s
underlying this mysterious cult.

The most important symbol was Fire. It was regarded as the primal
element and the immediate source of life. Father Nicolas de Leon has the
following suggestive passage in this connection:

"If any of their old superstitions has remained more deeply rooted
than another in the hearts of these Indians, both men and women, it
is this about fire and its worship, and about making new fire and
preserving it for a year in secret places. We should be on the
watch for this, and when in their confessions they speak of what
the Fire said and how the Fire wept, expressions which we are apt
to pass by as unintelligible, we must lay our hands on them for
reprehension. We should also be on the watch for their baptism by
Fire, a ceremony called the _yiahuiltoca_,[43-[+]] shortly after
the birth of a child when they bestow on it the surnames; nor must
the lying-in women and their assistants be permitted to speak of
Fire as the father and mother of all things and the author of
nature; because it is a common saying with them that Fire is
present at the birth and death of every creature."

This curious ceremony derived its name from the _yiahuitli_, a plant not
unlike the absinthe, the powdered leaves of which, according to Father
Sahagun, the natives were accustomed to throw into the flames as an
offering to the fire.[43-[++]] Long after the conquest, and probably to
this day, the same custom prevails in Mexico, the fumes and odor of the
burning leaves being considered very salubrious and purifying to the air
of the sick room[TN-4][43-Sec.]

The word _yiahuiltoca_ means "the throwing of the _yiauhtli_" (from
_toca_, to throw upon with the hands). Another name for the ceremony,
according to Father Vetancurt, who wrote a century later than Leon, was
_apehualco_, which has substantially the same meaning, "a throwing upon"
or "a throwing away."[44-*] He adds the interesting particulars that it
was celebrated on the fourth day after the birth of the child, during
which time it was deemed essential to keep the fire burning in the
house, but not to permit any of it to be carried out, as that would
bring bad luck to the child.

Jacinto de la Serna also describes this ceremony, to which he gives the
name _tlecuixtliliztli_, "which means that they pass the infant over the
fire;" and elsewhere he adds: "The worship of fire is the greatest
s