\ 



T2. The maize god holds a bowl of comestibles. 



Gl. I. maize 

 Gl. 2. maize god 

 Gl. 3. abundance of maize 



Commentary: In the bulbous mass that constitutes 

 the part of the tree under the victim's body, one may 

 trace elaborate roots at the base. Upon these, at either 

 side, are floral elements. That to the right suggests one 

 of the water lily motifs delineated by Rands (1953) and 

 may be a clue to the ritual nature of the sacrifice. 



Ahnanac 8 (pp. 4a-10a) 



TI. (p. 4a) There is depicted a rare deity found nowhere 



else in the Dresden Codex. Tozzer and Allen (1910: p. 

 310) suggested that it was a tree toad. It would appear 

 to be a toad of some sort holding a snake. More impor- 

 tant to this discussion is the water lily emblem on the 

 headdress of the figure. As pointed out by Emboden 

 (1981), this toad-water lily association is probably 

 related to the potential psychotropic properties of 

 bufotenine from the toad and nupharine and aporphine 

 from the water lily. It is part of a divinatory almanac 

 (Thompson, 1973), and thus such an interpretation 

 lends greater meaning. 



T2. The absence of a botanical motif still requires com- 

 ment. The god is here identified as God N. It was this 

 figure that, in the legend of the Hero Twins, was assassi- 

 nated by one of them. He is often seen in his shell which 

 usually has a water lily attached to the back of it (Coe, 

 1973, image 70). This figure reinforces the assertions 

 made in TI (above). 



T8. Gl. 6. abundance of maize 



T9. A death god wearing a pendant water lily in his com- 

 plex head dress. The presence of the water lily {Nyni- 



phaea amp/a) may be used in the emblematic sense of 

 power. 



9J 



