Find the Feathered Serpent

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When Cortez and his Spanish soldiers conquered Mexico, Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs, believed Cortez to be the Great White God, Quetzalcoatl, who had returned to his people as promised centuries before. It was only after the Emperor realized that Cortez was merely flesh and blood, like other humans, that he attempted to destroy him.

The Quetzalcoatl whom Montezuma had worshiped was a real man who lived in the thirteenth century. It is claimed that he was a Toltec ruler who was taken to the religious city of Chichen-Itza as a prisoner of war. Although human sacrifices were never as frequent among the Mayas as among the Aztecs, it was common practice to sacrifice prisoners of war to various important gods. The most important of these gods were the “rain gods” and thus Quetzalcoatl, the Toltec, was thrown into the sacred pool at Chichen-Itza. Being very strong, he was able to stay afloat for a long time, and then the Mayas pulled him out and accorded him the honor of making him a god-a living, breathing god who walked the earth. They called him Kukulcan, after an early legendary god whose name is said to mean “feathered serpent.” In time, Kukulcan became the most powerful ruler in Yucatan.

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