Combining these several lists it would appear that Calli, color green, was Fire and West or Earth and East; Tochtli, color blue, was Earth and South or Air and North; Acatl, color red, was Water and East or Water and West; Tecpatl, color yellow, was Air and North or Fire and South.
The foregoing notes leave the symbolic colors of the cardinal points in a state of confusion, and on calm reflection no other condition could be expected. Taking the idea of the ocean blue, for instance, and recognizing the impressive climatic effects of the ocean, the people examined may be in any direction from the ocean and to each of them its topographic as well as color relation differs. If it shall be called blue, the color blue may be north, south, east, or west. So as to the concepts of heat and cold, however presented in colors by the fancy, heat being sometimes red and sometimes yellow, cold being sometimes considered as black by the manifestation of its violent destruction of the tissues and sometimes being more simply shown as white, the color of the snow. Also the geographic situation of the people must determine their views of temperature. The sun in tropical regions may be an object of terror, in Arctic climes of pure beneficence, and in the several seasons of more temperate zones the sun as fire, whether red or yellow, may be destructive or life-giving. Regarding the symbols of the cardinal points it seems that there is nothing intrinsic as to colors, but that the ideograms connected with the topic are local and variant. As the ancient assignments of color to the cardinal points are not established and definite among people who have been long settled in their present habitat, the hope of tracing their previous migration by that line of investigation may not be realized.
The following account of the degree posts of the Grand Medicine Society of the Ojibwa is condensed from an article by Dr. Hoffman in the Am. Anthropologist for July, 1889:
In constructing the inclosure in which the Midē' priests practice the rites and ceremonies of initiation, a single post, from 4 to 5 feet in height and about 8 inches thick, is planted at a point opposite the main entrance, and about three-fourths the entire distance of the interior from it. This post is painted red, with a band of green about the top, of the width of a palm.
The red and green colors are used to designate the Midē' society, but for what reason is not positively known. The green appears to have some connection with the south, the sources of heat and abundance of crops; the thunder-bird also comes from that direction in the springtime, bringing rain, which causes the grass and fruits to grow, giving an abundance of food.
For the second degree two posts are erected within the inclosure, the first being like that for the first degree, the second being planted nearer the main entrance, though not far from the opposite end of the structure; this post is painted red and is covered with white spots made by applying white clay with the finger tip. These spots are symbolical of the migis shell, the sacred emblem of the Grand Medicine Society.
The third degree contains three posts, the two preceding ones being used, to which a third is added and planted in a line with them; this post is painted black.
In the fourth degree the additional post is really a cross, a crosspiece of wood being attached near the top; the lower part of the upright piece is squared, the side on the east being painted white; on the south, green; on the west, red; and on the north, black. The white is the source of light facing the direction of the rising sun, the green, apparently the source of warmth, rains, and abundance of crops, while the north is black, and pertains to the region from which come cold, disease, and desolation. The red is placed upon the western side, but there is a diversity of opinion regarding its significance. The most plausible theory appears to relate to the “road of the dead,” referred to in the ritual of the Ghost Society, as the path upon which the departed shadow partakes of the gigantic strawberry which he finds. The upper portion of the cross is white, upon which are placed irregularly red spots.
In the same article is the following account of face coloring in the Midē' degrees: