Quetzalcoatl (WTO)

Quetzalcoatl’s name means “Feathered Serpent”, and in his day he was the personification of everything good and life-giving. He was the Morning Star, which guided the sun into the sky. He was Ehecatl, the Lord of the Winds, who brought the rains to feed the crops. He was the protector of all things that grow, and was symbolized as a source of fertility and life. In addition, since disease was thought to be an aberration of life brought by wind, he was thought of as a spirit of healing. Quetzalcoatl’s very breath brought life and beauty to the land, and he was tied to spring and the harvest. All art was dedicated to him, as it was considered to be simply an unfolding of his spirit made material.

Quetzalcoatl was strongly associated with the Toltec people, a great civilization which preceded the Aztecs. It was believed that he founded their race and gave them superiority over all the people of the land. Under his loving hand, they built a great empire. Unfortunately, Mesoamerican cosmology does not allow either of the great powers to maintain dominance for long. Quetzalcoatl was disgraced in the house of the gods, and consequently was exiled. He threw off his robes of quetzal feathers and marched east to the sea. There he boarded a raft and sailed away, vowing that he would return to overthrow Tezcatlipoca and bring the universe back into order.

During this period of exile, Quetzalcoatl continued to influence matters in ancient Mexico. Exiled, however, he played a minor part in the pageant of life. His nemesis, Tezcatlipoca, became the central force in the land. The balance had shifted the other way.