By MELISSA T. CASTRO

It’s that time of year again, where marigold-festooned shop windows are bedecked with paper-mache skeletons, elaborate artisan skull-ptures, and hand-embroidered clothing featuring colourful Catrinas.

The thing you won’t find so easily? Merchandise with the face of Mictlantecuhtli. And yet, it’s Mictlantecuhtli who’s behind the festivities we know today.

According to Aztec legend, Mictlantecuhtli, God of the Underworld and ruler of Mictlán, was responsible for dividing the deceased for their respective journeys after death. Mictlantecuhtli’s role was not to impart judgement but rather to maintain order.

Innocent souls, such as children, were destined for Cincalco.

Those killed in battle or as human sacrifices, went to Tonatiuhichan, a paradise in Huitzilopochtli’s palace, where they would be transformed into hummingbirds.

Persons killed by lightning strikes or water, would pass on to Tlalocan.

All others were doomed to enter Mictlán, where they would undertake a journey through darkness, facing trials such as stormy winds of obsidian knives, a void without gravity, and rivers that could only be crossed if their actions in life allowed it.

Throughout their journey, souls would be accompanied by a Xoloitzcuintle dog that would help shepherd them through the varied levels of the underworld.

For those dearly departed who were fortunate enough to made it through the harrowing four-year journey, the reward was one of eternal rest.

Looking to remember the Aztec origins of the two-day celebrations, Oaxaca-based jewelry house Oro de Monte Albán has just released its new Mictlantecuhtli collection.

The new bijouterie releases are faithful reproductions of the most iconic jewels discovered in tomb number 7 in Monte Albán, Oaxaca.

Oro de Monte Albán, a fourth-generation, family-run enterprise, is the only jewellery firm in Mexico that has been authorized by Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to produce gold and silver reproductions of pre-Columbian art.

Oro de Monte Albán Mictlantecuhtli jewellery and other designs are available for sale at Oro de Monte Albán stores in Oaxaca and at the Monte Albán archeological site, as well at The Shops Down Town at the Palacio de los Condes de Miravalle in Mexico City’s Centro Histórico.

They can also be ordered online at http://www.orodemontealban.com.