expressed "a complete count" and was employed as an image of the entire constitution, and of the calendar system; each part of the government administration and calendar sign being identified with one of the twenty digits, four limbs, body and head of the human form.
usually the ocelot, or puma, was the symbol of the government of the Below and nocturnal cult of the earth as opposed to
which typified the upper state and diurnal cult of Heaven. Chiefs, who united dual powers in their persons, wore, as an emblem, the serpent, or a combination of ocelot-skin and feather ornaments.
expressed _per se_, in Maya, the numeral ho=five, which was also the name of a state which invariably consisted of the central capital and four provinces. As such it was carried as an emblem of power by the central ruler, as may be seen in the native codices. The thumb being regarded as the principal or ruling finger, the chief lord was metaphorically spoken of as the thumb, whilst the minor lords were entitled fingers=pilli.
was primarily an artificial elevation destined to be a place of refuge in times of inundation; the pyramid ultimately symbolized: (1) the sacred stable centre of the world and the Four Quarters; (2) central power and its four manifestations or elements. The great pyramid of the ancient City of Mexico which was crowned by two chapels, respectively containing symbolical images of the two principles of nature, is a striking illustration of the employment of the pyramid to express the dual centre (the Above and Below, etc.) and the quadruple organization of all things which was expressed not only by the four sides of the structure but by its four superposed terraces. The fact recorded by Friar Duran, that the flight of steps which led to the summit of the pyramid on its eastern side consisted of 365 steps, and that the annual ceremony of ascending these, performed by a consecrated individual, "signified the course of the sun in a year," indicates that the pyramid was also associated with the idea of the quadruplicate division of time which pervaded the entire calendar system.
It should also be borne in mind that in ancient Mexico the summits of high mountains were regarded as sacred, "because it was there that Heaven and Earth met and generated fructifying showers." As religious cult developed, the rites performed on the summit of the pyramid or artificial mound were for the purpose of evoking rain and the renewal of life upon earth, and symbolized the union of heaven and earth. To the native mind the pyramid thus represented the consecrated meeting-place of heaven and earth, the Above and Below, the masculine and feminine elements, the "divine twins," as well as universal, all-pervading, quadruplicate organization. The massive pyramid likewise typified, in an impressive manner, the main idea connected with the Middle: that of stability, immutability, quietude and repose, combined with power.