THE OPENING CEREMONY
The Umpire places the ball in the exact center of the circle, then he gently urges it with his stick in a line toward the North until it reaches the edge of the circle. There he picks it up and puts it back in the center of the circle. Again he gently pushes it with his stick along a line toward the South until the edge of the circle is reached, when he returns the ball to the center of the circle with his hand. In the same manner as before he sends the ball slowly along a line to the West. When the edge of the circle is reached he picks up the ball and returns it to the center. Once more the ball is moved in a line, this time to the East; when it touches the line of the circle it is picked up as before and placed in the center of the circle. The symbolic figure that has thus been made is that of a circle within which two straight lines cross each other at right angles; the circle is divided into four quarters, one for each of the Four Winds.