Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 18, 1907.djvu/298

262 our child lives anew and is born again; once more it is purified; once more it lives through the grace of our Mother, Chalchihuitlicue."

The baby was then carried out of the dwelling, and, being held up to heaven, was dedicated to the gods and goddesses, especially to the water-goddess and to the sun, while the hope was expressed that if the baby grew up to become a warrior he would ultimately win to heaven, the home of the brave. Then the name was given.

Here is a ceremony not devoid of a touch of grandeur, though performed by the heathen priestess of a heathen nation. It should be noted that the water used was not specially sanctified. Let me direct attention also to points which are of importance from the point of view of our inquiry, viz. the dedication of the child to the water-goddess, and the phrase "this" water "is our life." (The name was conferred upon the occasion of the baptismal rite, probably because the presence of the higher powers guarded the tender infant against any possible evil which might attend the public utterance of such a close personal attribute.)

The now extinct inhabitants of Yucatan, in Central America, used to perform a baptismal rite somewhat similar to that just described, four male relatives or friends of the family acting as the deities of the water for the time being. In this ceremony, which did not take place until the child was from nine to twelve years of age—a variation from the usual custom, which is not, however, solitary—the water was prepared from flowers and cocoa-beans, which, after being treated in a certain way, were added to pure water collected from tree-hollows and the corners of the leaves of certain plants.

In ancient Germany, before the introduction of Christianity, the father poured water over his child immediately