that in the inner heaven
he [Quetzalcoatl] dedicated a cult
and called on them:
her with the star-studded robe, together with the astral Sun-god.
the mistress of our flesh, the lord of our flesh,
who is clothed in charcoal, clothed in blood,
who giveth food to the earth;
and he cried aloft
—as they (the old people) were informed—
to the Omeyocan,
to the heaven lying above the nine that are bound together.
And—as they learnt—
those having their abode there,
those he called upon, those he worshipped.
(See also chapter on Cosmogony for further mythical material relating to these deities.)
NATURE AND STATUS
In examining the characteristics of these deities we find:
(1) That they were among the oldest of the Mexican divinities. Tonacatecutli is called, among other names, “Lord of the Steppe,”4 which