Among the most sacred symbols of the Indians was the number four, undoubtedly derived from the four cardinal points, which, like most of the primitives, the aborigine in his wanderings identified with the daily journey of the heavenly bodies; and with the winds, which were the spirits of the cardinal points that brought about changes of weather and of seasons. The amazing extent of the application of this sacred four is beyond the scope of this work, but a few examples will illustrate the astonishing variety of its use: 1. There are four houses, or stages of emergence, for all living things from nothingness into the world of sense. 2. There are four primordial creators of life. 3. Four festivals are annually celebrated, at each of which four priests officiate. 4. Four times each day are prayers offered to the gods. 5. After a birth, the mother lies in for four days. 6. To each of the four cardinal points an arrow is shot at baptism. 7. For four days after a death, food is placed upon the graves. 8. Mourning lasts from four days to four weeks or even four years.[216] All the first missionaries who came out to New Mexico with the _Conquistadores_ were of the Franciscan order. Very keen were these ardent apostles to watch the native mind, and to make use of every point of approach or community of idea that would help the savage to grasp the new religion they offered him. One of the first aids undoubtedly toward this end was their recognition of certain emblems or totems that they found in Indian villages, which bore some resemblance to Christian symbols. In this they were but following the example set them by the earliest of their faith, who took over as far as possible pagan characters, such as we may see in the Roman catacombs. May we not believe that, as they found among the barbarians symbols such as the cross, or a ritual of sprinkling and of head-washing somewhat akin to Christian baptism, through which initial links of understanding could be established between them and the Indians, so they must soon have perceived that in the Canticle of the Sun, given them by their founder, Saint Francis, there was another possibility of mental approach, deeper and more embracing than any other? The Canticle does not indeed proclaim the “worship of all creatures,” but its communion with all elemental life surely forged a bond between them and the aborigine, which made the Indian more willing to listen to this new religion, and which aided the priests in forcing upon them its acceptance: