Maya Discussion

Groundwork

The deity Quetzalcoatl finds various incarnations among the Maya. To start a discussion about his pervasiveness we should look at a genealogy of him (or his various forms). It seems that there are multiple versions of Quetzalcoatl's creation myth which vary from city to city. At Chichen Itza, the deity Quetzalcoatl is said to have been born to Mixcoatl (Cloud-Snake) and Chimalman (Shield-Hand) out of a spear throwing match which got Chimalman pregnant. (A similar story is found among the Toltecs) At Palenque, a similar story appears and Quetzalcoatl (equated at Palenque with Nine Wind) has a mother whose numerological, long-count associations match her up with Chimalman. This goddess' name is Lady Eight Ahau or Eight Flower. A more detailed discussion of these long-count connections is given by D.H. Kelley, but with this information we can see that Quetzalcoatl has at least some continuity throughout the Mayan world. (Kelley, 1985:237)

It seems that Chichen Itza is a major center for Quetzalcoatl from the Terminal Classic, c.a. 867 AD, to the early Postclassic, with its abandonment around 1200 AD. After this steady decline in Chichen Itza's power, the conquest states of Mayapan and the Quiche arise with the former holding power in the north and the latter in the south. It is the Quiche who eventually come to write the Popol Vuh and give us the lineages found there; a history written relatively soon after contact with Europeans.

The Popol Vuh leaves out accounts of Quetzalcoatl's creation, but a god Sovereign Plumed Serpent resides in the primordial sea with the other gods and takes part in the creation of man. As mentioned in this site's intro, Quetzalcoatl has many names and the literal translation of his name is "plumed serpent." In the Popol Vuh we see a Quetzalcoatl with a long history as a deity, both in the story itself and in the cultural constructs from previous societal groups in Mesoamerica from before the Quiche had their power. The connections that all these plumed serpents have is one of the various goals of our project here. There is also the Quetzalcoatl who is a man, a god-king who is a physical manifestation in this world. Now what validity and power this god-king actually has in relation to the myth and/or truth is another important goal of this project.

Looking Back

When looking at places like Chichen Itza, there is an archaeological history which reaches back to earlier myths and motifs. Quetzalcoatl, or Kukulcan in this instance, is the typical feathered serpent in the representations there, but also shares a similarity with other figures. Linda Schele mentions that feathered serpents abound everywhere in the art at places like Chicen Itza, but the Feathered Serpent becomes the symbol of the divinity of the state and the cult of Kukulcan is one of nobility. Also, the Feathered Serpent is artistically analagous to the Vision Serpents of Maya kingship from earlier times, and its symbolic signifigance is carried over as well. (Schele, 1990:395) The representations of Vision Serpents as analgous to the role and signifigance of Quetzalcoatl are worth investigating.

TheVision Serpent goes back to earlier Maya conceptions, and lies at the center of the world as they conceived it. As can be seen in the cosmology section of our web site, the Vision Serpent is in the center axis atop the World Tree. While discussing these motifs, Schele notes that essentially the World Tree and the Vision Serpent, representing the king, created the center axis which communicates between the spiritual and the earthly worlds or planes. It is through ritual that the king could bring the center axis into existence in the temples and create a doorway to the spritual world, and with it power. (Schele, 1990: 68) In thinking of Quetzalcoatl, Schele argues similarities in the myth and the idea that the power of ritual creates real world power that can be used by real people. The roots of Quetzalcoatl the myth and Quetzalcoatl the man could possibly be found in the rituals as seen here in Chichen Itza as well as at other major power centers throughout Mayan, Central, and Northern Mexican lands.

Stylistically, the vision serpents found on various temples develop into symbols which look even more like the Feathered Serpent which we are familiar with. According to Schele, the deity seems to function in multiple capacities; such as creating gateways to gain access to spiritual power, bringing the ancestors to communicate with the king and priests, and foretelling the future. (Schele, 1990: 69, 207, 276) Ultimately for the Maya, Quetzalcoatl is a deity which brings status and power to royalty and religious figures. And when Chicen Itza was the power center for the Maya, we see how Quetzalcoatl was canonized in the artwork and iconography.

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