Ancient Origins?

Enthnographic Backgrounds

The Mother culture of Mesoamerica, as the Olmec are sometimes referred to,originated during the middle of the Early Preclassic on the eastern coastal region of Mexico. Their territory spanned as far south as Guatemala and as far north as the Valley of Mexico. However, it should not be assumed that the Olmec had an empire or that all of the land in between the two-most extreme points was inhabited.

What is credited to the Olmecs are the origins of major cultural standards found later on throughout Mesoamerica. These include the calendar, writing, and Quetzalcoatl (possibly). A few archaeologists believe that the origins of the Plumed Serpent began to emerge during the Olmec times though the worship of the actual god did not occur.

Introduction

One of the most important questions concerning Quetzalcoatl is how old he is. Though archaeologists know Quetzalcoatl is old, they do not know if old includes ancient. A few archaeologists believe that Quetzalcoatl's origins can be dated to the Olmec. Others put it much later. Those who believe that Quetzalcoatl is an ancient god state that his origins can be seen forming within the Olmec era, which would place his birth so to speak at approximately 1200 BC. A considerably older date than 800 BC, which corresponds to the emergence of the Maya if it was otherwise.

The problem with trying to identify Quetzalcoatl with the Olmec religion is that much of the Olmec religion is pure speculation. What is known is that there existed a strong ordering to the cosmos as seen in their art and architecture. In addition there existed a principal deity; however, its figure and symbolism are a question of debate.

Jaguar God

Miguel Covarrubius believes that this principal deity was fundamentally an earth god, though his power was not limited to terrestrial matters, and took the form of a jaguar. Alfonso Caso follows Covarrubius' lead while Ignacio Bernal sees the god as having a water-earth persona. Covarrubius, Caso, Beral, and others all see the Olmec principal deity as a jaguar encompassing the forces of life or at least a dominance in its two strongest categories (with regards to Olmec life), water and earth. Roman Piña Chan does recognize that this deity had dominance over all things terrestrial and celestial, but not in a jaguar form or in any form that was exclusive to one being.

Not a Jaguar God

Roman Piña Chan believes that the Olmec principle god was a half-jaguar, half-serpent being. The jaguar represents the Earth Mother with the serpent representing the water, thus combining to represent life. He then argues that as the Olmec developed, this principal god underwent a metamorphosis. The Jaguar god was spilt into Celestial and Terrestrial counterparts. The Celestial was portrayed by the rattlesnake which later evolved into a bird serpent. This transformation occurred, according to Piña Chan, because the rattlesnake, a land serpent, could have been transformed to represent rain clouds on the ground; the rain being the source of fertility for their crops.

Piña Chan's basis for this belief is a bas-relief (at right) at Cerro de la Cantera. Portrayed is a man in the mouth of a snake (seen in profile). The man is most likely a priest and as such acts as a link between the Heavens and the Earth. The priest, who in Olmec religion (and those coming afterwards) represented the god in his mortal form and was held to be the god. His headdress forms the shape of "jade circles and bars that symbolize raindrops" (Piña Chan, 176,1989) signifying his link to the Heavens whereas his position in the snake's mouth links him to the Earth. Seen as a whole, we have one god but with two distinct realms he encompasses. In addition, Piña Chan points to Monument 19 (below) at La Venta as proof of the growing symbol and power of the rattlesnake.

Proto-Quetzalcoatl

Another who believes that a proto-Quetzalcoalt existed is Jacques Soustelle. Soustelle points to a bas-relief on Altar 14 at San Lorenzo as proof that Quetzalcoatl's roots are indeed ancient. Portrayed in the bas-relief is a man whose ears are adorned with pendants that end in a hook shape, while his necklace of two quadrangular plaques has below it a seven pointed pectoral that could represent a shell cross-section (Soustelle, 50, 1984). Soustelle brings up the point that all these ornamentations belong to the god Quetzalcoatl's regalia. The pectoral is especially important as its design, the shell cross- section, is better known as the ehecacozcatl (wind jewel), which is always equated with Quetzalcoatl.

Soustelle also presents Michael Coe's belief that Quetzalcoatl existed during Olmec times as a part of the principal Olmec god, a jaguar god associated with rain. His evidence is at Las Limas in a jade statuette. Apparently on each of the shoulders and knees of the figurine are engravings that represent a different god. The right shoulder is Xipe Totec (Note: a Post Classic name), the god of spring; the left shoulder is the god of celestial fire; the left knee is the god of death, and the right knee is Quetzalcoatl (Soustelle, 186, 1984). The key to distinguishing Quetzalcoatl is the eye, which is the Olmec cross (a.k.a. St. Andrew's cross) and the nose is tubular like that of when he is in his wind avatar persona. However, Soustelle counters with the fact that the Olmec cross is not limited to reptilian and serpentine creatures as seen with its associations to were-feline creatures. In addition, Soustelle reminds us that Quetzalcoatl as a wind god did not emerge until Teotihuacan (Soustelle, 188, 1984); with Teotihuacan not emerging until the Early Classic.

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