e ancient mythology we often hear of the "tree of
life," represented to have four branches, each sacred to one of the four
cardinal points and the divinities associated therewith.

The conventionalized form of this tree in the Mexican figurative
paintings strongly resembles a cross. Examples of it are numerous and
unmistakable, as, for instance, the cruciform tree of life rising from a
head with a protruding tongue, in the Vienna Codex.[48-[+]]

=32.= Thus, the sign of the cross, either the form with equal arms known
as the cross of St. Andrew, which is the oldest Christian form, or the
Latin cross, with its arms of unequal length, came to be the ideogram
for "life" in the Mexican hieroglyphic writing; and as such, with more
or less variants, was employed to signify the _tonalli_ or _nagual_, the
sign of nativity, the natal day, the personal spirit.[48-[++]] The
ancient document called the Mappe Quinatzin offers examples, and its
meaning is explained by various early writers. The peculiar character of
the Mexican ritual calendar, by which nativities were calculated,
favored a plan of representing them in the shape of a cross; as we see
in the singular _Codex Cruciformis_ of the Boturini-Goupil collection.

=33.= But the doctrines of Nagualism had a phase even more detestable to
the missionaries than any of these, an esoteric phase, which brought it
into relation to the libidinous cults of Babylon and the orgies of the
"Witches' Sabbaths" of the Dark Ages. Of these occult practices we of
course have no detailed descriptions, but there are hints and
half-glances which leave us in no doubt.

When the mysterious metamorphosis of the individual into his or her
_nagual_ was about to take place, the person must strip to absolute
nudity;[49-*] and the lascivious fury of bands of naked Nagualists,
meeting in remote glades by starlight or in the dark recesses of caves,
dancing before the statues of the ancient gods, were scenes that stirred
the fanaticism of the Spanish missionaries to its highest pitch. Bishop
Landa informs us that in Yucatan the dance there known as the _naual_
was one of the few in which both men and women took part, and that it
"was not very decent." It was afterwards prohibited by the priests. We
have excellent authority that such wild rites continued well into the
present century, close to the leading cities of the State,[49-[+]] and
it is highly likely that they are not unknown to-day.

=34.= Mor