Bniiton.] oOo [Oct. 6, 



Day 5. — Tlic Se7-pent. 



Dr. Seler thinks that the signification of this symbol is pov- 

 erty or want. According to Pedro de los Rios, however, the 

 serpent, in Mexican symbolism, represented especially the phal- 

 lus and therefore the reproductive force, the sexiuil life.* Of 

 course, here as in other symbolisms, this animal conveyed man}^ 

 other meanings ; but there is reason to suppose this was the one 

 especially intended in this relation. 



Dai/ 6. — Death, the Severed Head, the Slull. 



The chief signification of this sign illustrates the notion of 

 " counter-sense" which so often occurs in language, mj'thology 

 and folk-lore. Modern dream-lore says that dreams before mid- 

 night " go by opposites," that is, they must be taken opposite to 

 their obvious purport. This theor}- of contrasts is based on 

 some idea of compensation, or else on that of esotericism, which 

 " least does mean, what it most does show." 



In accordance with this plan, the meaning of this sign in Na- 

 huatl symbolism was chiefi}^, not death, but birth. The goddess 

 of parturition, Tonacacihuatl, was patroness of the da3' ; and 

 the snail shell, typical of the womb (for out of it, as the snail 

 from its shell, emerges the neonatus), was her emblem; to which 

 may be added the sad and close connection which often exists in 

 child-bearing between birth and death (of the mother). 



The intimate relation of this to the preceding sign, and the 

 natural sequence thus established, will be evident.^ 



Da 11 7.— The Deer. 



The signification of this symbol is obscure. According to 

 some of the interpreters, it meant drought; but 'its patron 

 among the Aztecs was Tlaloc, the god of the rains. The Nahuas 

 of Nicaragua, on the other hand, explained this sign as repre- 

 sentative of success in hunting.^ 



* De Rios, in his notes to the Codex Vaticanus, in Kingsborough's Mexico. The phallus 

 was a prominent object of worship in ancient Mexico. See Tayrayre, Explor. des Reijions 

 Mexicains, p. 23:5, and other modern authorities. 



tThe contrasted meaning of this sign is fully recognized by Dr. Seler {Az^ck. raid Maya 

 Haadschrijlen) , though he fails to see its relation to the sign preceding it. 



X Oviedo, Ilistoria de Indias, Tomo iv, p. 55. 



