His appearance can change drastically, however, depending on the region, era, and context. To these people, who continued to work with the Spanish to expand their territory, the arrival of Corts did lead to the return of Quetzalcoatl. When Cortes and his crew of Spaniards came ashore in Mexico in 1519, many thought they were gods. The invaders looked an awful lot like these late depictions. Quetzalcoatl was considered important in the pantheon of Aztec gods. Cult worship may have involved the ingestion of hallucinogenic mushrooms (psilocybes), considered sacred. With great respect and awe. Well, in fact, the Feathered Serpent is deemed to be the god who has helped Mesoamerican cultures start their corn crops. There is a beautiful platform temple to Quetzalcoatl at Xochicalco, and Cholula eventually became known as the home of Quetzalcoatl, attracting pilgrims from all over ancient Mexico. In some versions of the ancient Mesoamerican histories, Quetzalcoatl was reborn as Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli after being burned on a funeral pyre. On the basis of the Teotihuacan iconographical depictions of the feathered serpent, archaeologist Karl Taube has argued that the feathered serpent was a symbol of fertility and of internal political structures - contrasting with the War Serpent symbolizing the outwards military expansion of the Teotihuacan empire. The worship of Quetzalcoatl became widespread with the rise of the Toltec civilization around 900 A.D. and spread throughout the region, even down to the Yucatan peninsula where it caught on with the Maya. 3. In mythology, he is a gentle god who loves peace, and it is said that he bestowed many blessings to the humans. The Church of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormons, teaches that Jesus Christ walked the Earth after his resurrection, spreading the word of Christianity to all corners of the globe. His earrings are made of either jade or spiraling shells. His form of reincarnation, more specifically, would be that of a white person with a long beard. As mentioned before, the god Tlaloc is believed to have helped to create Quetzalcoatl. One of his most defining attributes, however, is his breastplate. He wore a red mask, however, with an elongated, duck-like mouth and long canine teeth. (Many academics conclude this passage implies incest.) At the end of the fourth cycle, when mankind had perished again according to the mythology, Quetzalcoatl created a new people with his blood. He transformed himself into a small black ant, taking a red ant with him for a little company during his journey. He appears in Post-classic tales from the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec cultures. There was one way that would certainly work, namely by letting it rain so abundantly that the snake simply drifted out of the cave. Archaeological sites in Mexico City have street addresses, not GPS coordinates, as sites tend to elsewhere. Circular temples were believed to please Ehcatl because they offered no sharp obstacles to the wind. Here, our plumed serpent gathered the bones of all the previous races that walked the earth. Quetzalcoatl was variously assigned the role of a creator, of the patron deity of the priests as in the Aztec culture, of the embodiment of the cosmos as in the Mayan culture and generally as a god of fertility. Some scholarship maintains the view that the Aztec Empire's fall may be attributed in part to the belief in Corts as the returning Quetzalcoatl, notably in works by David Carrasco (1982), H. B. Nicholson (2001 (1957)) and John Pohl (2016). The language is spoken today in the highlands of central Guatemala. He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god. Quetzalcoatl became linked with the maize crop thanks to ancient legends. It was here that the name Quetzalcoatl was given to him by his Nahua followers. The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, images of the deity began acquiring human features, such as the beard (see the Borgia codex illustration above) that he was sometimes depicted with. Known as the Ehecailacozcatl, its swirling design represents the wind. This made it an important sign of fertility because it brought with it the rains that renewed the earth. Members of this confederacy from Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Oaxaca provided the Spaniards with the army that first reclaimed the city of Cholula from its pro-Aztec ruling faction, and ultimately defeated the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). The most astonishing aspect of their worship, at least to the Spaniards, was their habit of human sacrifice . Before he left, however, he promised to return. He is a former head writer at VIVA Travel Guides. Others said that he had invented the calendar and books. It allows for a form of food security, and therefore for peace, and as a result, has taken on not only physical and economic importance but spiritual significance as well. This, too, can be seen in the birth of Quetzalcoatl. Minster, Christopher. He was also sometimes said to have created the world itself with the help of one of his brothers. The widespread worship of Quetzalcoatl may have even played a factor in the belief that the natives of Mexico identified him with the Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts. [19] The most important center was Cholula, where the world's largest pyramid was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl-worship. This constitutes the Late Pre-Classic Period of the Mayan civilization. It was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca may have been worshiped as early as 10,000 BC. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-quetzalcoatl-2136322. Quetzalcoatl occupied a unique position in the Aztec pantheon and was considered one of the most important gods. This article is about a Mesoamerican deity. Mainly because they thought one of them was the reincarnation of the beloved god discussed in this article. "9 Facts About Quetzalcoatl." As the morning star, he was known by the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning "lord of the star of the dawn". The Nahuatl nouns compounded into the proper name "Quetzalcoatl" are: (in English, Spanish, and Nahuatl languages), Proposed Book of Mormon geographical setting, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, "Evidence of Mushroom Worship in Mesoamerica", "New Taxonomical and Ethnomycological Observations on, "All You Need To Know About The Ancient Aztec Gods and Goddesses", "Readings in Classical Nahuatl: The Death of Quetzalcoatl", "Gift of the Gods: Chocolate in the Aztec Empire", "The Complete New York City Horror Movie Marathon! Throughout Mesoamerican culture, they practiced human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism to placate this god. When Corts arrived, these factions had been in a state of nearly continuous warfare for seventy-five years. In Xochicalco, depictions of the feathered serpent accompany the image of a seated, armed ruler and the hieroglyph for the day sign 9 Wind. But, remember, the promise of Quetzalcoatl was to bring heaven to the beings that were living in hell. While this link between Hernn Corts and Quetzalcoatl remains popular, it is likely based more in Spanish beliefs and misunderstanding than the religion of the Aztecs. The Teotihuacan iconographical depictions are often interpreted as a version where Quetzalcoatl played the role of a fertility-related serpent deity. They maintained a major pilgrimage and commercial center at Cholula, Puebla which the Spaniards compared to both Rome and Mecca because the cult of the god united its constituents through a field of common social, political, and religious values without dominating them militarily. The Aztecs eventually called Quetzalcoatl for help. Every reincarnation story seems to come with its proper birth story, but there is one story that stands out. By Quetzalcoatl was a god for many ancient . He headed east, eventually settling in Chichen Itza. Franciscans then equated the original Quetzalcoatl with Thomas and imagined that the Indians had long-awaited his return to take part once again in God's kingdom. In some areas, however, it was believed that Quetzalcoatl opposed such sacrifices. ", "Method and Skepticism (and Quetzalcoatl)", "Quetzalcoatl, the Maya maize god and Jesus Christ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quetzalcoatl&oldid=1141156375, Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints, Articles containing Classical Nahuatl-language text, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles having different image on Wikidata and Wikipedia, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from June 2021, All articles that may contain original research, Articles that may contain original research from June 2021, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012, Articles with incomplete citations from April 2020, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Articles with sources in Nahuatl languages (nah), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, White Tecatlipoca, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, Feathered Serpent, Precious Twin, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, Tlaloc, god of rain, lightning and thunder, the feathered serpent, god of vegetational renewal, This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 17:09. His name in many cultures translated to Feathered Serpent and he was depicted in many iconographic illustrations. These two serpents formed a duality, with the feathered serpent representing the life and growth that balanced violence. The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included animal sacrifices, and in other traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice. [10], The earliest known documentation of the worship of a Feathered Serpent occurs in Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD. I am the owner and chief researcher at this site. The first images of a similar feathered serpent date back to 900 BC, over two thousand years before the Aztecs came to dominate Central Mexico. Different versions of the birth of god are prevalent in Mesoamerican mythology. Mayans had deities with feathered serpent as their names. Ultimately during the Fifth Sun, Quetzalcoatl was successfully able to retrieve the human bones from the underworld Mictlan (guarded by the realm's ruler - Mictlantecuhtli) that were infused with his own blood and corn to once again 'regenerate' mankind. Among the Aztecs, the name Quetzalcoatl was also a priestly title, as the two most important priests of the Aztec Templo Mayor were called "Quetzalcoatl Tlamacazqui". He sometimes carries flowers or sacrificial tools. 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. Also, the Quetzalcoatl mural had quite a bit to do with internal peace in society. And when the wind rose, when the dust rumbled, and it crack and there was a great din, became it became dark and the wind blew in many directions, and it thundered; then it was said: [Quetzalcoatl] is wrathful., -Bernadino de Sahagn, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain. Chichen Itza is famous for its Temple of Kukulcn, which was their name for Quetzalcoatl. Christopher Minster, Ph.D., is a professor at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. As an Aztec deity, he was one of four sons of the creator god Ometeotl, associated with the wind god, and the patron god of arts and knowledge. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This didnt help a lot to overcome their cruel intentions, however. Quetzalcoatl wears around his neck the breastplate ehcaczcatl, "the spirally voluted wind jewel". Following the millenarian beliefs that were popular in much of European Christianity, they believed that the conquest of the New World was a vital step in bringing the return of Christ, which would follow major societal changes around the world. So Quetzalcoatl is named after the thing he looks like, a feathered serpent deity. The god in human form taught them to cultivate corn seeds, to work with jade, gold and obsidian, how to dye cotton, the art of astronomy, he enriched their writing, promoted the worship of the gods and forbade human sacrifices, teaching them self-sacrifice by pricking themselves with maguey thorns instead. He was worshiped among all the major cultures of the Mesoamerican region through history. Of course, the odd one out sparked the interest of Tlaloc. Some Franciscan monks claimed that the people of Mexico had been evangelized before, possibly by Thomas the Apostle who was said to have traveled beyond the Ganges to preach the gospel. In an example from Yaxchilan, the Vision Serpent has the human face of the young maize-god, further suggesting a connection to fertility and vegetational renewal; the Maya Young Maize god was also connected to Venus. Over time, Quetzalcoatl's appearance, clothing, malevolent nature, and status among the gods were reshaped to fit a more Christian framework. [22], To the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was, as his name indicates, a feathered serpent. They therefore claimed that Quetzalcoatl was the Aztec name for Thomas the Apostle and that the naive natives believed that he, like Christ, would one day return to finish converting them to Christianity. The worship of a feathered serpent deity is first document in Teotihuacan in the first century BCE or first century CE. Quetzalcoatl had aspects in which he functioned as other gods. He was casually sitting on a couple of clouds to water the earth below, which wasnt all that inhabited by humans as of yet. After a slapstick-style chase scene, Xavier winds up as the Sun God and commits "sacricide" (sacrificial suicide), ending the skit. [41] However, in 1892 one president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John Taylor, wrote:[42]. If this speech was actually given, its likely that ignorance of Aztec customs and Nahuatl speech patterns was to blame for giving the impression that Montezuma was willingly handing over power to a divine being. But also, his role and what he represented changed during every installment of his being.Divine messengers would talk with the god, asking for assistance in reaching the other side of the mountain: the location of the corn. [38] Some Franciscans at this time held millennarian beliefs[39] and some of them believed that Corts' coming to the New World ushered in the final era of evangelization before the coming of the millennium. Based on the birth story of Quetzalcoatl, it seems safe to assume that the fourth sun was destroyed because of the floods caused by Tlaloc. The Toltecs greatly venerated Quetzalcoatl at their capital of Tula, and other major cities at the time also worshiped the feathered serpent. Montezuma's failure to act has been attributed to his belief that Cortes was none other than Quetzalcoatl, who had once gone away to the east, promising to return. Minster, Christopher. However, later sources uncover that already a year before him a similar figure dwelled in the lands of the Aztec territory. He appears seated in Omnipotence City of the gods, where all major deities are located, during an announcement from leader of the gods, Zeus. After only a couple of years, the Aztec empire ended due to a combination of foreign diseases and diplomacy. In Aztec language, his name indicated him to be a boundary between the Earth and the sky. Over the East presides the Red Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec, the god of gold, farming and springtime. Human worship. ; (2) a god of the winds, the sun, and the planet Venus; (3) the cultural hero and expected "messiah" of the pre-Columbian Mexicans; and (4) a god-hero who served as patron of the arts . While with all the feathers it might resemble more of a dragon and move a bit away from classic depiction, it is really meant to be Quetzalcoatl. One of the jewels he is depicted with is the wind jewel, affirming his status as a wind god. Amazed by the grace and beauty of the birds, the snake decided his destiny was to fly like them. Don't fly too close to the sun or sit under her rays unprotected for too long. Xolotl Among the Aztecs, this was Quetzalcoatls twin. Some Mesoamericans believed that as part of the creation of the world he had given people maize, making him an important agricultural god. Different cultures associated him with priesthood and kingship, further complicating his mythology in later retellings. Because the feathered serpent was such a widespread and long-lasting archetype, he was known by many names throughout Mexico and Central America. He was so important that the worlds largest pyramid was just one of many places dedicated to his cult. This made crops grow and brought water for drinking. Quetzalcoatl is not a religious symbol in the Latter-day Saint faith, and is not taught as such, nor is it in their doctrine that Quetzalcoatl is Jesus. The relation of Quetzalcoatl with just the latest sun is a result of the mingling of his earliest myths and some new perceptions. Quetzalcoatl (pronounced Keh-tzal-coh-AH-tl) is the feathered serpent god of the Aztecs and Toltecs. In the codices, he was generally more human-like. He is also a god of learning, reading, and books. He was a creator deity having contributed essentially to the creation of mankind. https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-quetzalcoatl-2136322 (accessed March 2, 2023). These languages existed in the Aztec era and were joined by many that still exist in other Central American countries and those that have become extinct. 9 Facts About Quetzalcoatl. For example, the Aztecs revered him as the god of the priesthood, knowledge, and trade. [30], He is also attributed with having brought the cacao plant from a sacred mountain to the Toltec people, teaching the women how to make traditional drinking chocolate.[31]. 2. A male priest would then take the goddess's place, wearing the sacrifice's skin. During the epi-classic period, a dramatic spread of feathered serpent iconography is evidenced throughout Mesoamerica, and during this period images begin to figure prominently at sites such as Chichn Itz, El Tajn, and throughout the Maya area. Along with one of his brothers, he was instructed by his parents to create the world six hundred years after his birth. Over the West presides the White Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, the god of light, justice, mercy and wind. At one hand, Mayans considered a snake as the embodiment of the cosmos. Or rather, arrived again. [citation needed] Additionally, at least one major cache of offerings includes knives and idols adorned with the symbols of more than one god, some of which were adorned with wind jewels. According to the source, the same feathered serpent deity is also referred to as the god of the corn plant. Cholula had been captured by pro-Aztec forces. Mictlanteuctli and Mictlancihuatl, the two gods that ruled that realm, gave him a puzzle he was expected to complete before he could take the bones. In the post-classic Nahua civilization of central Mexico (Aztec), the worship of Quetzalcoatl was ubiquitous. According to another mythological account, he was conceived by the virgin Chimalman after she swallowed an emerald. Welcome. Hernan Cortes, who led the Spaniards, was first invited into the city by Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II. What did Quetzalcoatl teach? The worship of Quetzalcoatl is wide-reaching, has a rich history, and exemplifies the complex world of Aztec mythology. The east is represented by Xipe Totec who is the Red Tezcatlipoca and the god of gold and farming. How should one worship the sun? Quetzalcoatl was also linked with Aztec priesthood and one of the two high priests in the famous Templo Mayor of Tenochtitlan assumed the title of Quetzalcoatl. For more details, Wikipedia is a good resource. Ququmatz Also written as Gukumatz, this name belonged to the Kiche Maya. Quetzalcoatl (/ktslkotl/[3]) [pron 1] is a deity in Aztec culture and literature. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In Aztec culture, this was considered to be one of the most important primal forces. [22] A third story narrates that Chimalman was hit in the womb by an arrow shot by Mixcoatl and nine months later she gave birth to a child which was called Quetzalcoatl. Standing over ten feet tall, the statue towers over onlookers as she leans toward them. 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