Name: Queztalcoatl

Area of Origin: Mesoamerica; Aztec

With a name that means “Feathered Serpent”, Quetzalcoatl was once a major deity in Mesoamerican religion and literature. It was deemed as the god of wind and learning, associated with the planet Venus, and of the arts, crafts and knowledge. Also called “Precious Twin” Quetzalcoatl is rivaled by a brother deity named Xolotl, the god of lightning and death. Quetzalcoatl has been depicted in different manners in Aztec iconography; sometimes as a richly adorned human-like figure, others as a purely zoomorphic, the feathered serpent has been prevalent in the culture’s artwork and architecture since 900 BC. Though primarily associated with snakes, Quetzalcoatal is also represented by crows, spider monkeys, ducks and macaws, and is seen as a progenitor of mankind. In Mayan culture, the approximate equivalent deities were Kukulkan and Q'uq'umatz, whose names also roughly translate to 'feathered serpent'.