Global InformationQuetzalcoatl information
| Quetzalcoatl | |
|---|---|
God of life, light and wisdom, lord of the day and the winds. Ruler of the West[1] | |
| Member of the Tezcatlipocas | |
 Quetzalcoatl's two forms: the Feathered Serpent at the left and Ehecatl, the god of wind, at the right, depicted in Codex Laud | |
| Other names | White Tecatlipoca, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, Feathered Serpent, Precious Twin, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli[2] |
| Major cult center | Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan, Tenochtitlan |
| Abode |
|
| Planet | Venus (Morning-star) |
| Symbol | Feathered Serpent[1] |
| Gender | Male |
| Region | Mesoamerica |
| Ethnic group | Aztec, Tlaxcaltec, Toltec Nahua |
| Festivals | Teotleco |
| Personal information | |
| Parents |
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| Siblings |
|
| Children | None |
| Equivalents | |
| Maya equivalent | Kukulkan (God H) |
| Mixtec equivalent | Ñuhu-Tachi |
| Inca equivalent | Viracocha |
Quetzalcoatl (/ˌkɛtsəlkoʊˈætəl/[3]) [pron 1] (Nahuatl: "Feathered Serpent") is a deity in Aztec culture and literature. Among the Aztecs, he was related to wind, Venus, Sun, merchants, arts, crafts, knowledge, and learning. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood.[5] He was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon, along with the gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli. The two other gods represented by the planet Venus are Tlaloc (ally and the god of rain) and Xolotl (psychopomp and its twin).
Quetzalcoatl wears around his neck the breastplate ehēcacōzcatl, "the spirally voluted wind jewel". This talisman was a conch shell cut at the cross-section and was likely worn as a necklace by religious rulers, as such objects have been discovered in burials in archaeological sites throughout Mesoamerica,[6] and potentially symbolized patterns witnessed in hurricanes, dust devils, seashells, and whirlpools, which were elemental forces that had significance in Aztec mythology.[need quotation to verify] Codex drawings pictured both Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl wearing an ehēcacōzcatl around the neck.[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.[7] Animals thought to represent Quetzalcoatl include resplendent quetzals, rattlesnakes (coatl meaning "serpent" in Nahuatl), crows, and macaws. In his form as Ehecatl he is the wind, and is represented by spider monkeys, ducks, and the wind itself.[8] In his form as the morning star, Venus, he is also depicted as a harpy eagle.[9] In Mazatec legends, the astrologer deity Tlahuizcalpanteuctli, who is also represented by Venus, bears a close relationship with Quetzalcoatl.[10]
The earliest known documentation of the worship of a Feathered Serpent occurs in Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD.[11] That period lies within the Late Preclassic to Early Classic period (400 BC – 600 AD) of Mesoamerican chronology; veneration of the figure appears to have spread throughout Mesoamerica by the Late Classic period (600–900 AD).[12] In the Postclassic period (900–1519 AD), the worship of the feathered-serpent deity centered in the primary Mexican religious center of Cholula. In this period the deity is known to have been named Quetzalcōhuātl by his Nahua followers. In the Maya area he was approximately equivalent to Kukulkan and Gukumatz, names that also roughly translate as "feathered serpent" in different Mayan languages. In the era following the 16th-century Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, a number of records conflated Quetzalcoatl with Ce Acatl Topiltzin, a ruler of the mythico-historic city of Tollan. Historians debate to what degree, or whether at all, these narratives about this legendary Toltec ruler describe historical events.[13] Furthermore, early Spanish sources written by clerics tend to identify the god-ruler Quetzalcoatl of these narratives with either Hernán Cortés or Thomas the Apostle—identifications which have also become sources of a diversity of opinions about the nature of Quetzalcoatl.[14]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cecilio A. Robelo (1905). Diccionario de Mitología Nahoa (in Spanish). Editorial Porrúa. pp. 345–436. ISBN 970-07-3149-9.
- ^ Jacques Soustelle (1997). Daily Life of the Aztecs. p. 1506.
- ^ "Quetzalcoatl". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021.
- ^ "Quetzalcoatl". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary.
- ^ Smith 2003 p. 213
- ^ De Borhegyi, Stephan F. (1966). "The Wind God's Breastplate". Expedition. Vol. 8, no. 4.
This breastplate, the insignia of the wind god, called in Nahuatl the ehēcacōzcatl, (the 'spirally voluted wind jewel') was made by cutting across the upper portion of a marine conch shell, and drilling holes for suspension by a cord. Such conch shell breastplates were either hung on the sculpture of the god himself or were worn by the high priests, the earthly representatives of this god. According to such sixteenth century Spanish authorities as Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, [...] the title of Quetzalcoatl was reserved for the high priests or pontiffs among the Aztecs and other inhabitants of Mexico. Only they were entitled to wear the emblem of ehēcacōzcatl, the insignia of this god. Such marine shell breastplates are therefore extremely rare. Of the few that survived the Spanish Conquest, most were destroyed by overly zealous friars; only a handful have been turned up by archaeologists.
- ^ "Personified knives". mexicolore.co.uk.
- ^ "Study the... WIND GOD". mexicolore.co.uk.
- ^ de Borhegyi, Carl (30 October 2012). "Evidence of Mushroom Worship in Mesoamerica". The Yucatan Times. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- ^ "The god with the longest name?". mexicolore.co.uk.
- ^ "Teotihuacan: Introduction". Project Temple of Quetzalcoatl, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico/ ASU. 20 August 2001. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2009.
- ^ Ringle et al. 1998
- ^ Nicholson 2001, Carrasco 1982, Gillespie 1989, Florescano 2002
- ^ Lafaye 1987, Townsend 2003, Martínez 1980, Phelan 1970
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