In addition to his pouch of corn the farmer carries his planting stick, a plumed prayer stick and a small bag of corn meal. As he leaves his house, bowls of water are poured over him by the women of his household. This is symbolic of rain and will cause the summer rains to fall upon the crops. Upon reaching his field the farmer goes to a well-known spot at the very center. With his digging stick he digs four holes, each one almost a foot deep. The first hole is north of the center spot, the second is to the west, the third is to the south and the fourth is to the east. On the west side of the northern hole he digs another which represents the sky regions and on the east side of the southern hole another which represents the lower regions. In the center of the space bounded by the six holes he kneels, facing the east and with cornmeal paints a cross on the ground. Murmuring a prayer, he plants the plumed prayer stick in the center of the cross and sprinkles it with cornmeal. Now he moves out of the central space and opens his bag of seed corn. Carefully he selects four grains of each color—yellow, blue, red, white, speckled and black. Returning to the central space, he kneels facing the northern hole and begins to chant. At the proper point in the chant he drops the four yellow grains into the hole. Shifting to the westward, he continues his chant and drops the four blue grains into the western hole. Chanting without a break, he goes from one hole to the next. The red corn is dropped into the southern hole, the white corn into the eastern hole, the speckled corn into the hole representing the sky regions and the black corn into the hole representing the lower regions. Now the ceremony is over and he fills in the holes where the seeds have been planted. Picking up his pouch of seed corn and his planting stick, he plants four long rows of corn, each one starting at his little central plot. One row extends to the north, another to the west, another to the south and the final row to the east. When his seed is exhausted, he is through for the day and returns to the village. The rest of the field can not be planted until four days have passed. During that time he will go through many rituals of prayer, will place offerings at shrines and will not eat forbidden foods. Also, he will avoid trading, gambling and certain other pleasures. After four days have passed, the remaining portions of each field are planted. This is done without ceremony and as hurriedly as possible for everything indicates that the May rains are near. There is a light haze in the sky and the air feels warm and damp. The moisture is in the air; only an east wind is needed to bring it down. Planting must be completed, if possible, before the east wind comes.