was the emblem of life, of hidden and visible growth which extended
downward into the earth and upward into heaven and sent forth its four
branches towards the cardinal points. It typified tribal life because its
various parts were identified with the different members of the community
and, metaphorically, the lord was spoken of as the trunk or main stem; the
minor chiefs as branches and twigs; the men or vassals as leaves; the
maidens as flowers, and the women as fruit, etc. The name “atlapalli” was,
for instance, the current Nahuatl appellation for vassals.
As the conventionalized trees in the native picture-writings are usually
figured with four equal branches they formed an appropriate image of the
living state, and of all directions in space. The “tree of life” thus
formed a swastika or cross and both symbols were indissolubly linked
together. The names of two trees, considered particularly sacred by the
Mayas, were the ci-hom and the yax-ché, a sort of ceiba which was termed
“the tree of celestial life” (Landa).