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Frazer, James George, Sir, 1854-1941

"The Golden Bough"

This done, all the virgins came out of their
convent, bringing pieces of paste compounded of beets and roasted
maize, which was of the same paste whereof their idol was made and
compounded, and they were of the fashion of great bones. They
delivered them to the young men, who carried them up and laid them
at the idol's feet, wherewith they filled the whole place that it
could receive no more. They called these morsels of paste the flesh
and bones of Vitzilipuztli. Having laid abroad these bones,
presently came all the ancients of the temple, priests, Levites, and
all the rest of the ministers, according to their dignities and
antiquities (for herein there was a strict order amongst them) one
after another, with their veils of diverse colours and works, every
one according to his dignity and office, having garlands upon their
heads and chains of flowers about their necks; after them came their
gods and goddesses whom they worshipped, of diverse figures, attired
in the same livery; then putting themselves in order about those
morsels and pieces of paste, they used certain ceremonies with
singing and dancing.


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