From this, amongst favored races, the higher conception of an invisible supreme deity seems to have been gradually developed by the human mind, as it rose in the scale of spiritual evolution. To many, the idea that it was the observation of the stars and the recognition of the fixity of Polaris which first led man to realize the existence of immutable laws, and of a supreme celestial power ruling the universe and to form the sacred sign of the cross, will appear as the fulfilment of the text in Genesis, which expressly mentions as the first, and therefore chief, purpose for which the lights in the firmament were created, that “they should be for signs and portents, for seasons, for days and years ... and for lights.”
When we realize that all revolving spheres in space, and the beings that may live upon them, have been, are, or shall be subject to the same conditions as govern our tiny world, forcing their intellectual evolution to proceed in parallel lines to ours, we are compelled to recognize the existence of One Great Plan, and to render reverent homage to the Master-Architect of the Universe.
Appendix I. Comparative Table of some Quechua, Nahuatl and Maya Words.
| Quechua. | Nahuatl. | Maya. |
| hatun=great. pacha=time, name of annual harvest festival. | huey=great. pachtli=name of annual harvest festival. | pax=name of festival in which prayers were offered to obtain abundant harvest. |
| yacu and unu=water. | atl=water. | haa=water. aak=moist. aakal=lagoon. yachhaa=canal, stream of water. |
| pihi-huy=first born. | pil-conetl=infant son. pilli=nobleman, or son. pilhua=he who has sons. pilli=the fingers. | |
| all=good. | qualli=good. | |
| ycacha= frequentative. ahua=to spin or weave. ahua-ycacha=to spin continuously. ticpac=to lie mouth upwards. ticnu=the zenith. | mala-cachoa, verb, to spin or twist or turn something around continuously. malacatl=spindle. icpac=to be on the top of something high. ticatla=midnight. | |
| cosca=things that are alike, necklace. | cozcatl=beads, strung precious stones, metaphorically used to designate one's children. | |
| maqui or maki=hand. makip-pampa=palm of hand. pampa=name for plain. | maitl=hand. macpalli=palm of hand. pan=affix, meaning upon, above. | kab=hand. tankab=palm of hand. |
| humihua=small vessel. | comitl=earthen vessel. | cum=earthen vessel. hooch=vessel in general. |
| hunu and huni=a number, a division of men, ten thousand (Markham). hunu=all. | hun=one. hunkinchil=one. count=10×100,000. | |
| palla=woman of noble birth. | tlapalli-eztli=nobility of blood or lineage (metaphor). | |
| pallca=the fingers, or branches of a tree (Chinchaysuyo dialect.) | tlapalli=color or dye. tlapaloloni=worthy of being reverenced and saluted. tlapaliui=able-bodied, marriageable young man. atlapalli=wing of a bird, leaf of tree. cuitlapilli, atlapalli=metaphor signifying the people and servants of the state, literally the tail and wing of a bird. | pal, pa'al, palal, palil=child, boy, servant. |
It is quite obvious how this metaphor came to be employed. The words for tail and wing respectively terminate with pilli the word designating nobleman, the upper class, and palli, signifying the lower class, women, boys, servants. The head of the bird signified the chief and the two eyes and two halves of the beak conveyed the idea of duality, or two in one. There are indications that the right foot, with its four claws, symbolized the four chief rulers of the Above and the left foot the four rulers of the Below.
The control of the feet and entire body was, of course, assigned to the head. It is only when the full metaphorical significance of the eagle, as an emblem of the state, is understood, that the meaning of the eagle in the arms of Mexico and the native bird symbolism begin to become apparent. I have shown that in Peru and Yucatan the word for head was synonymous for chief. It remains to be ascertained how far the same symbolism prevailed throughout the American Continent and whether in other cases the words for bird, wings, tail and claws are homonymous or synonymous for the state and its divisions. Amongst the Zuñis the State and entire scheme of organization is associated with the imaginary form of a quadruped and in Mexico there are indications that at one time the human form was regarded as an emblem of the State and its subdivisions. This subject is referred to more fully in the text.
| Quechua. | Nahuatl. | Maya. |
| Uira-cocha=name of mythical personage and title of Creator. | In the native harangues the Supreme Being is referred to as being like an unfathomable abyss. ixachicatlan=abyss. ixachi=great, much. | |
| cochca=coch-allpa=fallow land, “tierra de descanso”: literally, land that is resting. | cochi=to sleep. tlacochcalli= literally house of rest, burial towers. | cuchil=place or town. ah-cuch-cab=the chief or ruler of a town or place. |
| collana= excellent, principal, sovereign, first and best of each species. | ||
| collanan ayllu=royal line, name used by the Incas. coya=princess of royal blood, virgin, queen. | coyauac=something broad, like a spring of water or a window[161] | |
| hapichi=title, meaning the collector of produce, he who collects or gathers in. | tlapixqui=title of some priests, literally, he who gathers in the harvest. Cf. pixquitl=harvest, etc. | piz=measure, quantity. pizil=to measure. |
| tiani=to sit down. tiyana=seat of honor such as were employed as mark of chieftainship. huahua-tiana=matrix. tiya-chicu=to be selling something in the public square. tiyachi=to offer or place something in the public square to be sold or exchanged. micuy=food. | tiacauan=brave men, strong warriors. tiyacapan=first-born. tiyacapanyotl=the right of primogeniture and property. tianquiztli=market, also place or square where market was held. tiamiquiztli=act of buying or selling. tiamictli=merchandise.[162] | tialtic= appurtenance, right of possession. |
| in-ti or in-tin=the sun. | tona-ti-uh=the sun, literally, that which shines. | kin=the sun. |
| mitimaes=name for colonists. | ce-mitime=sons of one mother. | |
| tayta=father. mama=mother. huarmi=woman. Mama-ciuaco=name of a female ruler of royal blood, mother of Inca Rocca. | tatli=father. ta-tzin=father, reverential form. nantli=mother. nantzin=reverential form. cihuatl=woman. mama=verb, to rule. | |
| uma=literally, the head, title of priest. Ingua or Inca=title of Peruvian ruler. | ome, literally two, title of head priest, for instance: ome acatl, ome tochtli. quaitl=head. in-quaitl=the head. qua=abbreviation for quaitl (see Sahagun, book ix, chap. xxix, par. 6). | hool, ppool or pul, head, chieftain, beginning. |
| Tonapa=name of culture hero who established Inca civilization at Tiahuanaco, erected large cross, etc., made his way to the ocean and departed. | tonal pouhque=diviner or soothsayer, from verb tonalpoa=to divine by signs or count festivals by ancient calendar (Molina dictionary). Cf. tonal-mitl=ray of sun; literally, sun's arrow, from tona-tiuh=sun. Cf. tona-catzon=the ancient men, or the ruins. | |
| ticsi=foundation. ticsik=founder. tecci-muyu-pacha=the entire world or universe. | icxitl=foot. icxinecuiltic=a lame person. Cf. name of Ursa Major. qua= tecciztle= literally: “heads decorated with shell.”=disciples of Quetzalcoatl “who called themselves sons of the sun and toltecas.” Cf. Ticitl=medicine man or woman, astrologer or divines, who employed the pearl-oyster shell tici-caxitl, for divinatory purposes. yoal-ticitl=title of earth-mother, or ancestress of human race, whose symbol was a sea-snail=tecciztli. | |
| Pacha-Yachachic=title of Supreme Being or Creator translated as pacha=world, time. paccha=spider. yachachic=the teacher from yacha=to learn with affix chi, means to teach, like ru-rachi=to cause others to make something). Pachacamac=title of Creator. | pachoa=verb, to rule or govern others. yacana=to guide others, to govern a town, to lead the blind. paccamachtia=to teach cheerfully and with patience. amanteca=skilled artisans. | am=spider. aman=North. ah-men=he who builds. ah-pakcah=he who founds a town and peoples it. |
| pa-chac-an or pa-cha-ca=title of officer of the Inca. ccapac=title of supreme ruler; ccapac apu, male ruler; ccapac ccoya=female ruler. | yaca-tecuhtli, title of the god of the travellers or merchants, literally meaning the lord who guides, governs or leads. The names of his five brothers were Chiconquiauitl, Xomocuitl, Nacxitl, Cochimetl, Yacapitzauac. The sister who completed the group of seven, was named Chalmeca-ciuatl (Sahagun, op. cit. Book i, chap. xix). This god and his six brethren, to whom the merchants offered sacrifices when they had safely returned from their perilous and long expeditions, doubtlessly were Polaris and the Ursa Minor or Major. | bacab=title of the rulers of the four provinces or quarters. chac=title of four assistants of high priest. |