Biography

There are many different versions of myths throughout the centuries of stories told from the past. We seek to give you a mix of different versions of stories combined to give a clear, interesting and exciting understanding of mythology

 

Quetzalcoatl, also referred to as “the feathered serpent”, is the Mesoamerican god of wind, the Morning Star, arts, knowledge and learning. Quetzalcoatl is a principal deity among the Olmec, Teotihuacano, Toltec and Aztec civilizations. He is the deity representing the union of heaven, earth, life, breath, wisdom and creation. The word Quetzal means the sacred-green plumed bird, a symbol for the sky, spirit and life. The word Coatl means serpent, a symbol for earth, matter and life force, making him a representation of the life force that animates all living beings. He is the patron deity of Mesoamerican scribes, priests, artists, astronomers and philosophers, making him the originator of books, writing, the calendar, mathematics, art, culture and ceremonies in the Mesoamerican world. Quetzalcoatl is the idea that life is sacred and that spirit and matter are united.

 

 

Quetzalcoatl's Cosmological Family

The parents of the Tezcatlipocas are often referred to as the supreme dual god Ometeotl. 

In some myths, his father is Mixcoatl, and his mother is Chimala. 

Some Aztec myths describe him as the son of Coatlicue.

Quetzalcoatl’s father is Tonacatecuhtli, “the lord of sustenance”, and his mother is Tonacacihuatl, “ the lady of sustenance”, who produced the four Tezactlipocas which are the gods who construct creation. These are not siblings from a human perspective, but more so co-manifestations of cosmic forces. Black Tezcatlipoca represents night, chaos and sorcery; Blue Tezcatlipoca (Huitzilopochtli)  represents war, wisdom and sacrifice; Red Tezcatlipoca (Xipe Totec) represents renewal and spring, and these cosmic forces can be seen as the brothers of Quetzalcoatl (White Tezcatlipoca), who represents wind, wisdom and order. 

 

 

Quetzalcoatl and The Creation of the World

Black Tezcatlipoca is often just referred to as Tezcatlipoca.

During the sacrifice of the fifth sun, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca were not described as a part of this sacrifice.

Before the sky, the earth, the sun or anything existed, there was only Omeyocan, the place of duality. There lived Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl, who produced Tezacatlipoca, Quetzalcoatl, Huitzilopochtli and Xipe Totec. Below the heavens was a primordial endless waters where the great monster Cipactli, who was part fish, part crocodile, part star void, lived. The gods decided that it was time to form the world, but they needed a foundation, so Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl joined together in a gruesome and sacred act. They seized Cipactli and tore her apart as she screamed in agony, her back became the earth’s surface, her scales became the mountains, her tears became the bodies of fresh water, and her breath became the mist and clouds, thus creation being born from sacrifice. The gods then created five worlds called suns, which are actually epochs coming one after another, each ruled by a different god and destroyed when they became unbalanced. The second sun was ruled by Quetzalcoatl, but Tezcatlipoca was not fond of Quetzalcoatl’s world and disrupted the balance of the world by turning humanity into monkeys, causing Quetzalcoatl to send hurricanes to destroy the world. The other two suns also ended in destruction at the corruption of Tezcatlipoca, and when the fourth sun was destroyed, the world was empty, and no humans remained. The gods gathered in the darkness at Teotihuacan to make decisions on how to rebuild the next world. To create life, they needed humans, and humans were no more, so the gods realised that someone had to go to Mictlan to retrieve the bones of the human ancestors. These bones were important because they contained the DNA to restore humanity. Quetzalcoatl was the only one among the gods to volunteer; he descended through nine levels of the underworld until he reached Mictlantecuhtli, the lord of the underworld. Mictlantecuhtli demanded that Quetzalcoatl prove that he was worthy of the bones, setting traps, test and illusions in the path of Quetzalcoatl, who passed them all unscathed. Finally, Mictlantecuhtli reluctantly allowed Quetzalcoatl to gather the bones, but as Quetzalcoatl was taking his leave with the bones, Mictlantecuhtli startled him with a loud collapse and made Quetzalcoatl drop the bones, and this is the reason humanity comes in different shapes and sizes. He gathered the bones again, returned to the living world, placed the bones on a sacred clay vessel and cut his skin, bleeding into the bones to form humanity. Once humanity existed, they could not move, so he breathed his divine breath into them to give them mobility. When the first humans awoke, it was still dark, so the gods gathered again at Teotihuacan to decide who must become the new sun. Nanahuatzin and Tecuciztecatl stepped forward, and the ritual fire was lit. Nanahuatzin stepped into the fire first, becoming the sun, and Tecuciztecatl followed, becoming the moon. Even though the sun was now in the sky, it would not move, and the gods understood that for the sun to move, they must sacrifice themselves. Once the gods sacrificed themselves, the sun began to move, life began to continue, and time began to flow. Henceforth, the gods died so the world could live. Now that the sun was moving again and life had been created, humanity needed nourishment, so Quetzalcoatl searched the mountains and found maize and beans along with other vegetables and grain to give to the people. Once they were fed, Quetzacoatl gave them the gift of knowledge, teaching them how to live within the balance of the world. After Quetzalcoatl gave humanity everything they needed to flourish, humanity grew, forming great cities where Quetzalcoatl would soon appear again, but in human form.

Quetzalcoatl’s Human Story

This story is the life of Quetzalcoatl in human form, walking the earth as a man. 

Quetzalcoatl’s name is Topiltzin Ce Ācatl Quetzalcóatl in human form.

I will mainly address him as Ce Acatl in this story.

This story is organised on the account of research done from The Annals of Cuauhtitlan and The Florentine Codex.

Toltecs most likely did not refer to themselves as Toltecs, a name later people, like the Aztecs, gave them. Toltec literally means reed person or cultured person.

The obsidian mirror is sacred to Tezcatlipoca, as the mirror is a representation of his power.

Tezcatlipoca means “smoking mirror”.

Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli is a manifestation of Quetzalcoatl.

Chimalma was a priestess, noblewoman, and also Ce Actal’s mother and his father was Mixcoatl, the cloud serpent and god of hunting. Ce Acatl’s birth was not the same as a normal child's birth or conception. The text does not describe sexual intercourse as the cause of pregnancy. Chimala went to the temple of Quetzalcoatl to pray and received a jade stone that she placed upon her chest and conceived through breath, resulting in her becoming pregnant. Her pregnancy was difficult; she became weak and nearly died several times. When Ce Acatl was finally born, he did not cry; he entered the world fully aware of his surroundings. Shortly after Ce Acatl is born, his mother Chimalma dies, making him an orphan, motherless and fatherless in the world. His sacred lineage and his silent birth, the Toltec priesthood takes him in and raises him. They took him to a calmecac, which is a house of priestly learning, where he is trained to be a priest. Since Ce Acatl had a sacred lineage and was born on day 1 of the reed calendar, which signified the return of the wisdom bearer, the priest argued that he was the rightful heir to the throne of the Toltec people. Even though Ce Acatl was sought out as the rightful king, he did not wish to be king, but he reluctantly accepted the position and was crowned as the priest-king of Tollan without any bloodshed, which was quite uncommon in Toltec culture. Once Ce Acatl became king, this marked the end of human sacrifice in the Toltec empire for a period of time, and the city became the center of learning and philosophical reasoning, giving way for agriculture, trade and craftsmanship to flourish. Peace in Tollan, the golden age, lasted for many years until Tezcatlipoca, the force of chaos, arrived. 

Tezcatlipoca did not arrive in his true god form, but disguised as a sorcerer or magician of some sort. With him, he brings an obsidian mirror and shows Ce Acatl his own reflection, but Ce Acatl was disturbed by what he saw in the mirror. To ease the feeling that came upon Ce Acatl, Tezcatlipoca offered him pulque, and Ce Acatl drank. Pulque was not meant to be drunk for purposes such as Ce Acatl’s because it weakened the mind, so Ce Acatl became drunk and had forgotten himself, breaking his vow of chastity and slept with a woman. The next morning, when he awoke, Ce Acatl realised that he had fallen to the temptation of the mirror (which brought out his ego), the pulque (which broke his vow of sobriety) and sexual desire and wept. He decided that he was not fit to lead the people anymore and took his departure, relinquishing his crown. The people begged Ce Acatl to stay, but he could not because of his broken heart, which was unfit to rule a nation. Ce Acatl told the people that he would travel to Tlapallan, the symbolic home of the northern star, for a spiritual journey. He sets off on his departure as a priest, not a king. As he travels east, he stops in several places and teaches ethical conduct to the people. Ce Acatl soon approaches the eastern shore, reaching the destination where his journey ends. Some sources state that he built a pyre, dressed in his priestly garments and willingly walked into the fire. When the fire burned him, his heart rose to the sky. Other sources say that he built a raft of serpents and sailed east, disappearing into the horizon, leaving the human plane and entering cosmic time. Both versions end in the same conclusion: Ce Acatl becomes Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli “Lord of the Dawn”. Venus (the Morning Star) disappears for a period of time and rises again in the east, mirroring the cycle of Ce Acatl’s disappearance. The Toltec empire declines after Ce Acatl’s departure and soon falls due to the rise of factions, wars and the return of human sacrifices. 

Quetzalcóatl is the principle of ordered life, breath, wisdom, and balance that enters the world, teaching humanity how to live beautifully, but withdraws when integrity is broken, and returns eternally as memory, aspiration, and the Morning Star.

Research by Jameek Braggs