96 MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA 
the mercy of the evil deities when not protected by the 
good ones. 
Space considerations forbid a further study of Mayan 
gods. Suffice it to say that several other divinities are 
shown in the sculptures and codices including a some- 
what youthful appearing war god, as well as a more 
mature and*grotesque war god called Ek Ahau, the 
Black Captain. There is an old god with a shell 
attached to his body, a god with the face of a monkey 
who is associated with the north star, a god in the form 
of a frog and another in the form of a bat. In the 
Spanish accounts we can also glean scanty information 
concerning Ixchel, Goddess of the Rainbow and mate of 
Itzamna, Ixtubtun patroness of jade carvers, Ixchebel- 
vax, patroness of the art of weaving and decorating 
cloth, ete. i 
The Mayan Time Counts. The passage of time, 
seen in finer and finer degree in the course of human 
life, the succession of summer and winter, the waxing 
and waning moons, the alternation of day 
the upward and downward sloping of the si 
swinging dial of the stars, is a phenomeno 
human group has failed to notice. Longer periods than 
those included within the memory of the oldest men 
(presenting an imperfect refle of the memory of 
men still older) are found ory in favored centers 
where a serviceable system of coun had been de- 
veloped. Mythology has a content of history but 
hardly of chronology. Tradition, when organized by 
the priesthood, may be reasonably dependable for per- 
haps two hundred years. 
The year and the month are the basis of all primitive 
time systems, the former depending on the recurring 
seasons, the latter on recurring moons. Both of these 
are expressed in days. Unfortunately, the day is not 
