Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl, or the plumed serpent, is the name of an ancient sprit force of the wind and rain incarnated into a human. One of the major gods in Aztec pantheon, he was worshipped by many different groups in Mesoamerican history.
The attributes of Quetzalcoatl varies widely; to the Aztecs, he was the creator of humankind, he used his own blood to give life to the bones in the underground; thus creating the fifth world that we live in today. As the legend goes, to the Toltecs, people lived in Tollan, (present day Tula), he was the artistic, wise and sophisticated founder of the city of Tollan. He was called as the god of knowledge. In Mayan mythology, Quetzalcoatl was known as Kukulcan. Kukulcan was also a city of skilled artistry, a center of trade and cradle of civilization. For over two centuries, both cities flourished, until their decline in AD 1200. The archaeological records of both cities reflect their cosmopolitan nature (Bernstein, Reid & Shell, 2012). In a myth, it was said that Quetzalcoatl was the son of a maiden, Chimalman. According to this myth, his life resembles much of the life of Jesus; they both enlightened the people; they both symbolized the passage between the earth and the sky; they both resurrected many times. As another myth says that he was the son of Ometecuhtli and Omecihuatl. Quetzalcoatl was the god of the morning star, the white; as his twin brother Xolotl was the evening star, the dark and the deep. Even though they created the mankind together, they were always poles apart like Cain and Abel.
According to a multivalent story, Quetzalcoatl was killed by one of the main gods, Tezcatlipoca. As the myth goes: '' Tezcatlipoca and the owl sorcerers offer Quetzalcoatl a fermented drink which he first refuses…Finally he says that he will drink three drinks but they insist that he drink four and then they give him a fifth, saying that it is the 'ritual libation' and Quetzalcoatl becomes intoxicated…Tezcatlipoca appears with his smoking mirror to show Quetzalcoatl the image of his debauched face…'' (Ritchlin, n.d.). After seeing the horrible reflection, Queztalcoatl decided to leave the earth saying the sun is calling for him. So, he returned where the mankind will eventually end up. While he was leaving though, he said he would return from the east.

Some historians claim that when Hernando Cortés came to Mexico, Aztecs believed their god had returned. The Florentine Codex, the manuscript Medici possessed, records a speech of Monezuma to Cortes:
You have graciously come on earth, you have graciously approached your water, your high place of Mexico, you have come down to your mat, your throne, which I have briefly kept for you, I who used to keep it for you. (Owen, 2011)
But some ethno-hisorians object that view by giving some concrete examples from the Aztec culture: When Monezuma offered his throne he may have meant the very opposite since in the Aztec culture of warrior, that would mean a way of showing dominance, a challenge. And yet History is full of coincidences; we may never know.

References
Bernstein R., Reid J.,& Shell J. (2012). Ancient Mexico: The Legacy of the Plumed Serpent. Retrieved from http://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/AncientMexicoEssay.pdf
Owen, M. (2011). The Maya Book of Life: Understanding the Xultun Tarot. New Zealand: Kahurangi Press.
Ritchlin S. (n.d.). The Heart of Quetzalcoatl Becomes One with the Heart of Heaven: The 2004-2012 transits of Venus across the Sun. Retrieved from http://www.sheriritchlin.com/files/Download/Fields%20of%20Light-orig%20version.pdf

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