6. Ho! she is our mother, goddess of the earth, she supplies food in
the desert to the wild beasts, and causes them to live.

7. Thus, thus, you see her to be an ever-fresh model of liberality
toward all flesh.

8. And as you see the goddess of the earth do to the wild beasts, so
also does she toward the green herbs and the fishes.


_Notes._

The goddess to whom this hymn is devoted was called _Teteoinan_, the
Mother of the Gods, _Toçi_, our Mother (maternal ancestor), and also by
another name which signified "the Heart of the Earth," the latter being
bestowed upon her, says Duran, because she was believed to be the cause
of earthquakes. Her general functions were those of a genius of
fertility, extending both to the vegetable and the animal world. Thus,
she was the patroness of the native midwives and of women in childbirth
(Sahagun). Her chief temple at Tepeyacac was one of the most renowned in
ancient Mexico, and it was a felicitous idea of the early missionaries
to have "Our Lady of Guadalupe" make her appearance on the immediate
site of this ancient fane already celebrated as the place of worship of
the older female deity. The _Codex Ramirez_ makes her a daughter of the
first King of Culhuacan.

1. _Tamoanchan._ This word Sahagun translates "we seek our homes,"
while the _Codex Telleriano-Remensis_ gives the more intelligible
rendering "there is their home whither they descend," and adds that it
is synonymous with _Xochitlycacan_, "the place where the flowers are