In some localities a remarkable rock or massive block of stone was adopted as the mark of the sacred centre and became the altar on which offerings or sacrifices were made, or the throne on which the terrestrial central ruler seated himself on ceremonial occasions and assumed an attitude of absolute repose. It is interesting to collate the Nahuatl words Te-otl, divinity or divine lord, with te-tl=stone and the Maya te-m=stone seat or altar, of which many carved examples exist in the ruined Central American cities, and to observe that principal personages, such as are represented on the carved altars and in the middle of the Copan swastika, are represented as seated cross-legged, as though this attitude were specially indicative of repose on the stable centre of the four quarters. As the natives usually squat or sit on their heels, the cross-legged attitude is particularly noteworthy in connection with the omnipresent set of ideas.
was the emblem of earth, the receptacle of fructifying showers, and of the terrestrial centre. Filled with rain-water, on the surface of which the radiance of a star--the pole-star--reflected itself, the bowl was supposed to typify the union of heaven and earth by means of the divine essence of light and life, proceeding from the "Heart of Heaven."
was another symbol of the earth and of the state and its divisions. It occurs as a composite flower consisting of a yellow centre surrounded by multicolored petals. The usual form is of a flower with four equal petals, bearing a circle or dot in the centre and one on each petal, the Middle and Four Quarters being thus expressed.
A closing allusion should be briefly made to the native association of the square with the earth and the circle with the heaven and to the influence exerted by these ideas combined with those of light and darkness upon primitive architecture and symbolical ornamental designs.
Pointing out that all of the above symbols are but variations on the fundamental theme of the "Middle, Four Quarters, Above and Below," I also emphasize the fact that, in ancient America, language powerfully influenced the choice of symbols, as may be particularly seen in the case of the serpent, the Nahuatl and Maya names for which are homonymous with duality and quadruplicity.