, Centeotl, Mictlantecuhtli, Chalchiuhtlicue, Tlazolteotl, Tepeyollotl and Tlaloc. Because there are nine of them and the count has 260 days, the series does not fit inside it and keeps shifting.