can pantheon
that reveal the sources of their derivation in the Old World. When the
Spaniards first visited Yucatan they found traces of a Maya baptismal
rite which the natives called _zihil_, signifying "to be born again". At
the ceremony also incense was burnt.[126]

The forehead, the face, the fingers and toes were moistened. "After they
had been thus sprinkled with water, the priest arose and removed the
cloths from the heads of the children, and then cut off with a stone
knife a certain bead that was attached to the head from childhood."[127]

[The custom of wearing such a bead during childhood is found in Egypt at
the present day.]

In the case of the girls, their mothers "divested them of a cord which
was worn during their childhood, fastened round the loins, having a
small shell that hung in front ('una conchuela asida que les venia a dar
encima de la parte honesta'--Landa). The removal of this signified that
they could marry."[128]

This use of shells is found in the Soudan and East Africa at the present
day.[129] The girdle upon which the shells were hung is the prototype of
the cestus of Hathor, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Kali and all the goddesses of
fertility in the Old World. It is an admirable illustration of the fact
that not only were the finished products, the goddesses and their
fantastic repertory of attributes, transmitted to the New World, but
also the earliest and most primitive ingredients out of which the
complexities of their traits were compounded.

In Chapter III ("The Birth of Aphrodite") I shall explain what an
important part the invention of this girdle played in the development of
the material side of civilization and the even vaster influence it
exerted upon beliefs and ethics. It represents the first stage in the
evolution of clothing; and it was responsible for originating the belief
in love-philtres and in the possibility of foretelling the future.

It would lead me too far from my main purpose in this book to discuss
the widespread geographical distribution and historical associations of
the customs of baptism and pouring libations among different peoples. I
may, however, refer the reader to an article by Mr. Elsdon Best,
entitled "Ceremonial Performances Pertaining to Birth, as Performed by
the Maori of New Zealand in Past Times" (_Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute_, Vol. XLIV, 1914, p. 127), which sheds a
clear light upon the general problem.

The whole subject of bapt