Her son's image was surrounded by serpents, his sceptre
was in the shape of one, his great drum was of serpents' skins, and his
statue rested on four vermiform caryatides.
As the symbol of the fertilizing summer showers the lightning serpent
was the god of fruitfulness. Born in the atmospheric waters, it was an
appropriate attribute of the ruler of the winds. But we have already
seen that the winds were often spoken of as great birds. Hence the union
of these two emblems in such names as Quetzalcoatl, Gucumatz, Kukulkan,
all titles of the god of the air in the languages of Central America,
all signifying the "Bird-serpent." Here also we see the solution of that
monument which has so puzzled American antiquaries, the cross at
Palenque. It is a tablet on the wall of an altar representing a cross
surmounted by a bird and supported by the head of a serpent. The latter
is not well defined in the plate in Mr. Stephens' Travels, but is very
distinct in the photographs taken by M. Charnay, which that gentleman
was kind enough to show me.
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