CHARACTERS.
In the following account of the more im portant mythological characters most fre quently met with in literature relating to Mexico, the territory in which each plays his part is, unless otherwise stated, the land of the Nahuas.
Bacabs.— In the mythology of Yucatan the Bacabs, the upholders of the heavens, were supposed to have their stand at the four car dinal points. They were called Muluc, Cauac, Kan and lx, North, South, East and West. They were probably related to the four wind deities and to the four rain Tlaloes. The Bacabs were frequently represented in Maya sculpture.
Bat-God.:---The Bat-God, Zotzilaha malman, the °Dweller in the Bat's House; a primitive divinity, of the Mayas, the Zapotecas and the Mixtecas is met with in the Popol-Vuh, under the name of Camazotzo, where he plays a prominent part in the adventures of the hero gods of the underworld. He seems to have been a .god of volcanic fire and to have been closely associated with earthquakes and the lower regions.
Centsot1.— A family name given to the maize gods. The female divinity, called Chi comecohuatl, °Seven-serpent,)) represented water as a fertilizer and was assisted by Chat chiutlicue, the consort of Tlaloc, in fertilizing the youngest harvest and looking after it. Under the title of Xilenon, "Green-corn-ear,' she was the spirit of the green corn. As the earth goddess, she was called Tonacayohua, "She-who-nourishes.' In this form she was one of the chief deities of the Totonacas, who erected to her, on the summit of a mountain, a great and imposing temple, to which pilgrims came from far and near. 'the name Centeotl was also given as a special title to both male and femak deities. A summer festival lasting 18 days was held when the maize had attained its full growth. Ceremonial dances formed a part of this celebration at which a female called Xalaqtaia, who represented Chicomeco hue!, danced with the rest. Her face was painted yellow and red to represent the ripe corn. On the last night of the festival all the women and the head men of the community joined in the "dance of death' ; after which the Xalaquia was offered up as a sacrifice to Chi comecohuatl. Not till the conclusion of this festival and its significant closing ceremony was it lawful to partake of the new corn.
Chac was the rain god of Yucatan. He is represented with a long tapir-like snout through which it was believed he blew the rain out over the earth. He corresponds to the Tlaloc of the Mexicans.
Chalchilmitlicsia, "the rain goddess,' wore a dress of nebulous green, a blue crown deco rated with green feathers and a collar of pre cious stones to which was attached a golden pendant, all emblematic of the varying colors of the water. In her left hand she bore a conventional water-plant, and in her right a vase surmounted by a cross, the sign of the four directions or points from which the wind drove the rain.
Cihnapipiltin, ahonored-women," the spirits of women who died in child-birth, were closely related to the Moon Goddess. The moon had two tendencies, one actively beneficent, the other actively malevolent. The Cihuapipiltin partook of this latter tendency. They afficted infants with certain diseases and they entered the bodies of weakly people, more especially the insane who were popularly supposed to be governed constantly by their influence. Their temples were built at the cross-roads which they were said to haunt.
Citiapol, "the Great Star' (Venus), was the Lord of the Dawn, Tlahuizcalpaa Tecutli. This astral deity was thought to influence the events of life
so whenever the planet was due to rise, the people stopped up their chimneys to prevent the entrance of its harm-bearing light; whenever it reappeared on its circuit, captives were sacrificed to its image or its representation painted upon a column called Ilhuicatlan,