(Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, sheet 1.)
The Tree of the East is represented as a highly conventionalized tree having two boughs, each with four branches which end in the chalchihuitl (greenstone) symbol. Round branches are twisted two ropes, green and blue in colour, set with golden bells. A quetzal bird perches upon the top and the trunk is decorated with the symbol for war, for the spirits of the sacrificed warriors were believed to dwell in the eastern heavens, where the sun rose. The tree springs from the body of the Earth-goddess, and the ornaments borne by it are symbolic of the rich and fruitful character of the Orient.
The Tree of the North.—This tree is painted half-green, half-blue, but is set with thorns in every part. Bands of blood and darkness issue from the body of the Earth-goddess, in which it has its root, and these wind around its boughs. The eagle stands upon the top, each of its plumes bristling with a sacrificial stone knife.
The Tree of the West.—This has a yellow star, and bears [[59]]the magic bloom at the end of each branch. It is surmounted by the humming-bird, and its trunk is dotted with the stellar eye, in this case the evening star.
East.
West.
THE TREES OF THE WORLD-QUARTERS.
(Codex Fejérváry-Mayer, sheet 1.)