Several of these were painted on the mantle which he wore in the picture writings, and they are occasionally found on the sacred jades, which bear other of his symbols.
This has often been made use of by one set of writers to prove that Quetzalcoatl was some Christian teacher; and by others as evidence that these native tales were of a date subsequent to the Conquest.

But a moment's consideration of the meaning of this cruciform symbol as revealed in its native names shows where it belongs and what it refers to.

These names are three, and their significations are, "The Rain-God," "The Tree of our Life," "The God of Strength."[1] As the rains fertilize the fields and ripen the food crops, so he who sends them is indeed the prop or tree of our subsistence, and thus becomes the giver of health and strength.

No other explanation is needed, or is, in fact, allowable.
[Footnote 1: The Aztec words are _Quiahuitl teotl, quiahuitl_, rain, _teotl_, god; _Tonacaquahuitl_, from _to_, our, _naca_, flesh or life, _quahuitl_, tree; _Chicahualizteotl_, from _chicahualiztli_, strength or courage, and _teotl_, god.

These names are given by Ixtlilxochitl, _Historia chichimeca_, cap.