While it was being constructed Tezcatlipoca (who in other myths is a creatortrickster god but here is a Demonic force, or sorcerer) came to Quetzalcoatl one day and told him that toward Honduras, in a place called Tlapallan, a house was ready for him. As soon as Quetzalcoatl saw his face in the mirror, he said: How is it possible my subjects can look on me without affright? Then Tezcatlipoca took the strong pulque he had brewed and gave some to Quetzalcoatl, who became drunk. He never offered human victims, only snakes, birds, and butterflies. Later, Xavier and the Aztecs summon Quetzalcoatl in his mortal form and wind up angering him after cutting him open. Over time, Quetzalcoatl's appearance, clothing, malevolent nature, and status among the gods were reshaped to fit a more Christian framework. When Spanish conquistador Hernn Corts arrived in the 16th century, the Aztecs believed that their hero had returned to them as he had promised, a belief that helped seal their doom. Those bones he anointed with his own blood, giving birth to the men who inhabit the present universe. The trecena was marked by the Aztec nobility who made offerings in Calmecacs, learning institutions for noble children. Well might they flee from me. Images of serpents have been represented in Mesoamerican art since Olmec times, and we know that they are related to fertility and the earth. What does he call my own flesh? Why did Quetzalcoatl have so many guises? First they made fire, then half a sun, the heavens, the waters, and a great fish called Cipactli; from Cipactlis flesh they made the solid earth. Tezcatlicopa transformed himself into a tiger and emerged from the waves, attacking and devouring the giants; then, passing to the nocturnal heavens, he became the constellation of the Great Bear. Another Quetzalcoatl is a culture hero, a high priest of the city of Tula. In some incredible escapades, they created the earth, sea and night sky and were regents of the first two suns, or world eras of the existing five. Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli was considered patron of this calendar (Ylotl Gonzlez-Torres,1991). Codex Borgia, fol.19(Click on image to enlarge), Pic 10: Aztec stone sculpture of Xolotl, National Anthropology Museum, Mexico City (Wikipedia)(Click on image to enlarge), Pic 11: Quetzalcoatl-Ehcatl (upper-right). ELEMENT Water Bird: Quetzal (Pharomachus mocinno) Creatures: Snakes, especially rattlesnakes; also now Quetzalcoatlus, the pterosaur named in his honor PLANET: Venus, the Morning Star SACRED SITES: His temple at Teotihuacn dates to the third century CE. As his body burned his heart rose to heaven, and after four days he became the planet Venus, the Morning Star. Tezcatlicopa transformed himself into a tiger and emerged from the waves, attacking and devouring the giants; then, passing to the nocturnal heavens, he became the constellation of the Great Bear. The conflict between the two cultures is told in W. H. Prescotts The History of the Conquest of Mexico and in the novels The Fair God by Lew Wallace and Captain from Castile by Samuel Shellabarger, which was made into a film. He gave people maize corn, their staff of life: it had previously been hidden away. Tezcatlipoca (the black and red are combined) was the wisest. [24] A fourth story narrates that Quetzalcoatl was born from Coatlicue, who already had four hundred children who formed the stars of the Milky Way. After the Fourth Age was destroyed by floods, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca helped Cihuacoatl create a brand-new Earth. At that time Quetzalcatl seems to have been conceived as a vegetation godan earth and water deity closely associated with the rain god Tlaloc. The painting may be purchased as wall art, home decor, apparel, phone cases, greeting cards, and more. A Patron of ManyThe Aztecs inherited the Toltec belief that Quetzalcoatl had a plethora of skills. Quetzalcoatl said that the heavens and the stars had already warned him that after four years he must leave, and he would therefore obey. 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. The belief that he would return from the east in a One Reed year led the Aztec sovereign Montezuma II to regard the Spanish conqueror Hernn Corts and his comrades as divine envoys, because 1519, the year in which they landed on the Mexican Gulf coast, was a One Reed year. wildwoods grill food truck menu He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god. Quetzalcoatl then swept the earth with a violent tornado that destroyed all of the inhabitants except for a few who were changed into monkeys. Then, when Tezcatlipoca placed Tlaloc, the rain god, as the sun in the heavens, Quetzalcoatl poured a flood of fire upon the earth, drove Tlaloc from the sky, and placed in his stead, as sun, the goddess Chalchiutlicue, the Emerald Skirted, wife of Tlaloc. When she ruled as sun, the earth was flooded, and all humans were drowned again except for those who were changed into fishes. Quetzalcoatl was often represented as the life-giving wind, with a beak or mask protruding from his face. As the morning and evening star, Quetzalcatl was the symbol of death and resurrection. She is a former dragon goddess and an old friend of Tohru who was exiled from her seat of goddess after consuming some cursed liquor that led her . But the history of the former has been handed down to us through an impure Lamanitish source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior's life and ministry. yourself as you are seen by others. And with that he handed him the mirror. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete. According to another version, he embarked upon a raft made of snakes and disappeared beyond the eastern horizon. Quetzalcoatl looked at himself in the mirror and was pleased with the artifice. In Aztec times (14th through 16th centuries) Quetzalcatl was revered as the patron of priests, the inventor of the calendar and of books, and the protector of goldsmiths and other craftsmen; he was also identified with the planet Venus. [14] Feathered-serpent iconography is prominent at all of these sites. quetzalcoatl offerings. Bird, Snake, Dog, Wind, Priest, Roadsweeper even Planet! Go and ask him. But Tezcatlipoca said he would speak only with Quetzalcoatl. He was a patron of many crafts such as writing, and metal and stone work and represented workers of these crafts. As their power waned, some Toltecs moved to the Yucatan where they exerted strong influence on Mayan culture. In Nhuatl, 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Powers: As we know from stories of old, Quetzalcoatls physical powers and intelligence knew no bounds. To save children born during the worst phase of 1 Reed, the Aztecs held childrens naming ceremonies on or after the 7th day of the week (7 Rain) as the following days were more auspicious. When the right moment came, Tezcatlipoca appeared in his tiger form and gave Quetzalcoatl such a blow with his paw that it hurled him from the skies. Those bones he anointed with his own blood, giving birth to the men who inhabit the present universe. Place of devotion: Offerings were regularly presented to Quetzalcoatl in Tenochtitlan, but he was also celebrated in other cities like Cholula and Chichn Itz. One sip led to another; Tezcatlipoca got Quetzalcoatl very drunk. As his body burned his heart rose to heaven, and after four days he became the planet Venus, the Morning Star. His names outside the Aztec cultural area include Kukulcn, Gucumatz and Votan. This is because he dropped, but then saved, the bones of humankind as he tripped over a quail while escaping from the Mictlan (Graulich, 1996). Other parties have also promulgated the idea that the Mesoamericans believed the conquistadors, and in particular Corts, to be awaited gods: most notably the historians of the Franciscan order such as Fray Gernimo de Mendieta. A stunning reconstruction of an Aztec headdress, The sunflower - one of Mexicos gifts to the world, The ancient Voladores ceremony is still performed today, In Aztec poetry warriors die - to return again and again, Read a lovely story about Aztec companion spirits, Molluscs were both useful and symbolic in the Mexica empire, An Aztec stone jaguar head lurks in Mexico City, Theres only one Aztec drawing of the (fig) paper tree. They are widely perceived to have spread an active cult of Quetzalcoatl as far south as El Salvador.Parallel to this historic account of Toltec civilization, the Aztecs recorded the myth that the Toltecs were led by a charismatic priest, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl (1 Reed Our Lord Quetzalcoatl) (pic 3). Tezcatlipoca produced what he called medicinethe elixir of life, an alchemical longevity, vitality potion. ( Public Domain ) Lakes of mercury, jewel-eyed figures, solid-jade masks, and necklaces beaded with human teeth. Each age of the world was given a new sun, and the world was on its Fifth Sun, having been destroyed four times previously. He left with all of the inhabitants of Tula. Represented as the plumed serpent, Quetzalcoatl was also seen as manifest in the wind, one of the most powerful forces of nature; a text in the Nahuatl language captures this relationship: Quetzalcoatl; yn ehecatl ynteiacancauh yntlachpancauh in tlaloque, yn aoaque, yn qujqujiauhti. Tezcatlipoca (the black and red are combined) was the wisest. [32][33][34][35][36] Most documents expounding this theory are of entirely Spanish origin, such as Corts's letters to Charles V of Spain, in which Corts goes to great pains to present the naive gullibility of the Aztecs in general as a great aid in the conquest of the Aztec Empire. [38] Some Franciscans at this time held millennarian beliefs[39] and some of them believed that Corts' coming to the New World ushered in the final era of evangelization before the coming of the millennium. [43] In a 1986 paper for Sunstone, he noted that during the Spanish Conquest, the Native Americans and the Catholic priests who sympathized with them felt pressure to link Native American beliefs with Christianity, thus making the Native Americans seem more human and less savage. Updates? Physical offerings include copal incense, feathers, Mexican chocolate, and shells. Corrections? Whether the historical figure of Ce Acatl Topiltzin did this, or whether it was the deity Feathered Serpent, we know that Quetzalcoatl was worshipped throughout Mesoamerica up until the conquest in 1521, and that the Aztecs appeared to combine Quetzalcoatl the priest with the deity.Find out how Tezcatlipoca got the better of Topiltzin by following the link below. 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 of internal political structures - contrasting with the War Serpent symbolizing the outwards military expansion of the Teotihuacan empire. In his purely mythical form the god Quetzalcoatl was one of four brothers born in the 13th heaven. The first keeper of written records, he was patron of the Calmecac, a school for noble children who learned to paint histories and astrology, as well as practice the art of war. They maintained a major pilgrimage and commercial center at Cholula, Puebla which the Spaniards compared to both Rome and Mecca because the cult of the god united its constituents through a field of common social, political, and religious values without dominating them militarily. Quetzalcoatl taught people science, architecture, and art and established government and spiritual rituals. Quetzalcoatl is the Aztec incarnation of the Feathered Serpent deity, known from several Aztec codices such as the Florentine codex, as well as from the records of the Spanish conquistadors. An architectural sculpture from Teotihuacan of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed-Serpent god of Mesoamerican religion and mythology. For many years he ruled the city and at last began to build a very great temple. The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of teotl was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. Another Quetzalcoatl is a culture hero, a high priest of the city of Tula. Tezcatlipoca, force of chaos, arrived to shake things up. His temple at Teotihuacn dates to the third century CE. In Xochicalco, depictions of the feathered serpent accompany the image of a seated, armed ruler and the hieroglyph for the day sign 9 Wind. The subsequent Toltec culture (9th through 12th centuries), centred at the city of Tula, emphasized war and human sacrifice linked with the worship of heavenly bodies. Sahagn (Book III, chapter III) also made special mention of their devotion to him. It is not clear whether Quetzalcoatl slept with his sister in the myth, but the next morning he said, I have sinned, the stain on my name can never be erased. He called his attendants and asked that his sister Quetzalpetlatl come to him. The work was left to Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli. As the morning and evening star, Quetzalcatl was the symbol of death and resurrection. The work was left to Quetzalcoatl and Huitzilopochtli. In their mythology, the world was periodically destroyed and rebuilt by the gods. In his form as Ehecatl he is the wind, and is represented by spider monkeys, ducks, and the wind itself. Like the other three (Tezcatlipoca, Camaxtle and Huitzilopochtli) he was a tutelary god, responsible for more dramatic acts of creation than most of the characters in the Aztec pantheon! [15] Furthermore, early Spanish sources written by clerics tend to identify the god-ruler Quetzalcoatl of these narratives with either Hernn Corts or Thomas the Apostleidentifications which have also become sources of a diversity of opinions about the nature of Quetzalcoatl.[16]. He said: We will give him a drink to dull his reason, and we will show him his own face in a mirror, and surely he will be lost. Then Tezcatlipoca brewed an intoxicating drink, the pulque, and taking a mirror he wrapped it in a rabbit skin and went to Quetzalcoatls house. Did Motecuhzoma really think Corts was a god?The final twist in Quetzalcoatls story came with the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, who claimed that Corts was welcomed as the long-departed Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl who, in another story, did not kill himself but left on a long voyage over the ocean, promising one day to return. The hero (not the god) Quetzalcoatl either came as a stranger to the Aztecs from an unknown land or was born in Tula, where he reigned as priest-king. After some time Quetzalcoatl took a stick and with a blow of it knocked Tezcatlipoca from the sky into the waters. He then made himself the sun. Quetzelcoatl also appeared on (Season 3) of the Animal Planet mockumentary Lost Tapes in an episode entitled "Q the Serpent God". The forehead he colored yellow, and, taking the feathers of the quetzal bird, he made a beard. Your email address will not be published. Another Quetzalcoatl was a culture hero. With his companion Xolotl, a dog-headed god, he was said to have descended to the underground hell of Mictlan to gather the bones of the ancient dead. Unlike many other deities, Quetzalcoatl was consistently benevolent and caring toward people. All products are produced on-demand and shipped worldwide within 2 - 3 business days. Quetzalcoatl slithers along the border. The Quetzalcoatl of that myth is a god. Guises: Ehcatl (Wind) / Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (Venus), Xolotl (the dog twin or double of Quetzalcoatl), and the mythical human priest, Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl.Emblem: A half-conch, symbol of creation.Active: The Feathered Serpent was represented as a deity in Mesoamerica from the Pre-classic period until the conquest in 1521.Favourite Colour: Blue and Black (Ehcatl) or Red and White pinstripe (Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli). He appears seated in Omnipotence City of the gods, where all major deities are located, during an announcement from leader of the gods, Zeus.

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