The legend of Quetzalcoatl is spoofed in the Adult Swim CGI series Xavier: Renegade Angel. This confederacy engaged in almost seventy-five years of nearly continuous conflict with the Aztec Empire of the Triple Alliance until the arrival of Cortés. Quetzalcoatl was also the patr… He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god. It is also suggested that he was a son of Xochiquetzal and Mixcoatl. On the basis of the different symbolic systems used in portrayals of the feathered serpent deity in different cultures and periods, scholars have interpreted the religious and symbo… This is also evident in the duality of serpent figures throughout Mesopotamian history. The two gods are believed to be born of Coatlicue (which means ‘skirt of snakes’), a primordial earth goddess. The cult of Quetzalcoatl was widespread across the Mesoamerican world, including temple centers in such cities as Teotihuacan, Tula (or Tullán, capitol of the Toltecs in middle Mexico), Xochilco, Mexico-Tenochtitlan (the central part of current Mexico City), and Chichen Itza. [20], To the Aztecs, Quetzalcoatl was, as his name indicates, a feathered serpent, a flying reptile (much like a dragon), who was a boundary-maker (and transgressor) between earth and sky. 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). According to the Book of Mormon, the resurrected Jesus Christ descended from heaven and visited the people of the American continent, shortly after his resurrection. Xolotl is thus a master transformer. Quetzalcoatl's name can also be translated as "precious twin," and in some myths, he had a twin brother named Xolotl, who had a human body and the head of a dog or of an ocelot, a spotted wildcat. Some legends describe him as opposed to human sacrifice[24] while others describe him practicing it.[25][26]. Historian Matthew Restall concludes that: The legend of the returning lords, originated during the Spanish-Mexica war in Cortés' reworking of Moctezuma's welcome speech, had by the 1550s merged with the Cortés-as-Quetzalcoatl legend that the Franciscans had started spreading in the 1530s. However, a majority of Mesoamericanist scholars, such as Matthew Restall (2003, 2018[33]), James Lockhart (1994), Susan D. Gillespie (1989), Camilla Townsend (2003a, 2003b), Louise Burkhart, Michel Graulich and Michael E. Smith (2003), among others, consider the "Quetzalcoatl/Cortés myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which have risen in the early post-conquest period. His birth, along with his twin Xolotl, was unusual; it was a virgin birth, to the goddess Coatlicue. As he fled from the underworld, Quetzalcoatl dropped the bones, and they broke into pieces. In the end, Ehecatl succeeded in finding and killing Xolotl. Xolotl, the god with the serious face of a great hound, said, “I am Xolotl, the Evening Star. He gathered up the pieces and took them to the earth goddess Cihuacoatl (Snake … In a version of the myth, Quetzalcoatl was born by a virgin named Chimalman, to whom the god Onteol appeared in a dream. 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. During the epi-classic period, a dramatic spread of feathered serpent iconography is evidenced throughout Mesoamerica, and during this period begins to figure prominently at sites such as Chichén Itzá, El Tajín, and throughout the Maya area. Later on, Xavier and the Aztecs summon Quetzalcoatl in his mortal form and wind up angering him after cutting him open. 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. I know the way to the Land of the Dead and will guide us there.” Quetzalcoatl, His wise old face wreathed with a beard of brilliant feathers, said, “I am Quetzalcoatl… It is typified by bouncing balls, pulsating hearts, labor contractions, earthquakes, flapping butterfly wings, the undulating motion of weft activities in weaving, and the oscillating path of the Fifth Sun over and under the surface of the earth. [7] He was the dark twin of Quetzalcoatl, responsible for guiding the Sun through Mictlán, the Underworld. [28] Xolotl is probably identical with Nanahuatl (Nanahuatzin). His ashes rose into the sky and then his heart followed, becoming the morning star (see Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli).[27]. [8], In manuscripts the setting sun, devoured by the earth, is opposite Xolotl's image. Quetzalcoatl’s twin, Xolotl, was a god associated with death. In the 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. It has been suggested that these stories recall the spread of the feathered serpent cult in the epi-classic and early post-classic periods.[6]. "Atl" for water and "Xolotl" for dog. The exact significance and attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied somewhat between civilizations and through history. Two other gods represented by the planet Venus are Quetzalcoatl's ally Tlaloc (the god of rain), and Quetzalcoatl's twin and psychopomp, Xolotl. The feathered serpent was furthermore connected to the planet Venus because of this planet's importance as a sign of the beginning of the rainy season. info)), in honorific form: Quetzalcōātzin) is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means "Precious serpent" or "Quetzal-feathered Serpent". The name "Axolotl" comes from Nahuatl, the Aztec language. Seler thinks "that the root of the name ollin suggested to Mexicans the motion of the rubber ball olli and, as a consequence, ball-playing. The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl as depicted in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (16th century). [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]. To both Teotihuacan and Maya cultures, Venus was in turn also symbolically connected with warfare.[19]. [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'. ", "Method and Skepticism (and Quetzalcoatl...)", "Quetzalcoatl, the Maya maize god and Jesus Christ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quetzalcoatl&oldid=1001694940, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, Articles having same image on Wikidata and Wikipedia, Articles containing Classical Nahuatl-language text, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2013, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012, Articles with incomplete citations from April 2020, Articles with Spanish-language sources (es), Articles with Nahuatl languages-collective sources (nah), Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 20 January 2021, at 21:46. Quetzalcoatl and His spirit twin, Xolotl, the god with the serious face of a great hound, said, “I am Xolotl, the Evening Star. The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, the deity began acquiring human features. For example, in the Codex Mendoza we see him playing with the moon-god, and can recognize him by the sign ollin which accompanies him, and by the gouged-out eye in which that symbol ends. In Aztec mythology, Xolotl (Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈʃolot͡ɬ] (listen)) was a god of fire and lightning. 5D's, Fate/Grand Order - Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia, Beyblade: Metal Fusion and Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (the latter depicting Quetzalcoatl as a female dragon deity); the Megami Tensei video game franchise; the video games Fate/Grand Order, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy XV, Sanitarium, Smite (as an alternate costume for his Mayan counterpart, Kukulkan), and Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine; as the main antagonist in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth"; and in the last of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel books. [8], A close relationship between Xolotl and Nanahuatzin exists. The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being. On the basis of the iconography of the feathered serpent deity at sites such as Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Chichén Itzá, Tula and Tenochtitlan combined with certain ethnohistorical sources, historian David Carrasco has argued that the preeminent function of the feathered serpent deity throughout Mesoamerican history was the patron deity of the Urban center, a god of culture and civilization. Xolotl is to be considered equivalent to the beast darting from heaven of the Maya manuscript. 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. Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of wind, air, and learning, wears around his neck the "wind breastplate" ehēcacōzcatl, "the spirally voluted wind jewel" made of a conch shell. There is no question that the legend of Quetzalcoatl played a significant role in the colonial period. "[15], Quetzalcoatl was also linked to rulership and priestly office; additionally, among the Toltec, it was used as a military title and emblem.[16]. Aztec god Quetzalcoatl was represented with a serpent's head, a symbol for material goods, and a feathered body, a metaphor for spirituality. A feathered serpent deity has been worshiped by many different ethno-political groups in Mesoamerican history. "[4], The earliest known documentation of the worship of a Feathered Serpent occurs in Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD. And over the North presides the Black Tezcatlipoca, known by no other name than Tezcatlipoca, the god of judgment, night, deceit, sorcery and the Earth. Quetzelcoatl also appeared on (Season 3) of the Animal Planet mockumentary Lost Tapes in an episode entitled "Q the Serpent God". Symbols, Iconography, and Art of Xolotl Aztec art usually portrays the Aztec god Xolotl with ragged ears and other deformities like reversed feet. In Aztec culture, depictions of Quetzalcoatl were fully anthropomorphic. [14], Xolotl is sometimes depicted carrying a torch in the surviving Maya codices, which reference the Maya tradition that the dog brought fire to mankind. Quetzalcoatl and his twin, Xolotl, journeyed to Mictlan to find the bones, arousing the fury of the Death Lord. He was a creator deity having contributed essentially to the creation of mankind. Xolotl is the dog-like deity, often depicted with ragged ears. [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]. The Aztec believed Xolotl traveled with his b rother, Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan, the underworld, to retrieve the bones of an extinct race of beings that inhabited the previous world. Ollin-shaped decomposition and integration (i.e., death) promote ollin-shaped composition and integration (i.e., rebirth and renewal). In Náhuatl, the word Xolotl was often associated with the concept of twins and physical deformity, so statues of the deity often portray a dog with twin heads, or ragged ears and running sores. Much of the idea of Cortés being seen as a deity can be traced back to the Florentine Codex written down some 50 years after the conquest. However, this legend likely has a foundation in events that took place immediately prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. Eduard Selerassociates Xolotl's portrayal as a dog with the belief that dogs accompany the souls of the dead to Mictlan. 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'." (Many academics conclude this passage implies incest.) [36] However, in 1892 one president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John Taylor, wrote:[37]. In the tonalpohualli, Xolotl rules over day Ollin (movement) and over trecena 1-Cozcacuauhtli (vulture). Cholula is known to have remained the most important center of worship to Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec/Nahua version of the feathered serpent deity, in the post-classic period. Xolotl is a dog-headed god of lightning, fire, and twins in Aztec mythology. Xolotl withdrew from this sacrifice and wept so much his eyes fell out of their sockets. [6] Feathered serpent iconography is prominent at all of these sites. [5] His job was to protect the sun from the dangers of the underworld. Also, the feet on his skeletal body run backwards so he finds it difficult to know if he is coming or going. From these bones, they restored mankind. One translation of the name connects the Axolotl to Xolotl. 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 internal political structures contrasting with the War Serpent symbolizing the outwards military expansion of the Teotihuacan empire. The date 9 Wind is known to be associated with fertility, Venus and war among the Maya and frequently occurs in relation to Quetzalcoatl in other Mesoamerican cultures. [13] In Mazatec legends the astrologer deity Tlahuizcalpanteuctli, who is also represented by Venus, bears a close relationship with Quetzalcoatl.[14]. [18] Historian Enrique Florescano also analyzing Teotihuacan iconography argues that the Feathered Serpent was part of a triad of agricultural deities: the Goddess of the Cave symbolizing motherhood, reproduction and life, Tlaloc, god of rain, lightning and thunder and the feathered serpent, god of vegetational renewal. Quetzalcoatl /ˌkɛtsælkoʊˈɑːtəl/ is a deity in Aztec culture and literature whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means "Precious serpent" or "Quetzal-feathered Serpent". Quetzalcóatl, Mayan name Kukulcán, (from Nahuatl quetzalli, “tail feather of the quetzal bird [ Pharomachrus mocinno ],” and coatl, “snake”), the Feathered Serpent, one of the major deities of the ancient Mexican pantheon. Upon hearing of Tezcatlipoca's desire to destroy and remake humanity, Quetzalcoatl proposes a bet to see if a human would close the gates of the underworld, choosing Izel as his champion. 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. 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