ess of Maize. She was said at times to appear as a woman of
surpassing beauty, and allure some unfortunate to her embraces, destined
to pay with his life for his brief moments of pleasure. Even to see her
in this shape was a fatal omen. She was also said to belong to a class
of gods whose home was in the west, and who produced sickness and
pains.[134-5] Here we see the evil aspect of the moon reflected on
another goddess, who was at first solely the patroness of agriculture.

As the goddess of sickness, it was supposed that persons afflicted with
certain diseases had been set apart by the moon for her peculiar
service. These diseases were those of a humoral type, especially such as
are characterized by issues and ulcers. As in Hebrew the word _accursed_
is derived from a root meaning _consecrated to God_, so in the Aztec,
Quiche, and other tongues, the word for _leprous_, _eczematous_, or
_syphilitic_, means also _divine_. This bizarre change of meaning is
illustrated in a very ancient myth of their family. It is said that in
the absence of the sun all mankind lingered in darkness. Nothing but a
human sacrifice could hasten his arrival. Then Metzli, the moon, led
forth one Nanahuatl, the leprous, and building a pyre, the victim threw
himself in its midst. Straightway Metzli followed his example, and as
she disappeared in the bright flames the sun rose over the
horizon.[135-1] Is not this a reference to the kindling rays of the
aurora, in which the dark and baleful night is sacrificed, and in whose
light the moon presently fades away, and the sun comes forth?

Another reaction in the mythological laboratory is here disclosed. As
the good qualities of water were attributed to the goddess of night,
sleep, and death, so her malevolent traits were in turn reflected back
on this element. Other thoughts aided the transfer. In primitive
geography the Ocean Stream coils its infinite folds around the speck of
land we inhabit, biding its time to swallow it wholly. Unwillingly did
it yield the earth from its bosom, daily does it steal it away piece by
piece. Every evening it hides the light in its depths, and Night and the
Waters resume their ancient sway. The word for ocean (_mare_) in the
Latin tongue means by derivation a desert, and the Greeks spoke of it as
"the barren brine." Water is a treacherous element. Man treads boldly on
the solid earth, but the rivers and lakes constantly strive to swallow
those who venture within the