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Quetzalcoatl /ˌkɛtsælkoʊˈɑːtəl/[2] (Spanish:
Quetzalcóatl pronounced
[ketsalˈkoatl] (
listen);
Classical Nahuatl:
Quetzalcōhuātl [ket͡saɬ'koːwaːt͡ɬ] (
modern Nahuatl pronunciation (
help·
info)), in honorific form:
Quetzalcōhuātzin) is a
deity in
Mesoamerican culture and
literature whose name comes from the
Nahuatl language and means "Precious serpent" or "Quetzal-feathered Serpent".
[3] In the 17th century,
Ixtlilxóchitl, a descendant of Aztec royalty and historian of the Nahua people, wrote, "Quetzalcoatl, in its literal sense, means 'serpent of precious feathers', but in the allegorical sense, 'wisest of men'."
[4]
The earliest known documentation of the
worship of a
Feathered Serpent occurs in
Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD.
[5] 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).
[6]
In the
Postclassic period (900–1519 AD), the worship of the feathered-serpent deity centred 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.
Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning, wears around his neck the "wind breastplate"
ehecailacocozcatl, "the spirally voluted wind jewel" made of a conch shell. 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,
[7] 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
ehecailacocozcatl 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.
[8]
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.
[9] 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.
[10]
Among the
Aztecs, whose beliefs are the best-documented in the historical sources, Quetzalcoatl was related to gods of the wind, of the planet
Venus, of the dawn, of merchants and of arts, crafts and knowledge. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge.
[11] Quetzalcoatl was one of several important gods in the Aztec
pantheon, along with the gods
Tlaloc,
Tezcatlipoca and
Huitzilopochtli. Two other gods represented by the planet Venus are Quetzalcoatl's ally
Tlaloc (the god of rain), and Quetzalcoatl's twin and
psychopomp,
Xolotl.
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.
[12] In his form as the morning star, Venus, he is also depicted as a
harpy eagle.
[13] In
Mazatec legends the astrologer deity
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, who is also represented by Venus, bears a close relationship with Quetzalcoatl.
[14]