Aztec mythology
Quetzalcoatl meaning 'Feathered Snake.' One of the major deities of the
Aztec, Toltecs, and other Middle American peoples. He is the creator
sky-god and wise legislator. He organized the original cosmos and
participated in the creation and destruction of various world periods.
Quetzalcoatl ruled the fifth world cycle and created the humans of that
cycle. The story goes that he descended to Mictlan, the underworld, and
gathered the bones of the human beings of the previous epochs. Upon his
return, he sprinkled his own blood upon these bones and fashioned thus
the humans of the new era. He is also a god of the wind ({he wind-god
Ehecatl is one of his forms}, as well as a water-god and fertility-god.
He is regarded as a son of the virgin goddess
Coatlicue and as the twin
brother of Xolotl. As the bringer of culture he introduced agriculture
{maize} and the calendar and is the patron of the arts and the crafts.
In one myth the god allowed himself to be seduced
by Tezcatlipoca, but
threw himself on a funeral pyre out of remorse. After his death his
heart became the morning-star, and is as such identified with the god
Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. In dualistic Toltec religion, the opposing deity,
Tezcatlipoca {'Smoking Mirror'}, a god of the night, had reputedly
driven Quetzalcoatl into exile. According to yet another tradition he
left on a raft of snakes over the sea. In any case, Quetzalcoatl,
described as light-skinned and bearded, would return in a certain year.
Thus, when the Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés appeared in
1519, the
Aztec king, Montezuma II, was easily convinced that Cortés was in
fact
the returning god.
The Aztec later made him a symbol of death
and resurrection and a patron
of priests. The higher priests were called Quetzalcoatl too. The god has
a great affinity with the priest-king Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl,
who ruled the Toltecs in Tula in the 10th century. The cult of
Quetzalcoatl was widespread in Teotihuacan { 50 km northeast of Mexico
City}, Tula {or Tullán, capitol of the Toltecs in middle Mexico},
Xochilco, Cholula, Tenochtitlan {the current Mexico City}, and Chichen
Itza.