Montezuma king of the aztecs during the era had even confirmed that Cortes was Quetzalcoatl or a reincarnation of their deity. Or rather, arrived again. Historians debate to what degree, or whether at all, these narratives about this legendary Toltec ruler describe historical events. According to Aztec mythology, Earth had been through four cycles of Sun, each of which resulted in the destruction of mankind. Although probably not exactly a depiction of the same feathered-serpent deity worshipped in classic and post-classic periods, it shows the continuity of symbolism of feathered snakes in Mesoamerica from the formative period and on, for example in comparison to the Maya Vision Serpent shown below. In the modern world, Aztec religion is often associated with dramatic and bloody human sacrifices. ThoughtCo. Quetzalcoatl was also associated with Venus, the Morning Star, and thus the dawn. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the twin Aztec high priests. In fact, it is a deep cultural symbol that is intrinsic to daily life. There was one way that would certainly work, namely by letting it rain so abundantly that the snake simply drifted out of the cave. Over the East presides the Red Tezcatlipoca, Xipe Totec, the god of gold, farming and springtime. The Toltecs and Nahuas worshiped the god before he was eventually adopted by the Aztecs. After Topiltzin's exile, Toltec power began to decline. All but one. Ultimately, Quetzalcoatl was forced into exile. Quetzalcoatl stands out from the Mesoamerican pantheon as being relatively less bloodthirsty than others like Huitzilopochtli or Tezcatlipoca, making him as good a candidate as any for Jesus visiting the New World. There is no question that the legend of Quetzalcoatl played a significant role in the colonial period. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Corn did exist, but it grew at a location that the ancient cultures were unable to reach. The eclipse that was caused by the birth of Quetzalcoatl is believed to be the fifth eclipse to ever happen. He was quite a bit bigger than he was before. 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. The Aztec confederacy was opposed by other Nahua groups to the east. In his aspect as Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, he was the fearsome god of Venus and the morning star. [18][need quotation to verify]. This is evident in the iconography recovered from these sites. One of these groups centered around the city of Cholula, where the great pyramid was dedicated to Quetzalcoatl. Historian Matthew Restall concludes that: The legend of the returning lords, originated during the Spanish-Mexica war in Corts' reworking of Moctezuma's welcome speech, had by the 1550s merged with the Corts-as-Quetzalcoatl legend that the Franciscans had started spreading in the 1530s. In the episode "Damnesia You," Xavier winds up in the Aztec world and is immediately (and unsuccessfully) sacrificed for insulting the Sun God, and during the sacrifice the Aztecs humorously fail to pronounce his name. Like many other Mesoamerican deities, the story of our god sees several reincarnations. Instead, these stories were probably the invention of Franciscan monks who followed the initial conquest of Mexico. Auh yn jquac molhuja eheca, mjtoa: teuhtli quaqualaca, ycoioca, tetecujca, tlatlaiooa, tlatlapitza, tlatlatzinj, motlatlaueltia. READ MORE: Sun Gods: Ancient Solar Deities From Around the World. The invaders looked an awful lot like these late depictions. In Xochicalco, depictions of the feathered serpent accompany the image of a seated, armed ruler and the hieroglyph for the day sign 9 Wind. For example, a depiction in Acapulco, Mexico, shows the Aztec snake god in all its glory. Quetzalcoatl's opposite was Tezcatlipoca, who supposedly sent Quetzalcoatl into exile. Although little is known about the specific ways in which he was revered, some historians believe that the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and other intoxicants may have played a large role. He appears in Post-classic tales from the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec cultures. The connection between Quetzalcoatl and the fall of the Aztec Empire may also have its roots in political events that predated the arrival of Corts and his army. The language is spoken today in the highlands of central Guatemala. Getting the snake out of the cave had been Tlalocs only objective for months on end. [44], Quetzalcoatl was fictionalized in the 1982 film Q as a monster that terrorizes New York City. Mason-Dixon Line Have you ever eaten blue, white, black, or red corn? The cult even spread down into the Maya lands. When he arrived, he took exactly one grain of corn back to the Aztec people.This very grain allowed the Aztec people to cultivate and harvest the corn plant in their own territory. [40] However, a majority of Mesoamericanist scholars, such as Matthew Restall (2003, 2018[37]), 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/Corts myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which have risen in the early post-conquest period. Feathered serpents appear as early as 900 BC in parts of Mexico. He is also a god of learning, reading, and books. Nor would he be seen as the reincarnation of the Feathered Serpent god.Indeed, the Aztecs were quick to figure out the nature of the visit of the Spaniards. There is no surviving account of this myth in native sources, however. Quetzalcoatl stole the bones from the Underworld, taking great risks and evading many traps to bring them to the surface. Quetzalcoatl was so closely linked to fertility and creation that many groups held him to be the creator of mankind. Evidence of such worship comes from the iconography of different Mesoamerican cultures, in which serpent motifs occur frequently. The famous Pyramid of the Niches at El Tajin is believed by many to be dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, and the many ball courts there also suggest that his cult was important. While in his own story, this was not all too literal, his actions that followed were actually the literal interpretation of his promise. Round monuments occur particularly often in Huastec territory. As a god of wind, Quetzalcoatl was also an important fertility deity. Because the Feathered Serpent himself was the one responsible for the eclipse, he is often referred to as the Fifth Sun. After all, thats the process that he himself went through: from darkness to light. The attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied in different cultures of Mesoamerica during different eras. While Quetzacoatl is one of the most well-known gods of ancient Mexico, he is often misunderstood. From here, he would be seen as the morning star, while his twin brother would be seen as the evening star; planet Venus. Different cultures associated him with priesthood and kingship, further complicating his mythology in later retellings. Where once feathered snakes were worshiped all over, after the Spanish conquest the locals were forced into worshiping Jesus Christ. Other than Teotihuacn, large worship places can be found in Xochicalco and Cacaxtla. He appears seated in Omnipotence City of the gods, where all major deities are located, during an announcement from leader of the gods, Zeus. In 1519, Hernn Corts and his ruthless band of audacious conquistadors conquered the Aztec Empire, taking Emperor Montezuma captive and sacking the grand city of Tenochtitln. Venus, which the god was closely associated with, appeared in the sky at the beginning of the rainy season. The archaeological record shows that after the fall of Teotihuacan that marked the beginning of the epi-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology around 600 AD, the cult of the feathered serpent spread to new religious and political centers in central Mexico, centers such as Xochicalco, Cacaxtla and Cholula. For more details, Wikipedia is a good resource. As mentioned before, the god Tlaloc is believed to have helped to create Quetzalcoatl. Quetzalcoatl was many things: (1) a historical personage - a great priest-king and religious reformer who lived in approximately the tenth century A.D. He was worshiped among all the major cultures of the Mesoamerican region through history. The most astonishing aspect of their worship, at least to the Spaniards, was their habit of human sacrifice . Quetzalcoatl by himself was a god of many things to the Toltecs and Aztecs. Indeed, the same as the one from the Great Pyramid. related to the belief in a sky-, Venus-, creator-, war- and fertility-related serpent deity. Since the sixteenth century, it has been widely held that the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II initially believed the landing of Hernn Corts in 1519 to be Quetzalcoatl's return. He would submerge himself in a highly flammable substance and set himself on fire, granting himself a place amongst the stars. Mayans had deities with feathered serpent as their names. The pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus was named after the deity. Ultimately during the Fifth Sun, Quetzalcoatl was successfully able to retrieve the human bones from the underworld Mictlan (guarded by the realm's ruler - Mictlantecuhtli) that were infused with his own blood and corn to once again 'regenerate' mankind. The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, images of the deity began acquiring human features, such as the beard (see the Borgia codex illustration above) that he was sometimes depicted with. [citation needed], In the Codex Chimalpopoca, it is said Quetzalcoatl was coerced by Tezcatlipoca into becoming drunk on pulque, cavorting with his older sister, Quetzalpetlatl, a celibate priestess, and neglecting their religious duties. Amazed by the grace and beauty of the birds, the snake decided his destiny was to fly like them. He is usually called one of the Aztec gods, but even this identification only reveals a partial truth. 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