One of Tezcatlipoca’s brothers was Quetzalcoatl. Some scholarship maintains the view that the Aztec Empire's fall may be attributed in part to the belief in Cortés as the returning Quetzalcoatl, notably in works by David Carrasco (1982), H. B. Nicholson (2001 (1957)) and John Pohl (2016). Tezcatlipoca (/ˌtɛzkætliˈpoʊkə/; Classical Nahuatl: Tezcatlipōca Nahuatl pronunciation: [teskatɬiˈpoːka] (listen)[1]) was a central deity in Aztec religion, and his main festival was the Toxcatl ceremony celebrated in the month of May. Although the exact definition of the momoztli is unknown, with definitions varying from "mound", "stone seat" and "temple", there is an overall consensus that it is a general holy place to worship the gods, specifically mentioned as "his [Tezcatlipoca's] viewing place".[15]. [7], When depicted he was usually drawn with a black and a yellow stripe painted across his face. 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. [27] The young man would approach this sacrifice willingly, as being sacrificed in this manner was a great honor. Some followers of the Latter Day Saints movement believe that Quetzalcoatl was historically Jesus Christ, but believe his name and the details of the event were gradually lost over time. However, a majority of Mesoamericanist scholars, such as Matthew Restall (2003, 2018[33]), James Lockhart (1994), Susan D. Gillespie (1989), Camilla Townsend (2003a, 2003b), Louise Burkhart, Michel Graulich and Michael E. Smith (2003), among others, consider the "Quetzalcoatl/Cortés myth" as one of many myths about the Spanish conquest which have risen in the early post-conquest period. To both Teotihuacan and Maya cultures, Venus was in turn also symbolically connected with warfare.[19]. Angered in turn, he would not make it rain for several years until, in a fit of rage, he made it rain fire with the few people who survived the assault turning into the birds. After Great Monster Wars, the records and lore about her were buried away by Goddess Ilias. There is no question that the legend of Quetzalcoatl played a significant role in the colonial period. Beyond it stood a wide, long chamber the size of a great hall...". During the epi-classic period, a dramatic spread of feathered serpent iconography is evidenced throughout Mesoamerica, and during this period begins to figure prominently at sites such as Chichén Itzá, El Tajín, and throughout the Maya area. Quetzalcoatl became the ruler of the subsequent creation “Sun of Water”, and Tezcatlipoca destroyed the third creation “The Sun of Wind” by striking down Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca is the offspring of the creator couple, who produced four sons: Red Tezcatlipoca, Black Tezcatlipoca, Qeutzalcoatl, and Huitzilopochtli (the patron god of the Aztecs). Common ornaments were white turkey feather headdresses, a paper loincloth, and a tzanatl stick with similar feathers and paper decorations. [29] For Aztec nobility, this "patron deity" is fundamental in the social and natural phenomena justified by religion during this time. This marriage, occurring after a full year of abstinence, symbolized a period of fertility which followed the drought. In the Aztec ritual calendar, different deities were associated with the cycle-of-year names: Quetzalcoatl was tied to the year Ce Acatl (One Reed), which correlates to the year 1519. He also had anthropomorphic forms, for example in his aspects as Ehecatl the wind god. Each temple had a statue of the god for which copal incense was burned four times a day. "[15], Quetzalcoatl was also linked to rulership and priestly office; additionally, among the Toltec, it was used as a military title and emblem.[16]. On the basis of the different symbolic systems used in portrayals of the feathered serpent deity in different cultures and periods, scholar… In later myths, the four gods who created the world, Tezcatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli and Xipe Totec were referred to respectively as the Black, the White, the Blue and the Red Tezcatlipoca. [21] The king would stand "naked, emphasizing his utter unworthiness," speaking as nothing but a vessel for the god's will. It is also suggested that he was a son of Xochiquetzal and Mixcoatl. [18] Historian Enrique Florescano also analyzing Teotihuacan iconography argues that the Feathered Serpent was part of a triad of agricultural deities: the Goddess of the Cave symbolizing motherhood, reproduction and life, Tlaloc, god of rain, lightning and thunder and the feathered serpent, god of vegetational renewal. In Xochicalco, depictions of the feathered serpent are accompanied by the image of a seated, armed ruler and the hieroglyph for the day sign 9 Wind. Feb 19, 2018 - Explore Diego Alvarez's board "Tezcatlipoca", followed by 103 people on Pinterest. [36] However, in 1892 one president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, John Taylor, wrote:[37]. A feathered serpent deity has been worshiped by many different ethno-political groups in Mesoamerican history. [28][29][30][31][32] Most documents expounding this theory are of entirely Spanish origin, such as Cortés's letters to Charles V of Spain, in which Cortés goes to great pains to present the naive gullibility of the Aztecs in general as a great aid in his conquest of Mexico. The gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca brought the earth goddess Tlalteuctli down … She was known as a evil god who fought against Quetzalcoatl. On the basis of the iconography of the feathered serpent deity at sites such as Teotihuacan, Xochicalco, Chichén Itzá, Tula and Tenochtitlan combined with certain ethnohistorical sources, historian David Carrasco has argued that the preeminent function of the feathered serpent deity throughout Mesoamerican history was the patron deity of the Urban center, a god of culture and civilization. [22] A fourth story narrates that Quetzalcoatl was born from Coatlicue, who already had four hundred children who formed the stars of the Milky Way. Women were sometimes sacrificed as ixiptla to honor female deities. Quetzalcoatl went to Mictlan, the underworld, and created fifth-world mankind from the bones of the previous races (with the help of Cihuacoatl), using his own blood, from a wound he inflicted on his earlobes, calves, tongue, and penis, to imbue the bones with new life. Powers and Stats. They maintained a major pilgrimage and commercial center at Cholula, Puebla which the Spaniards compared to both Rome and Mecca because the cult of the god united its constituents through a field of common social, political, and religious values without dominating them militarily. The Tezcatlipoca figure goes back to earlier Mesoamerican deities worshipped by the Olmec and Maya. There are several stories about the birth of Quetzalcoatl. [29] The two gods then captured her, and distorted her to make the land from her body. Most commonly he is shown with horizontal face bands, wearing a heron feather headdress, a loincloth, and knotted sandals with an armband, and tinker bells either around his neck or ankles. [29] Chalchihuitlicue the Water Goddess then became the sun. A central figure of the Popol Vuh was the god Tohil whose name means "obsidian" and who was associated with sacrifice. This depiction is believed to have been made around 900 BC. [22] Sacred hymns were also chanted at ceremonies to honor the gods. Franciscans such as Toribio de Benavente "Motolinia" saw elements of Christianity in the pre-Columbian religions and therefore believed that Mesoamerica had been evangelized before, possibly by Thomas the Apostle, who, according to legend, had "gone to preach beyond the Ganges". [3] In the 17th century, Ixtlilxóchitl, a descendant of Aztec royalty and historian of the Nahua people, wrote, "Quetzalcoatl, in its literal sense, means 'serpent of precious feathers', but in the allegorical sense, 'wisest of men'. Numerous myths relate how Tezcatlipoca expelled the priest-king Quetzalcóatl, the Feathered Serpent, from the latter’s centre at Tula. Among the Aztecs, the name Quetzalcoatl was also a priestly title, as the two most important priests of the Aztec Templo Mayor were called "Quetzalcoatl Tlamacazqui". Quetzalcoatl—he was the wind, the guide and road sweeper of the rain gods, of the masters of the water, of those who brought rain. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca represent the bright and dark aspects of the Creator. A 2012 exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art, "The Children of the Plumed Serpent: the Legacy of Quetzalcoatl in Ancient Mexico", demonstrated the existence of a powerful confederacy of Eastern Nahuas, Mixtecs and Zapotecs, along with the peoples they dominated throughout southern Mexico between 1200–1600 (Pohl, Fields, and Lyall 2012, Harvey 2012, Pohl 2003). Tezcatlipoca was a significant god in Aztec religion. (Restall 2001 p. 114)[full citation needed]. Eventually Quetzalcoatl knocked Tezcatlipoca from the sky with a gigantic stick, and so he became the second sun. [11] Quetzalcoatl was one of several important gods in the Aztec pantheon, along with the gods Tlaloc, Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli. Members of this confederacy from Tlaxcala, Puebla, and Oaxaca provided the Spaniards with the army that first reclaimed the city of Cholula from its pro-Aztec ruling faction, and ultimately defeated the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). Most were sung to praise the highest deities, including Tezcatlipoca, who was often addressed as the "Giver of Life." Quetzal feathers were a rare and precious commodity in the Aztec culture. The earliest depictions of the feathered serpent deity were fully zoomorphic, depicting the serpent as an actual snake, but already among the Classic Maya, the deity began acquiring human features. Perhaps thou mistaketh me for another; perhaps thou seekest another in my stead[21], For kings, lords, priests, and citizens alike, the cyclical nature they observed every day and every year was portrayed not through science or philosophical debate, but utter reverence and respect for the spiritual beings they believed were the cause of these events. 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