DAVID CERNA—PILGRIMAGE AND CIVILIZATION OF THE TOLTECS. 69 
colossal proportions gave them the character of two sentinels placed there 
to <*uard the security of the kingdom. The edifice consecrated to the 
Sun measured at its base about 250 yards in length and nearly 200 yards 
in width, having a height corresponding to these measurements. It 
contained a huge model-idol made of a very hard stone, and literally 
covered with gold. It represented the deified king of day. In a con¬ 
cavity, upon the breast, was placed an image representing the Sun and 
was made of the purest gold. 
The temple dedicated to the Moon exhibited measurements a trifle 
smaller than those of its companion. It likewise contained a colossal 
statue, covered with gold, to represent the mythological queen of night. 
Each building was composed of four great compartments, with as many 
stairways, made of polished stones, and within them were scattered here 
and there numerous statuettes, covered also with gold plates, represent¬ 
ing various other minor deities. Around these temples small pyramids 
of about ten metres in height were constructed to represent the stars, ac¬ 
cording to their knowledge and their traditions. These pyramids, how¬ 
ever, appear to have been used as tombs for the dead members of the 
nobility. 
Religion .—The primitive religion of the Toltecs consisted in the adora¬ 
tion of the sun, the moon, and the stars. The fecundating force of the sun 
was personified by Tonacatecuhtli . To this god they made yearly offer¬ 
ings of flowers, fruits, and sometimes animals. It appears that they also 
entertained a religious veneration for fire. This primitive religion, born 
of their observations of the heavenly bodies, induced them to admit the 
existence of twelve heavens. Upon the highest of these heavens resided 
Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl , man and wife, the rulers of the twelve 
heavens and of the earth. The Toltecs held, in their superstitious phi¬ 
losophy, that all things were subject to the great Ometecuhtli. This 
deism mixed with astrology was, however (due no doubt to the influence 
exercised by the conquered and other neighboring tribes), gradually 
transformed into a polytheism as we see it in the religions of later nations. 
The principal divinities of the Toltecs were these: Tonacatecuhtli , the 
Sun; Tezcatlipoca, the Moon; Quetzalcoatl , the Evening Star; Tlaloc , the 
God of Rain; Chalchiuhtlicue , the Goddess of Water; Xiutecuhtlitletl , the 
God of Fire; Centeotl , the Earth, and Xochiquetzalli , the Goddess of Love. 
With regard to their religious rites, these were at first peaceful, and 
simply consisted in the assemblage of the people within the temples and 
at certain periods of time to do homage, under the direction of the 
priests, to the different deities. Afterwards, however, the Toltecs as¬ 
sumed the custom every year to sacrifice very young girls in honor of the 
god Tlaloc, or Tlalocatecuhtli. Their little hearts were taken out, offered 
to the god represented by a huge model, and their little bodies properly 
