Everything about Quetzalcoatl totally explained
Quetzalcoatl (in
Nahuatl) is an
Aztec sky and creator
god. The name is a combination of
quetzalli, a brightly colored Mesoamerican bird, and, meaning serpent. The name was also taken on by various ancient leaders. Due to their cyclical view of time and the tendency of leaders to revise histories to support their rule, many events and attributes attributed to Quetzalcoatl are exceedingly difficult to separate from the political leaders that took this name on themselves. Quetzalcoatl is often referred to as The Feathered Serpent and was connected to the planet Venus. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge. Today Quetzalcoatl is arguably the best known Aztec deity, and is often thought to have been the principal Aztec god. However, Quetzalcoatl was one of several important gods in the Aztec
pantheon along with the gods
Tlaloc,
Tezcatlipoca and
Huitzilopochtli.
Several other Mesoamerican cultures are known to have worshipped a feathered serpent god: At
Teotihuacan the several monumental structures are adorned with images of a feathered serpent (Notably the so-called "Citadel and Temple of Quetzalcoatl"
(External Link
)). Such imagery is also prominent at such sites as
Chichén Itza and
Tula. This has led scholars to conclude that the deity called Quetzalcoatl in the Nahuatl language was among the most important deities of
Mesoamerica.
The god Quetzalcoatl was sometimes conflated with
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl, a semi-legendary
10th century Toltec ruler.
Antecedents and origins
The Feathered Serpent deity was important in art and religion in most of
Mesoamerica for close to 2,000 years, from the
Pre-Classic era until the
Spanish conquest. Civilizations worshiping the Feathered Serpent included the
Mixtec,
Toltec,
Aztec, who adopted it from the people of
Teotihuacan, and the Maya.
The cult of the serpent in Mesoamerica is very old; there are representations of snakes with bird-like characteristics as old as the
Olmec preclassic (1150-500 BC). The snake represents the earth and vegetation, but it was in
Teotihuacan (around 150 BC) where the snake got the precious feathers of the
quetzal, as seen in the Murals of the city. The most elaborate representations come from the old Quetzalcoatl Temple around 200 BC, which shows a rattlesnake with the long green feathers of the quetzal.
Teotihuacan was dedicated to
Tlaloc, the water god, at the same time Quetzalcoatl, as a snake, was a representation of the fertility of the earth, and it was subordinate to Tlaloc. As the cult evolved, it became independent.
In time Quetzalcoatl was mixed with other gods and acquired their attributes. Quetzalcoatl is often associated with
Ehecatl, the wind god, and represents the forces of nature, and is also associated with the morning star (
Venus). Quetzalcoatl became a representation of the rain, the celestial water and their associated winds, while Tlaloc would be the god of earthly water, the water in lakes, caverns and rivers, and also of vegetation. Eventually Quetzalcoatl was transformed into one of the gods of the creation (
Ipalnemohuani).
The Teotihuacan influence took the god to the Mayas, who adopted him as
Kukulkán. The Maya regarded him as a being who would transport the gods.
In
Xochicalco (700-900 AD), the political class began to claim that they ruled in the name of Quetzalcoatl, and representations of the god became more human. They influenced the Toltec, and the Toltec rulers began to use the name of Quetzalcoatl. The
Toltec represented Quetzalcoatl as man, with god-like attributes, and these attributes were also associated with their rulers.
The most famous of those rulers was
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl. Ce Acatl means "one reed" and is the calendaric name of the ruler (923 - 947), whose legends became almost inseparable from accounts of the god. The Toltecs would associate Quetzalcoatl with their own god,
Tezcatlipoca, and make them equal and enemies.
The
Nahuas would take the legends of Quetzalcoatl and mix them with their own. Quetzalcoatl would be considered the originator of the arts, poetry and all knowledge. The figure of Ce Acatl would become inseparable from the image of the god.
Speculative literature has also associated Quetzalcoatl with
Votan, a culture hero mentioned in a
1702 account of
Tzeltal beliefs and practices in Chiapas by Bishop Nuñez de la Vega.
Religion and ritual
The
worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal
sacrifices, and in most traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose
human sacrifice.
Mesoamerican priests and kings would sometimes take the name of a deity they were associated with, so
Quetzalcoatl and
Kukulcan are also the names of historical persons.
One noted Post-Classic Toltec ruler was named Quetzalcoatl; he may be the same individual as the
Kukulcan who invaded
Yucatán at about the same time. The
Mixtec also recorded a ruler named for the Feathered Serpent. In the
10th century a ruler closely associated with Quetzalcoatl ruled the Toltecs; his name was
Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl. This ruler was said to be the son of either the great
Chichimeca warrior,
Mixcoatl and the Culhuacano woman
Chimalman, or of their descent.
It is believed that the
Toltecs had a dualistic belief system. Quetzalcoatl's opposite was
Tezcatlipoca, who, in one legend, sent Quetzalcoatl into exile. Alternatively, he left willingly on a raft of
snakes, promising to return.
The Aztecs turned him into a symbol of dying and resurrection and a patron of priests. When the Aztecs adopted the culture of the Toltecs, they made twin gods of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, opposite and equal; Quetzalcoatl was also called White Tezcatlipoca, to contrast him to the black Tezcatlipoca. Together, they created the world; Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in that process.
Along with other gods, such as Tezcatlipoca and Tlaloc, Quetzalcoatl was called "Ipalnemohuani", a title reserved for the gods directly involved in the creation, which means "by whom we live". Because the name Ipalnemohuani is singular, this led to speculations that the Aztec were becoming monotheistic and all the main gods were only one. While this interpretation can't be ruled out, it's probably an oversimplification of the Aztec religion.
Attributes
The exact significance and attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied somewhat between civilizations and through history. Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the
morning star, and his twin brother
Xolotl was the
evening star (
Venus). As the morning star he was known by the title
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning "lord of the star of the dawn." He was known as the inventor of books and the
calendar, the giver of
maize (corn) to mankind, and sometimes as a symbol of death and
resurrection. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the Aztec high priest.
Most Mesoamerican beliefs included cycles of suns. Usually, our current time was considered the fifth sun, the previous four having been destroyed by flood, fire and the like. Quetzalcoatl allegedly went to
Mictlan, the underworld, and created fifth-world mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of
Chihuacoatl), using his own blood, from a wound in his
penis, to imbue the bones with new life.
His birth, along with his twin
Xolotl, was unusual; it was a
virgin birth, to the goddess
Coatlicue. Alternatively, he was a son of
Xochiquetzal and
Mixcoatl.
One
Aztec story claims that Quetzalcoatl was seduced by
Tezcatlipoca into becoming drunk and sleeping with a celibate priestess, and then burned himself to death out of remorse. His heart became the morning star (see
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli).
Moctezuma controversy
It has been widely believed that the
Aztec Emperor
Moctezuma II initially believed the landing of
Hernán Cortés in
1519 to be Quetzalcoatl's return. This has been questioned by many ethnohistorians (for example Matthew Restall 2001) who argue that the Quetzalcoatl-Cortés connection is asserted in no documents created independently of post-Conquest Spanish influence, and that there's little proof of a pre-Hispanic belief in Quetzalcoatl's return. Most documents expounding this theory are of entirely Spanish origin, such as Cortés's letters to
Charles V of
Spain, in which Cortés goes to great pains to present the naïve gullibility of the Mexicans in general as a great aid in his conquest of
Mexico.
Much of the idea of
Cortés being seen as a deity can be traced back to the Florentine Codex written down some 50 years after the conquest. In the codex's description of the first meeting between Moctezuma and Cortés, the Aztec ruler is described as giving a prepared speech in classical oratorial Nahuatl, a speech which, as described verbatim in the codex (written by Sahagún's, Tlatelolcan informants who were probably not eyewitnesses of the meeting), included such prostrate declarations of divine or near-divine admiration as,
"You have graciously come on earth, you've graciously approached your water, your high place of Mexico, you've come down to your mat, your throne, which I've briefly kept for you, I who used to keep it for you,"
and,
"You have graciously arrived, you've known pain, you've known weariness, now come on earth, take your rest, enter into your palace, rest your limbs; may our lords come on earth."
Subtleties in, and an imperfect scholarly understanding of, high Nahuatl rhetorical style make the exact intent of these comments tricky to ascertain, but Restall argues that Moctezuma politely offering his throne to Cortés (if indeed he did ever give the speech as reported) may well have been meant as the exact opposite of what it was taken to mean: politeness in Aztec culture was a way to assert dominance and show superiority. This speech, which has been widely referred to, has been a factor in the widespread belief that Moctezuma was addressing Cortés as the returning god Quetzalcoatl.
Other parties have also propagated the idea that the Native Americans believed the conquistadors to be gods: most notably the historians of the Franciscan order such as Fray
Gerónimo de Mendieta. Some Franciscans at this time held millennarian beliefs (Phelan 1956) and the natives taking the Spanish conquerors for gods was an idea that went well with this theology.
Bernardino de Sahagún, who compiled the
Florentine Codex, was also a Franciscan.
Some scholars still hold the view that the fall of the Aztec empire can in part be attributed to Moctezuma's belief in Cortés as the returning Quetzalcoatl, but most modern scholars see the "Quetzalcoatl/Cortés myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which have risen in the early post-conquest period.
However, it's interesting to note the resemblance of the Quetzacoatl legend with that of the myth of the
Pahana held by the
Hopis of northern Arizona. Scholars have described many similarities between the myths of the Aztecs and those of the American
Southwest, and posit a common root. The Hopi describe the Pahana as the "Lost White Brother," and they expected his eventual return from the east during which he'd destroy the wicked and begin a new era of peace and prosperity. Hopi tradition maintains that they at first mistook the Spanish conquistadors as the Pahana when they arrived on the Hopi mesas in the 16th century.
Alternative interpretations
Modern esoteric groups, called "
Mexicanistas", have mixed the cult of Quetzalcoatl with modern esoteric practices.
Creationists, in a effort to present ancient myths as literal truth, have suggested that the Quetzalcoatl is a definition or description of a
pterodactyl. They believe their idea to have merit due to supposed (unconfirmed) sightings of pterodactyls throughout the Americas, from early European colonization to modern times.
Some believers in
The Book of Mormon assert some references to Quetzalcoatl are a corruption of the story of
Jesus Christ, of whom The Book of Mormon states visited the Mesoamerican natives after his resurrection.
References In Other Media
Quetzalcoatl is a Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII for the Playstation. When summoned he attacks with a thunderstorm. The name is spelled Quezacotl in the game.
Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan are thought by some enthusiasts for the writings of
H.P. Lovecraft to be two of the inspirations for his character
Cthulhu.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Quetzalcoatl'.
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