Identifier: mythsofmexicoper01spen (find matches)
Title: The myths of Mexico and Peru
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Spence, Lewis, 1874-1955
Subjects: Indians of Mexico Indian mythology Indians of Mexico Indians of South America Indian mythology Indians of South America
Publisher: New York, T. Y. Crowell company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
eceive her sacri-fice. The blood of victims was offered up to him in avessel decorated with that brilliant and artistic feather-work which excited such admiration in the breasts ofthe connoisseurs and aesthetes of the Europe of thesixteenth century. Upon partaking of this blood-offering the deity emitted a groan so intense andterrifying that it has been left on record that suchSpaniards as were present became panic-stricken. Thisceremony was followed by another, the niti^apoloa(tasting of the soil), which consisted in raising a littleearth on one finger to the mouth and eating it. As has been said, Centeotl the son has been con-founded with Centeotl the mother, who is in realitythe earth-mother Teteoinnan. Each of these deitieshad a teopan (temple) of his or her own, but theywere closely allied as parent and child. But of thetwo, Centeotl the son was the more important. On thedeath of the sacrificed victim her skin was conveyed tothe temple of Centeotl the son, and worn there in the90
Text Appearing After Image:
a a X ° Q ^ ti o « -J CO XIPE succeeding ritual by the officiating priests. This grue-some dress is frequently depicted in the Aztec pinturaSywhere the skin of the hands, and in some instances thefeet, of the victims can be seen dangling from the wristsand ankles of the priest. Importance of the FoodGods To the Mexicans the deities of most importanceto the community as a whole were undoubtedlythe food-gods. In their emergence from the huntingto the agricultural state of life, when they began toexist almost solely upon the fruits of the earth, theMexicans were quick to recognise that the old deitiesof the chase, such as Mixcoatl, could not nowavail them or succour them in the same manner asthe guardians of the crops and fertilisers of the soil.Gradually we see these gods, then, advance in powerand influence until at the time of the Spanish invasionwe find them paramount. Even the terrible war-godhimself had an agricultural significance, as we havepointed out. A distinct b

Note About Images