The mythical plumed serpent god worshiped by the Aztecs. Quetzalcoatl provided his people with cacao, which they considered to be divine. He was supposed to return to earth in the year “one reed” and bring the treasures of paradise. When Cortes landed in the sixteenth century, in the year “one-reed,” he was mistakenly thought to be Quetzalcoatl and warmly welcomed by Montezuma, the Aztec ruler. This ultimately led to the enslavement and destruction of the Aztec people by the Spanish.

(Nahuatl). A pre-Hispanic deity whose name translates to "Feathered Serpent." Often the patron of rulers, he was worshipped across ancient Mexico.

The Feathered Serpent. The Precious Twin who lifts the sun out of darkness, god of the winds and the breath of life, First Lord of the Toltecs. Lawgiver, civilizer, creator of the calender. Demons tempted Quetzalcoatl constantly to commit murder and human sacrifice, but his love was too great for him to succumb. To atone for great sins, Quetzcoatl threw himself on into a funeral pyre, where his ashes rose to the heavens as a flock of birds carrying his heart to the star Venus. A frieze in the palace at Teotihuacan shows his first entry into the world in the shape of a chrysalis, from which he struggles to emerge as a butterfly, the symbol of perfection. Quetzalcoatl is by far the most compassionate of the Azec gods -- he only demands one human sacrifice a year. Often considered synonomous with HUITZILOPOTCHLI.

The name of the god-man that the Toltec's supposedly worshipped in their mythology.

Early this century archeologist uncovered hieroglyphical information from several Central American temple sites regarding an ancient legend that describes the presence of a blue-eyed, bearded white man by the Nahuatlan name of Quetzalcoatl who came to earth with the divine ability to control the winds of the universe. (The Nahuatlan name of Quetzalcoatl translates into the English term "Feathered Serpent" or "Flying Snake" because the original "wind god" or "weatherman" of Middle America may have mastered the enchanting aerodynamic art of kite flying - in which the kite-flyer used long hollow snake-skins for kite tail material and strong reptile hide with sticks for wing surfaces - thus the word "Quetzalcoatl" personifies a person capable of piloting an elaborate bird-shaped kite with a long snake tail stabilizer)

"Most precious twin", compassionate culture-bearer of ancient Mexico who could not kill animals or pick flowers; the feathered serpent; the planet Venus.

ket säl kO Toltec deity; Feathered Serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god. (p. 400)

Quetzalcoatl ("feathered serpent" or "plumed serpent") is the Nahuatl name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture. In Mesoamerican myth Quetzalcoatl is also a mythical culture hero from whom almost all mesoamerican peoples claim descent. These myths often describe him as the divine ruler of the mythical Toltecs of Tollan who after his expulsion from Tollan, travelled south or east to set up new cities and kingdoms.