The arrows
which he shot transfixed great trees, the stones he threw levelled
forests, and when he laid his hands on the rocks the mark was indelible.
Yet as thus emblematic of the thunder-storm, he possessed in full
measure its better attributes. By shaking his sandals he gave fire to
men, and peace, plenty, and riches blessed his subjects. Tradition says
he built many temples to Mictlanteuctli, the Aztec Pluto, and at the
creation of the sun that he slew all the other gods, for the advancing
dawn disperses the spectral shapes of night, and yet all its vivifying
power does but result in increasing the number doomed to fell before the
remorseless stroke of death.[183-1]
His symbols were the bird, the serpent, the cross, and the flint,
representing the clouds, the lightning, the four winds, and the
thunderbolt. Perhaps, as Huemac, the Strong Hand, he was god of the
earthquakes. The Zapotecs worshipped such a deity under the image of
this member carved from a precious stone,[183-2] calling to mind the
"Kab ul," the Working Hand, adored by the Mayas,[183-3] and said to be
one of the images of Zamna, their hero god.
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