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Quetzalcoatl (/ ˌ k ɛ t s əl k oʊ ˈ æ t əl /) [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]
The Aztec feathered serpent deity known as Quetzalcoatl is known from several Aztec codices, such as the Florentine codex, as well as from the records of the Spanish conquistadors. Quetzalcoatl was known as the deity of wind and rain, bringer of knowledge, the inventor of books, and associated with the planet Venus.
They were so revered, that one of the main Mesoamerican deities, Quetzalcoatl, was represented as a feathered serpent. The name means "Precious/feathered serpent" (from Nahuatl, "quetzalli" is used to describe the bird, its feathers, or something precious depending on the context and "coatl" meaning snake or serpent.).
To the Mexicans, the snake represented wisdom, and it had strong connotations with the god Quetzalcoatl. The story of the snake was derived from an incorrect translation of the Crónica Mexicáyotl by Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc. [2] In the story, the Nahuatl text ihuan cohuatl izomocayan "the snake hisses" was mistranslated as "the snake is ...
Together, Huitzilopochtli and Quetzalcoatl created fire, the first male and female humans, the Earth, and the Sun. [9] Another origin story tells of a fierce goddess, Coatlicue , being impregnated as she was sweeping by a ball of feathers on Mount Coatepec ("Serpent Hill"; near Tula , Hidalgo ).
Austin (et al.) goes into detail explaining the mythical significance of the Quetzalcoatl’s headdress for which the following interpretation is based: the Quetzalcoatl was regarded as the “extractor-bearer” of the forces of time and is being depicted as “transporting time-destiny in the abstract to the surface of the earth”. [12]
[14] [15] His association with Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent deity, imbues the headdress with a layer of religious and cultural symbolism. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] The headdress, crafted with the feathers of sacred birds is a powerful emblem of this connection.
Quetzalcoatl throws himself into a bonfire after adorning his regalia. Once he started burning, his ashes were lifted and various beautiful birds were sacrificed until Quetzalcoatl's spirit leaves his heart as a star and becomes a part of the sky. [4] The Annals of Cuauhtitlan gives his year of death as 1 Reed, one 52-year calendar cycle from ...