SELEK] DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 289 



that this is tlie female part of the creative deity who, as I noted above, 

 is represented opposite the male creative deity, the fire god, in the 

 Tonalamatl of the Aubin collection in the form of the water goddess, 

 Chalchinhtlicue; and this, its special meaning, explains the singular 

 combination by Avhich, as stated above, Huichaana is called the cre- 

 ator, or rather the creatrix, of men and of fishes. 



In this connection I must mention a legend, which is not tcjd of the 

 Zapotecs themselves but of that fragment of the Mixtec nation which 

 lived in the immediate neighbf)rhood of the royal city of the Zapotecs.^ 

 in the place called Coyolapan by the Mexicans, the present Cuilapa. 



This legend, contained in chaj^ter 4, book 5, of Origen de los Indios, 

 by Fray Gregorio Garcia, which otherwise contributes very little to 

 the ancient history of Central America, gives the following account 

 of the origin of things : 



In the year and in the day of obscurity and darltness, when there were as yet 

 no days nor years, the world was a chaos sunk in darkness, while the earth was 

 covered with water, on which slime and scum floated. One day the deer god 

 (el dios Ciervo). who bore the surname "puma snake" (Culebra de Leon), and. 

 the beautiful deer goddess (diosa Ciervo) or jaguar snake (Culebra de Tigre) 

 appeared. They had human form, and with their great knowledge I that is, 

 probably with their magic! they raised a great cliff over the water and built on 

 it tine palaces for their dwelling. On the summit of this clitf they laid a copper 

 ax with the edge upward, and on this edge the heavens rested. These build- 

 ings stood in Upper Mixteca, close to the place Apoala," and the clift' was 

 called " place where the heavens stood ". The gods lived many centiu'ies in 

 peace, enjoying bliss, until it happened that they had two little boys, beautiful 

 of form and skilled and experienced in all arts. For the days of their birth 

 they were named "Wind 9 Snake" (Viento de neuve Culebras) and "Wind 9 

 Cave" (^'iento de neuve Cavernas). 



Much was lavished on their education, and they possessed the knowledge of 

 how to change themselves into an eagle or a snake, to make themselves invisible, 

 and even to pass through (solid) bodies. 



While these gods were enjoying the profoundest peace (passed their days 

 in profoundest peace) they decided to make an offering and a sacrifice to their 

 ancestors. They took for this purpose pottery incense vessels, placed firebrands 

 in them, and burned a quantity of finely ground poison plant (tobacco). That 

 was the first offering (to the gods). Then they made a garden with plants 

 and flowers, trees and fruit-bearing plants, and sweet-scented herbs. Adjoin- 

 ing this they made a grass-grown level place (un prado) and equipped it with 

 evei-ything necessary for sacriflce. The pious brothers lived contentedly on 

 that piece of ground, tilled it, burned poison plant (tobacco), and with prayers, 

 vows, and promises they supplicated their ancestors to let the light appear, to 

 let the water collect in certain places, and the earth be freed from its covering 

 (water), for they had no more than that little garden for their subsistence. 

 In order to strengthen their prayer they pierced their ears and their tongues 

 with pointed knives of flint and sprinkled the blood on the trees and plants with 

 a brush of willow twigs. 



"Apoala (Mexican A-pouallan, "accumulation of water") is the Mixtec Yuta-Tnoho, or 

 Yuta-Tnuhu. " the river of generation ", where the ancestors of the Mixtec rulers are said 

 to have come forth from trees which stood by a deep caiiada, 



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