Quetzalcoatl ("feathered snake", in Nahuatl: Ketsalkoatl, in Spanish: Quetzalcóatl) is the Aztec name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerica, one of the main gods of many Mexican and northern Central American civilizations. Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ... The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. ... Mesoamerica is the region extending from central Mexico south to the northwestern border of Costa Rica that gave rise to a group of stratified, culturally related agrarian civilizations spanning an approximately 3,000-year period before the European discovery of the New World by Columbus. ... Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. ...

Classic Maya depiction from Yaxchilan

The name "Quetzalcoatl" literally means quetzal-bird snake or serpent with feathers of the Quetzal (which implies something divine or precious) in the Nahuatl language. The meaning of his local name in other Mesoamerican languages is similar. The Maya knew him as Kukulkán; the Quiché as Gukumatz. Feathered Serpent Diety, detail of Classic Maya lintel at Yaxchillan, from A Study of Maya Art by Herbert Spinden, 1913 This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... One of the pyramids on the upper terrace of Yaxchilan. ... Species Ref: ITIS 553589 The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) is a colorful bird of the trogon family found in tropical areas of southern Mexico and of Central America. ... Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ... The Maya are people of southern Mexico and northern Central America (Guatemala, Belize, western Honduras, and El Salvador) with some 3,000 years of history. ... This page is about the Native American people; for the dish, see quiche. ... In Maya mythology, Gukumatz (feathered serpent) was a snake god, one of all three groups of gods who created Earth and humanity. ...

The Feathered Serpent deity was important in art and religion in most of Mesoamerica for close to 2,000 years, from the Pre-Classic era until the Spanish Conquest. Civilizations worshiping the Feathered Serpent included the Olmec, the Mixtec, the Toltec, the Aztec, and the Maya. Mesoamerican chronology The chronology of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica is usually divided into the following eras: Paleo-Indian Period c. ... Olmec stone head The Olmec were an ancient people living in the tropical lowlands of south-central Mexico, roughly what would now be the Veracruz and Tabasco regions of the Mexican isthmus. ... Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a pre-Columbian piece of Mixtec writing, now in the British Museum The Mixtec (or Mixteca) are a Native American people centered in the Oaxaca state of Mexico. ... The Toltecs (or Toltec or Tolteca) were a Pre-Columbian Native American people who dominated much of central Mexico between the 10th and 12th century AD. Their language, Nahuatl, was also spoken by the Aztecs. ...

The worship of Quetzalcoatl sometimes included human sacrifices, although in other traditions Quetzalcoatl was said to oppose human sacrifice. Worship usually refers to specific acts of religious praise, honour, or devotion, typically directed to a supernatural being such as a god or goddess. ... Sacrifice (is a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the practice of offering food, or the lives of animals or people to the gods, as an act of propitiation or worship. ...

Mesoamerican priests and kings would sometimes take the name of a deity they were associated with, so Quetzalcoatl and Kukulcan are also the names of historical persons.

One noted Post-Classic Toltec ruler was named Quetzalcoatl; he may be the same individual as the Kukulcan who invaded Yucatan at about the same time. The Mixtec also recorded a ruler named for the Feathered Serpent. In the 10th century a ruler closely associated with Quetzalcoatl ruled the Toltecs; his name was Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl. This ruler was said to be the son of either the great Chichimeca warrior, Mixcoatl and the Colhuacano woman Chimalman, or of their descendant. The Yucatán Peninsula separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico. ... Codex Zouche-Nuttall, a pre-Columbian piece of Mixtec writing, now in the British Museum The Mixtec (or Mixteca) are a Native American people centered in the Oaxaca state of Mexico. ... ( 9th century - 10th century - 11th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 10th century was that century which lasted from 901 to 1000. ... Topiltzin Ce Acatl Quetzalcoatl (Our Prince One-Reed Feathered Serpent) was a 10th century Toltec leader. ... The Chichimeca are a group of nomads in northern Mexico. ... In Aztec mythology, Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpent) was a god of the hunt, the north star and war. ... Chimalman is a goddess in Aztec mythology, the mother of Quetzalcoatl. ...

The Toltecs had a dualistic belief system. Quetzalcoatl's opposite was Tezcatlipoca, who supposedly sent Quetzalcoatl into exile. Alternatively, he left willingly on a raft of snakes, promising to return. The Toltecs (or Toltec or Tolteca) were a Pre-Columbian Native American people who dominated much of central Mexico between the 10th and 12th century AD. Their language, Nahuatl, was also spoken by the Aztecs. ... In Nahuatl mythology, Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) was the god of the night, the north and temptation. ... Superfamilies and Families Henophidia Aniliidae Anomochilidae Boidae Bolyeriidae Cylindrophiidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Tropidophiidae Uropeltidae Xenopeltidae Typhlopoidea Anomalepididae Leptotyphlopidae Typhlopidae Xenophidia Acrochordidae Atractaspididae Colubridae Elapidae Hydrophiidae Viperidae Snakes are cold blooded legless reptiles closely related to lizards, which share the order Squamata. ...

When the Aztecs adopted the culture of the Toltecs, they made twin gods of Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, opposite and equal; Quetzalcoatl was also called White Tezcatlipoca, to contrast him to the black Tezcatlipoca. Together, they created the world; Tezcatlipoca lost his foot in that process.

The Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II initially believed the landing of Hernán Cortés in 1519 was Quetzalcoatl's return. Cortés played off this belief to aid in his conquest of Mexico. Moctezuma II (also Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin) (1466-1520) was an Aztec ruler or tlatoani c. ... Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés (1485–December 2, 1547) (who was known as Hernando or Fernando Cortés during his lifetime and signed all his letters Fernán Cortés) was the conquistador who conquered Mexico for Spain. ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ...

The exact significance and attributes of Quetzalcoatl varied somewhat between civilizations and through history. Quetzalcoatl was often considered the god of the morning star and his twin brother, Xolotl was the evening star (Venus). As the morning star he was known under the title Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, which means literally "the lord of the star of the dawn". He was known as the inventor of books and the calendar, the giver of maize corn to mankind, and sometime as a symbol of death and resurrection. Quetzalcoatl was also the patron of the priests and the title of the Aztec high priest. The phrase Morning Star can refer to several things. ... In Aztec mythology, (and among the Toltecs), Xolotl was the god of lightning and the one who aided the dead on their journey to Mictlan. ... (*min temperature refers to cloud tops only) Atmospheric characteristics Atmospheric pressure 9. ... In Aztec mythology, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (lord of the star of the dawn) was the personification of the morning star, which is the planet Venus as seen in the morning. ... A calendar is a system for naming periods of time, typically days. ... Species Zea diploperennis Zea luxurians Zea nicaraguensis Zea perennis References ITIS 42268 2002-09-22 Sorting Zea names This article is about the staple food. ... This article is about the religious meaning of the word Resurrection. For other meanings see Resurrection (disambiguation). ...

Most Mesoamerican beliefs included cycles of worlds. Usually, our current time was considered the fifth world, the previous four having been destroyed by flood, fire and the like. Quetzalcoatl allegedly went to Mictlan, the underworld, and created fifth world-mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of Cihuacoatl), using his own blood, from a wound in his penis, to imbue the bones with new life. In Aztec mythology, Mictlan was the lowest level of the underworld, located far to the north. ... In Aztec mythology, Cihuacoatl (snake woman; also Chihucoatl, Ciucoatl) was a fertility goddess and patron of mothers, particularly women who died in childbirth. ...

His birth, along with his twin Xolotl, was unusual; it was a virgin birth, born to the goddess Coatlicue. Alternatively, he was a son of Xochiquetzal and Mixcoatl. In Aztec mythology, (and among the Toltecs), Xolotl was the god of lightning and the one who aided the dead on their journey to Mictlan. ... In Aztec mythology, Coatlicue (skirt of serpents) was our Mother goddess of the Earth, the goddess of fire and fertility, mother of the southern stars. ... In Aztec mythology, Xochiquetzal (flower feather) was a goddess of flowers, fertility, games, dancing and agriculture, as well as craftsmen, prostitutes and pregnant women. ... In Aztec mythology, Mixcoatl (Cloud Serpent) was a god of the hunt, the north star and war. ...

One Aztec story claims Quetzalcoatl was seduced by Tezcatlipoca into becoming drunk and sleeping with a celibate priestess, and then burned himself to death out of remorse. His heart became the morning star (see Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli). The Aztecs were a Mesoamerican people of central Mexico in the 14th, 15th and 16th century. ... In Nahuatl mythology, Tezcatlipoca (smoking mirror) was the god of the night, the north and temptation. ... In Aztec mythology, Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli (lord of the star of the dawn) was the personification of the morning star, which is the planet Venus as seen in the morning. ...

The late Cretaceous pterodactyloid Pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus was named after Quetzalcoatl. The Cretaceous period is one of the major divisions of the geologic timescale, reaching from the end of the Jurassic period (about 135 mya) to the beginning of the Paleocene epoch of the Tertiary period (65 mya). ... Suborders Rhamphorhynchoidea Pterodactyloidea Pterosaurs (TEH-row-sore, winged lizards) were flying reptiles of the clade Pterosauria. ... Quetzalcoatlus was a Pterosaur with a wingspan of 12 m (40 feet; biggest ever was 48 feet)and a weight of only about 50 kg (110 pounds) that lived during the late Cretaceous Period. ...

External link

• Quetzalcoatl, The Man, The Myth, The Legend (http://weber.ucsd.edu/~anthclub/quetzalcoatl/quetzal.htm)