CHAPTER IX

an old man or priest, with staff in hand, and is the wizard, or naualli, who lurks within the moon-cave, or house, for so the moon seems to have appeared to the Mexicans. It seems also to have been regarded or symbolized as a snail-shell, and it is probable that the curved shape of it in its earliest phase, no less than its gradual growth, brought about this conception. This in turn created the train of thought which resulted in its being regarded as the symbol of conception and birth—its growth and gradual rotundity, as well as its symbolic connection with the snail assisting the idea. As the wizard of night concealed within his cavern, Tecciztecatl was identified with Tezcatlipocâ, the sorcerer par excellence, the magician who held sway over the dreaded hours of darkness. The moon had also a connection with Chalchihuitlicue and the octli-gods, which is dealt with in the sections relating to those deities.