What is "quetzalcoatl"

plumed serpent god of the Toltecs and Aztecs, 1570s, from Nahuatl (Aztecan) quetzalli (see quetzal) + coatl "snake."

Quetzalcoatl ( froms part of Mesoamerican literature and is a deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and means "feathered serpent". The worship of a feathered serpent is first known documented in Teotihuacan in the first century BC or first century AD. That period lies within the Late Preclassic to Early Classic period (400 BC – 600 AD) of Mesoamerican chronology, and veneration of the figure appears to have spread throughout Mesoamerica by the Late Classic (600–900 AD).

In the Postclassic period (900–1519 AD), the worship of the feathered serpent deity was based in the primary Mexican religious center of Cholula. It is in this period that the deity is known to have been named "Quetzalcoatl" by his Nahua followers. In the Maya area he was approximately equivalent to Kukulkan and Gukumatz, names that also roughly translate as "feathered serpent" in different Mayan languages.

Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec god of wind and learning, wears around his neck the "wind breastplate" ehecailacocozcatl, "the spirally voluted wind jewel" made of a conch shell. This talisman was a conch shell cut at the cross-section and was likely worn as a necklace by religious rulers as they have been discovered in burials in archaeological sites throughout Mesoamerica and potentially symbolized patterns witnessed in hurricanes, dust devils, seashells, and whirlpools which were elemental forces that had meaning in the Aztec mythology. In codex drawings showing Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl, both are pictured wearing an ehecailacozcatl around each of their necks. There has also been at least one major cache of offerings with knives and idols adorned with the symbols of more than one god, some of which were adorned with wind jewels.

In the era following the 16th-century Spanish Conquest of Mexico, a number of sources were written that conflate Quetzalcoatl with Ce Acatl Topiltzin, a ruler of the mythico-historic city of Tollan. It is a matter of much debate among historians to which degree, or whether at all, these narratives about this legendary Toltec ruler describe historical events. Furthermore, early Spanish sources written by clerics tend to identify the god-ruler Quetzalcoatl of these narratives with either Hernán Cortés or Thomas the Apostle—an identification which is also a source of diversity of opinions about the nature of Quetzalcoatl.

Among the Aztecs, whose beliefs are the best-documented in the historical sources, Quetzalcoatl was related to gods of the wind, of the planet Venus, of the dawn, of merchants and of arts, crafts and knowledge. He was also the patron god of the Aztec priesthood, of learning and knowledge. Quetzalcoatl was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon, along with the gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli. Two other gods represented by the planet Venus are Quetzalcoatl's ally Tlaloc who is the god of rain, and Quetzalcoatl's twin and psychopomp who is named Xolotl.

Animals thought to represent Quetzalcoatl include resplendent quetzals, rattlesnakes (coatl meaning serpent in Nahuatl), crows, and macaws. In his form as Ehecatl he is the wind, and is represented by spider monkeys, ducks, and the wind itself. In his form as the morning star, Venus, he is also depicted as a harpy eagle. In Mazatec legends, the astrologer deity Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, who is also represented by Venus, bears a close relationship with Quetzalcoatl.

Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity.

The name can also refer to:

• Cē Acatl Tōpīltzin Quetzalcōātl, Lord of the Toltecs in the 10th century
• Quetzalcóatl International Airport, located in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico
• Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous of North America
• 1915 Quetzálcoatl, a minor planet
• a fictional character in the story America (short story) by Orson Scott Card, believed to be the reborn deity Quetzalcoatl
• Quetzalcoatl (Final Fantasy), a character from the Final Fantasy video game series
• Temple of the Feathered Serpent, Teotihuacan, also known as the Temple of Quetzalcoatl, and the Feathered Serpent Pyramid
• Quetzacoatl, a mobile game by the developer 1Button SARL
• Quetzalcoatl, a 1993 album by J Church