Daoist names for the medicines = MesoAmerican day-names

p. 170

Compass-Centre Directions, by C^>en Hsu:-pai (C^en Xu-bai) in Yuan dynasty

MesoAmerican day-names

Codex Borgianus Mexicanus, pp. 22-24

1

Red Lead

   

8

red-striped god

2

Black Mercury

   

7

dark pitfall

3

Wood Liquid

20

Hun-ahpu (blow-gunner)

   

4

Metal Vitality

       

5

Crimson Sand

   

6

red-&-blue

6

Liquid Silver

   

5

pool

7

White Gold {platinum, as substitute for gold}

   

4

artificially winged {cf. [W]ikaros ‘vicarious’}

8

Black Lead

   

3

black god

9

The Metal Man {= [Cretan] Talos}

   

2

gold spots on body

10

The Go-between {= [Kipling’s] "Little Friend of All the World"}

20

[Mixe] eye

   

11

The Fire Woman {= [Ainu] fire-goddess}

19

[Hacal-tec] fire

   

12

The Water Man

19

rain

1

waterfall

13

The Blue Tortoise

19

[Pipil] turtle

   

14

The Red Snake

   

20

red-&-yellow snake

15

The Fire Dragon

17

[highl. Maya] incense

   

16

The Water Tigre

14

leopard

   

17

White Snow

   

19

clad in white-&-grey cloak

18

Yellow Sprouts

12

twisted herb

   

19

The Gold Raven {= golden Garu-tman}

9

[Awaca-tec] pay

18

bird-skin sceptre

20

The Jade Rabbit

8

rabbit

16

rabbit

21

The Horse of Heaven

7

deer

   

22

The Ox of Earth {cf. buffaloes stampeding over cliff}

6

death

13

god killing own self

23

Sunrays & Moonbeams

   

12

sun-god

24

The Caelestial Soul

   

11

music

25

The Earthly Soul

       

26

The Lead in the Homeland of Water

3

house

   

27

The Mercury [quicksilver = ‘alive silver’] in the Metal Caldron

2

life

   

28

Metal in Water ["on the flower pond" (p. 171)]

1

[Maya glyph:] waterlily

   

29

Wood in Fire

   

10

tree

30

Yan within Yin

       

31

Yin within Yan

       

32

White within Black

   

9

white bone-awl in black bowl

33

The Female within the Male

       

[Evidently, the twain lists are relatively backwards.]

p. 171

"The homeland of the southwest is called the yellow court".

This would suggest that the 33 are encountered in a mythic journey to the southwest.

Thomas Cleary (tr.):The Taoist Classics, Vol. 3. Shambhala, Boston, 2000.