Guest Author - Elizabeth Bissette

The Mesoamerican God Quetzalcoatl is protrayed in many ways. In the earliest, Pre-Columbian myths, he is a feathered serpent who can live in the air, water and on land, who was the creator-God of the universe and humankind.

Part of what these and later tribes belived was the paths (lives) of Gods and of the planets were the same; so myths and the astrological calendar of Mesoamerica are linked. The myth of Quetzalcoatl is found in Mexico and southern Mesoamerica; in Olmec, Toltec, Aztec and Mayan legend.

This creator God also came to earth as the legendary king Quetzalcoatl. He ruled a kingdom called Tollen during a golden age of peace and prosperity. The ruin of an ancient city in Mexico, Tula, is believed by some to be Tollen.

Appropriately, Quetzalcoatl was a priest-king. He was very spiritual, (as a creator-God come to earth should-be), but lost balance. He became more and more immersed in being a priest and less in being a king. Unfortunately, this may have cauesd him to lose sight of what was happening in his outer kingdom.

Seeing Quetzalcoatl's weakness, the dark God Tezcatlipoca descended. Through a series of dubious deeds, he sent Quetzalcoatl away and took the throne.

Eventually, Tezcatlipoca got the better of Quetzalcoatl. He did this by simply showing him a mirror. Quetzalcoatl was horrified and sorrowful when he saw himself. He lost his mind and engaged in sensational, depraved behavior; sort of like Caligula. He lost his throne. The golden age of Tollan was over.

Quetzalcoal shut himself in a stone coffin to die, then rose from the dead 4 days later. It is said he went east from Tollan to the ocean. There, he made a raft of serpents and sailed away. According to Aztec myths, Quetzalcoatl burned up like a phoenix at the seacoast, then turned into a birghtly feathered bird and flew into heaven, becoming Venus.

The Aztecs also believed Quetzalcoal would return and caluculated a number of possible dates for this. Oddly, Cortes arrived in one of these years. As Quetzalcoatl was portrayed as caucasian in Mesoamerican art, they believed, at first, he had returned.

The legend of Quetzalcoal and Tezcatlipoca teaches us many things. Most obviously, it warns against letting our animal nature take over. But it also speaks of the need for balance; between physical and spiritual life, worldly and intellectual or emotional concerns.

Quetzalcoal had to look at himself honestly, in the mirror of his dark-half, to become perfect. He couldn't do it by focusing only on spirituality and denying all of his worldly needs. He had to do that completely but also be completely at his most human, week and depraived. Only when both were in balance was he free.