e, invisible deity, through which, the
light of day and the darkness of night alternately revealed themselves to
those inside the sacred buildings. A careful study of the positions and
orientations of these openings may yet prove that they also served for
astronomical observation. The walls being usually pierced above reach,
nothing but the sky could have been watched through them. But besides
these, the interiors of Maya ruins contain interesting examples of mural
openings and recesses which seem to have been carefully planned so that
they should appear dark even in daytime and, in more than one case, these
display the form of the upright tau, the symbol of darkness and the
Below.(17)

[Illustration.]

Figure 40.

It does not seem to have been generally recognized that the alternate
contraposition of upright and reversed taus produces the best known and
most widely spread primitive border-design, usually known as the Greek
fret (fig. 40, no. 6). A plain demonstration of this is, oddly enough,
visible on the two side-projections of the Scandinavian brooch (fig. 13)
all symbols on which, I venture to assert, would have been perfectly
intelligible and full of meaning to an ancient Mexican. The evolution of
the fret, on the American continent, can be studied on the beautiful
wooden clubs from Brazil and British Guiana, figured in Dr. Hjalmar
Stolpes' valuable work already referred to. As striking instances his fig.
8, pl. 1, figs. 3_a_ and 3_c_, pl. XIII, and figs. 1_a_ and 1_b_, pl. V,
should be examined. The latter instance is extremely instructive as it not
only exhibits single taus of two forms, but the same in different
positions, as well as two double-headed figures joined in one, which
illustrate the native association already discussed, of duality and of the
curved lines as the opposite of the rectangular and both respectively
figuring the Above and Below.

It is impossible to study the decorations on these South American clubs
without becoming convinced that their makers shared the same ideas as the
ancient Mexicans. They offer, indeed, a whole set of variations on the
native theme and idea of Heaven and Earth. Two instances (fig. 5_a_, pl.
IX, and 6_a_, pl. XI) in which the union of two figures produces a third,
or a single one produces two, elucidate the meaning sometimes expressed by
the designs. In the round or spiral forms, which are most frequ