Note 32 — Chapter II · COSMOGONY

Just as we gain light upon the subject of the Mexican idea of the universe from Maya sources, so do we find a similar correspondence in the beliefs of the two races as regards the conception that the heavens were supported by certain deities. Thus the Maya believed that the heavens were upheld by four gods called Bacabs, and we find pictures in the Mexican Codices which depict certain deities upholding both the heavens and the earth. On sheets 49–52 of Codex Borgia (upper half) are seen the gods of the four quarters and the four supporters of the sky, which last are Tlauizcalpantecutli, the Sun-god, Quetzalcoatl, and Mictlantecutli. On sheets 19–23 of Codex Vaticanus B the four upholders of the heavens are given as Tlauizcalpantecutli, Uitzilopochtli, Quetzalcoatl, and Mictlantecutli, and the four terrestrial gods as Xipe Totec, Mictlantecutli, Xochipilli, and Centeotl. The first four are shown upholding the starry firmament, so that we are left in no doubt as regards the existence of such a conception as the support of the heavens by certain gods. The close correspondence between the personnel of the sky-bearers in the two MSS. proves a fairly universal acceptance of the belief, especially as Xipe Totec, and Tonatiuh the Sun-god have much in common.32