Tales of the Feathered Serpent: The Legend of Quetzalcoatl

Most recently, the tale of Quetzalcoatl was brought to my attention in a setting where I was not expecting.  Far detached from the legends, Quetzalcoatl has fallen into a legacy of mismatched history.  This is an unsettling trend that seems to be rampant in the history of Mesoamerica.  From the destruction of Tenochtitlan by the construction of Mexico City, to the incorporation of sacred lands of Teotihuacan, Mesoamerica faces a grim future in the realm of history.  The destruction of history, sadly, is not limited to just the physical manifestations, but also to the legends and the tales that stem from a culture long lost.  In this take on Mesoamerica, we will be focusing on the chief deity of Nahua: The Winged Feathered Serpent Himself, Quetzalcoatl.

For the purposes of this topic, we will focus on Quetzalcoatl specifically.  Depending on which legend is referenced, Quetzalcoatl was born between a union of the God of Hunting, and the Goddess of Fertility.  He had at least one sibling, who was the God of Death - for this reason, Quetzalcoatl is often attributed as the God of Life.  In the astrological study, Quetzalcoatl aligns with the Planet Venus.  By nature, he is seen as an even tempered deity that commands the wind, and also provides knowledge.

The implications of Quetzalcoatl's status as the distributor of knowledge, suggests that he is the deity to appear to shaman's during ceremonies.  Most often in these ceremonies, shaman would communicate with the souls of the dead or a liaison thereof that took the form of a feathered serpent.

Quetzalcoatl appears both as a feathered serpent, but also has a humanoid form.  He is often seen with a large headdress, fully decked out in jade - a highly sought after rock found in the region.  His full regalia would have closely resembled what tribal leaders would wear.  He carries a spear, similar to an atlatl throwing device.  In all zoomorphic depictions, Quetzalcoatl and his similar cousins all are depicted as feathered serpents that share a rainbow coloration.  Most of these depictions retain the headdress on the serpent to establish legitimacy of Quetzalcoatl's status as a deity.

As with many Mesoamerican religions, the worship of Quetzalcoatl involved some physical attributes.  This varied in ways from purpose to purpose and tribe to tribe.  The most frequent form of worship was through the means of mutilation (sorry readers, but it was usually genital mutilation).  Sacrifices were uncommon, but sometimes practice, largely varying on the ailment and tribe.  Typical interactions utilized various herbs and beverages to push a shaman into a psychedelic state.  The most common was smoke inhalation.  Other methods included the ingestion of psychedelic mushrooms.

In Aztec culture, Quetzalcoatl is the boundary between the Earth and the heavens.  As such, he has direct control over anything that rides on the wind, including the position of the Sun, Moon, and stars; heat and cold; rain and drought.  This coincides with the depiction of him serving as the God of Wind.  However, in other depictions, Quetzalcoatl may direct rain, but it is up to another God or Goddess to provide whatever is on the wind.  For example, in Mayan culture, the Moon Goddess (also referred to as Goddess O) was the one who brought rains.

In none of the depictions of Quetzalcoatl is he depicted as particularly vengeful or wrathful, excluding the militant depictions of him.  However, it is still not confirmed if these depictions are of Quetzalcoatl or another feathered serpent deity, such as Xolotl.