<eler] 



DEITIES AND RELIGIOUS CONCEPTIONS 



303 



ciiatl, and Xipe, who, it seems, are referred respectively to the east, 

 north, south, and west quarters of the heavens. This god w^th the 

 serpent in his mouth, h^ appeared to me to have features like those 

 exhibited by the representation in the same codex, of Tepeyollotl, 

 the god of caves, of the interior of the earth (figure 66). He 

 is doubtless a deity of the earth and related to the god Tepe}^- 



^^^. 



Fig. 71. Mexican deities, from tlie Vienna codex. 



ollotl. Hence the exceedingly frequent representations of this par- 

 ticular god on the burial vessels seem only natural. 



I believe we must also consider the various vessels and figures 

 exhibiting a jaguar in the act of springing as connected with Tepey- 

 ollotl, who is represented in the calendars in the form of a jaguar 

 (see the vessel on the left side of plate xxxvi). 



