Mexico is predominantly Roman Catholic, a religion introduced by the Spaniards during the conquest of Mexico. Despite its preponderance, the Catholic faith in many places in Mexico (Chiapas and Oaxaca, for example) has pre-Hispanic undercurrents. You need only visit the curandero section of a Mexican market (where you can purchase copal, an incense agreeable to the gods; rustic beeswax candles, a traditional offering; the native species of tobacco used to ward off evil; and so on) or attend a village festivity featuring pre-Hispanic dancers to understand that supernatural beliefs often run parallel with Christian ones in Mexico.
Mexico's complicated mythological heritage from pre-Hispanic religion is full of images derived from nature -- the wind, jaguars, eagles, snakes, flowers, and more -- all intertwined with elaborate mythological stories to explain the universe, climate, seasons, and geography. Most groups believed in an underworld (not a hell), usually containing nine levels, and a heaven of 13 levels -- which is why the numbers 9 and 13 are so mythologically significant. The solar calendar count of 365 days and the ceremonial calendar of 260 days are significant as well. How one died determined one's resting place after death: in the underworld (Xibalba to the Maya), in heaven, or at one of the four cardinal points. For example, men who died in battle or women who died in childbirth went straight to the sun. Everyone else first had to make a journey through the underworld.
