Page:Young Folks History Of Mexico.pdf/166

160 burned incense and offered the first morsel of food and draught at meals by throwing them into the fire.

The great goddess of the Totonacs was Centeotl, worshipped also under the name of Tonantzin, goddess of the earth and corn, who had a temple on the top of a high mountain, and was served by a great number of priests. This



goddess of grain was a true Mexican Isis, who presided over the crops, granting bountiful harvests. The Mexicans, who seem to have adopted this deity, alone stained her altars with human blood.

Gloomiest of the gods was Mictlanteuctli, god of hell, and his awful spouse, Mictlancihuatl, who was believed to dwell in darkness in the interior of the earth.