The Mystery of Quetzalocatl: The Christ of Ancient Mesoamerica?

of the secret knowledge of science, crafts and arts to Tezcatlipoca. Finally, Quetzalcoatl builds a sacred fire and throws himself into it, rising up as a feathered serpent to become Venus, the Morning Star, and vowing to return one day to reclaim his kingdom for the powers of good. Such is the legend of Quetzalcoatl, the man. It is sometimes confusing to track the legend, and some mysteries remain, as both the name Quetzalcoatl and the Feathered Serpent God was often absorbed into various cultures as a sort of legitimacy for political power. There are confusions in some codices as to whether it is Quetzalcoatl the man, or the god that is being referred to. And then there is the problem of some evidences of Quetzalcoatl and the Feathered Serpent appearing even before the legend is believed to have originated. Such is the case in Teotihuacan, the earliest known complex civilization in Mesoamerica. Quetzalcoatl, the god, was worshipped as a plumed serpent at Teotihuacan as early as 250 AD. According to a Mixtec codice, from which much information about Teotihuacan legend has been gathered, Quetzalcoatl was the god of creation for the World of the Fifth Sun. According to the codices, Quetzalcoatl stole the bones of mankind from previous ages away from the gods of the Underworld in order to create humanity on earth. One version even includes an explanation for why humans come in different shapes, colors and sizes. As Quetzalcoatl was fleeing with the stolen bones, the Lord of the Underworld dug a hole to trap him, and sent a flock of birds to scare him into falling into the hole. Most of the bones were shattered as Quetzalcoatl fell into the hole, and the birds pecked the rest of the bones into pieces. Undaunted, Quetzalcoatl gathered up the pieces, fled the Underworld, and upon returning to earth, ground them all up in a bowl. He summoned the other gods in the earthly realm, and all of them sprinkled their own blood into the bowl, bringing humanity to life once more. That Teotihuacan is sometimes referred to as the emergence site for humanity and whose name is translated as "City of the Gods," or "The Place Where Gods Became Men," adds to the speculation that the creation myth and cosmology of Quetzalcoatl began at Teotihuacan. That Quetzalcoatl is described as fair-skinned, blue-eyed, blonde, and bearded is curious, as well. That

Go To Page: 1 2 3 4

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic