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Quetzalcoatl: Gods
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Quetzalcoatl was a god of much responsibility and wore many hats. He was known for being the god of creation and giver of life who was responsible for the small matter of creating the cosmos. He was ... the giver of maize. Quetzalcoatl means "quetzal bird snake" or "serpent with feathers of the Quetzal" in the Nahuatl language.
All the previous versions of Quetzalcoatl are major ways the Aztecs expressed the powers that related to this deity... the most famous, and for the purposes of this paper the most relevant expression is that of the high priest Topiltzin. This form is the only one in which he is truly human and it is from this form that he is said to have transformed into all the other manifestations that were previously discussed. The Aztecs saw Topiltzin as man-god, almost in the manner of a Hercules, not quite a god but much more than a man. He is often depicted wearing a copal bag, a conical headdress and at the front of his garments were in the shape of seashells. He is also depicted as being fair skinned and having a beard, supposedly to enhance his appearance of wisdom and age (Berdan 129).
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Quetzalcoatl was a god before and after he took human form. He is one of the 13 dawn light lords in the pantheon of 13 dawn light and 9 dark lords (... called day lords and night lords.) The daysigns of the day calendar are sub-deities. They each rule the entire dawn-to-dawn period and have less significance in the order of forces.
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While better known as a wind deity, Quetzalcoatl originated as a water god. In one early myth, he is called "Precious Serpent" and was described as "the spirit of the waters which flowed along the winding bends of rivers" (Fernandez 68).
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Illustration of Quetzalcoatl wearing a headdress that resembles a bird, with a mask that includes a beak. He holds a serpent in one hand and an unidentified object in the other. Translation of caption at bottom of card: The quetzal feather snake/God of the wind. (Bourbon Codice, Lam. 22).
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Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca had originally created the world out of the goddess Tlalteutli by ripping her apart and fashioning the world from her pieces. She had to be appeased by human sacrifice in order to continu giving the corn that sustained life.
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