The gods of Mexico

The gods of Mexico, by Lewis Spence, is an illustrated book dated 1923. Its preface says it deals exclusively with the religion of the peoples of ancient Mexico, meaning the region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, with only passing reference to the Maya of Yucatan or the Quiche. The frontispiece shows a nephrite figure now in the Stuttgart Museum.

One passage on the sources praises the Historia General of Bernardino Sahagun, finished about the middle of the sixteenth century but not published until 1830, and mentions the Interpretative Codices made by Pedro de Rios and other monks. A section called The Origins of Mexican Religion begins by noting that the question has long been disputed. A passage from the interpreter of Codex Vaticanus A tells of Chimalman, a virgin of Tulan, who is said to conceive Quetzalcoatle, god of air. Descriptions of figures in Codex Telleriano-Remensis note the colours of the face, a turquoise fillet and a solar disk.