MEXICAN MYTHOLOGY. 
113 
This extraordinary ceremonial was no coinage of the Spanish priests, 
for Acosta calls it " a communion, which the devil himself, the prince of 
■pride, ordained in Mexico, to counterfeit the Holy Sacrament T^* 
Thus magnificent as was the god of War, he did not disdain, accord- 
ing to tradition, to take unto himself a very hideous partner, whose mon- 
strous and horrible figure has been preserved to these times in the statue, 
drawings of which are given at the commencement of this letter. 
Teoyaomiqxji, the wife of Huitzilopotchtli, was the goddess who con- 
ducted the souls of the warriors, who died in defence of their altars, to 
the Mexican Elysium — the House of the Sun. 
The figure on the opposite page represents the front of this idol — the 
breasts denoting the sex. At the sides of these, and beneath, are four 
hands, displaying the open palms, while above and between the hands are 
sacks, or purses in the shape of gourds, which, according to Don Fernando 
de Alvarado Tezozomoc, represented "the woven purses,'^ of a blue color, 
filled with copal, that were offered to the idol containing the sacred incense 
used at the election and funeral ceremonies of Kings, and burned with 
the bodies or hearts of the captives slain to accompany the deceased 
sovereign on his journey to the world of spirits. 
In front of the waist, a death-head is attached. The strap by which 
these skulls are held, will be perceived in the second figure, which ex- 
hibits the statue in profile. 
The knots of serpents, the feathers, the shells, and the nails or claws 
forming the lower part of the figure, are said by De Gamaf to be the 
insignia of other gods connected with Teoyaomiqui or her husband ; 
while all those above the waist, both in front and behind, are symbols of 
that deity herself. The top of the statue is represented in the following 
drawing : 
* The figure of the Holy Cross has been found in Mexico, and a drawing of one discovered at Palenque, is 
given by Mr. Stephens in his first volume. It is known that an idolatrous worship was paid it before the con- 
quest. In Egypt it was venerated from the greatest antiquity as the symbol of matter. Among the Irish it was 
the symbol of knowledge, and Garcilaso de la Vega informs '!<!, that the ancient Peruvians had "across of 
white marble which they held in great veneration, but did not adore." They could give no reason for the respect 
they paid it. 
tP. 36, Discripcion Historica y Cronologica. 
