om the intense darkness of the wintry sky (fig.
3, no. 3). At the same moment I saw that it bore the semblance of a
symmetrical swastika of giant proportions. This fact, so unexpectedly
realized, gave rise to such an absorbing train of new ideas and
interpretations of the data I had accumulated, that I left my window, on
that memorable night, with a growing perception of the deep and powerful
influence the prolonged observation of Polaris and the circumpolar
constellations would naturally have exerted upon the mind of primitive
man. Deeply impressed with the striking resemblance between the composite
image of Polaris, Ursa Major, and certain forms of the swastika, I started
on a fresh line of investigation, and devoted myself to the study of
primitive astronomy and its influence upon the intellectual development of
mankind in general and the American races in particular. After having
worked, during thirteen years, without any preconceived ideas about the
ancient Mexican civilization and without formulating any general
conclusion concerning it, I saw all the knowledge I had slowly acquired
fall into rank and file and organize itself into a simple and harmonious
whole.

[Illustration.]

Figure 3

Realizing this I perceived how, with the origin of the swastika, I had
found the origin of the set of primeval ideas which had governed the human
race from its infancy and which, in Mexican and Central American
civilizations, ultimately developed into their ingenious system of
government and social organization.

[Illustration.]

Plate I. Chart of the Polar Constellations. I: Just After Sunset. II:
Midnight. III: Just Before Sunrise.

[Illustration.]

Plate II. Various Forms of the Swastika.

[Illustration.]

Figure 4

The sequel to the above episode was that, with the aid of my movable
star-chart, I made the following notes of the apparent positions of the
circumpolar constellations at the times of sunrise, midnight and sunset,
choosing the periods of the solstices and equinoxes in order to obtain an
exact division of the year (pl. I). Whilst studying these I realized that
the midnight position was the only stable one, since the actual visibility
of the constellations before dawn and after dus