he group of ideas
associated with the Cihuacoatl and clearly indicate what were his duties.
To him devolved the care of the earth and his one thought was to secure
abundance of rain and of crops. In order to ensure the proper cultivation
of the ground, he had, under him, innumerable agents, who strictly
superintended the cultivation of all food-plants, the irrigation of barren
lauds, etc. These agents, who also resorted to ceremonial usages in order
to bring rain or avert hail-storms and other disasters, were collectively
named "the 400 pulque or octli-gods"--an appellation which developed into
tochtli-gods, when the rabbit (=tochtli) had become the pictograph
habitually employed to convey the sound of the word octli, and had been
adopted as the symbol of the earth and of prolific reproduction in
connection with this. The latter idea is born out of the female title,
that of the earth-mother, who "always brought forth twins." The Cihuacoatl
thus stands out as the representative of the bountiful mother-earth and as
the lord of agriculture, one of whose duties was the careful collection,
storage and distribution of all food products. He presided over the cult
of the fertility of the earth, of the nocturnal heaven, of the stars and
moon, which were associated with the female principle and with growth in
general. The following record proves that amongst his other duties he
offered sacrifices to the invisible hidden powers of darkness and earth.
"During the night, in the feast Tititl, the high priest named Tlillan
tlenamacac [=the dealer with fire in the land of darkness=tlilli=black,
evidently a title analogous to that of Tlill-potonqui-cihuacoatl, given by
Tezozomoc, in Cronica, chap. 33], sacrificed a victim in honour of the god
of the Underworld" (Sahagun, book II, appendix). In this, as on similar
occasions, he was assisted by four priests who succeeded him in rank.

Mr. Bandelier has already recognized that judicial sentences were
ultimately referred to the "woman-serpent," who pronounced the "final
sentence, which admitted of no appeal." There are more reasons than can
conveniently be presented here, proving that in Mexico, as in Guatemala,
the priest of the Below, the personification of Tezcatli-poca=Shining
Mirror, employed an actual mirror made of polished obsidian, as an aid in
pronouncing final judgment on criminals.

The Cakchiquel procedure is described by Fuentes of Guzman, who is quoted
by Dr. Otto Stoll in hi