. Mexican and Central American antiquities, calendar systems, and history;. figures struck by thespear, and, in my opinion, also in the fifth, the analogies are perfectlyplain between the figures of pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden manuscriptand those on the pages of the Borgian codex group which are devotedto a similar representation of the 13 X 5 Venus periods. Now, what inference are we to draw from the fact that on thesepages the figures of the deity of the morning star—and of those dei-ties, still to be discussed, that are depicted in their place in the Dres-den manuscript—are represented th
. Mexican and Central American antiquities, calendar systems, and history;. figures struck by thespear, and, in my opinion, also in the fifth, the analogies are perfectlyplain between the figures of pages 46 to 50 of the Dresden manuscriptand those on the pages of the Borgian codex group which are devotedto a similar representation of the 13 X 5 Venus periods. Now, what inference are we to draw from the fact that on thesepages the figures of the deity of the morning star—and of those dei-ties, still to be discussed, that are depicted in their place in the Dres-den manuscript—are represented throwing the spear, and that in onecase the divinity of the water, in others the jaguar, the maize god, theemblem of kings, and warriors representing the community appearstruck by this spear? Forstemann propounds the question as towhether this may be the struggle of the sun with Venus, ending withthe disappearance of the latter. This view seems to me to be pre-cluded here, for, as we learn from the manuscripts of the Borgian seler] VENUS PERIOD IN PICTURE WRITINGS 383. k I Fig. 101. Glyphs and deity figures from the Maya codices. 384 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [hull. 28 codex group, Venus is, on the contrary, represented as the conquer-ing party. Conjunctions with other constellations might seem to besuggested here, for they are in fact different for the five a conjunction of the planet with other celestial bodies wasobserved is positively proved by certain reliefs of Chichen is also certain that the jaguar, the tortoise, and the serpent wereseen in the sky by the Maya peoples. It is, however, also possi-ble that we have on these pages simply an astrologic speculation aris-ing from superstitious fear of the influence of the light of thispowerful planet. By a natural association of ideas the rays of light emitted by thesun or other luminous bodies are imagined to be darts or arrowswhich are shot in all directions by the luminous body. The more therays ar
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