Download or read book The Myth of Quetzalcoatl written by Enrique Florescano and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2002-11-29 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this comprehensive study, Enrique Florescano traces the spread of the worship of the Plumed Serpent, and the multiplicity of interpretations that surround him, by comparing the Palenque inscriptions (ca. A.D. 690), the Vienna Codex (pre-Hispanic Conquest), the Historia de los Mexicanos (1531), the Popul Vuh (ca. 1554), and numerous other texts. He also consults and reproduces archeological evidence from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, demonstrating how the myth of Quetzalcoatl extends throughout Mesoamerica.
Download or read book Lord of the Dawn written by Rudolfo Anaya and published by UNM Press. This book was released on 2012-02-16 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legend of Quetzalcóatl is the enduring epic myth of Mesoamerica. The gods create the universe, but man must carefully tend to the harmony of the world. Without spiritual attention to harmony, chaos may reign, destroying the universe and civilization. The ancient Mexicans, like other peoples throughout the world, wrestled with ideas and metaphors by which to know the Godhead and developed their own concepts about their relationship to the universe. Quetzalcóatl came to the Toltecs to teach them art, agriculture, peace, and knowledge. He was a redeemer god, and his story inspires, instructs, and entertains, as do all the great myths of the world. Now available in paperback, the Lord of the Dawn is Anaya’s exploration of the cosmology and the rich and complex spiritual thought of his Native American ancestors. The story depicts the daily world of man, the struggle between the peacemakers and the warmongers, and the world of the gods and their role in the life of mankind.
Download or read book Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns written by Duncan Tonatiuh and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh brings an ancient Mesoamerican creation myth to life Long ago, the gods of Mesoamerica set out to create humans. They tried many times during each sun, or age. When all their attempts failed and the gods grew tired, only one did not give up: Quetzalcóatl—the Feathered Serpent. To continue, he first had to retrieve the sacred bones of creation guarded by Mictlantecuhtli, lord of the underworld. Gathering his staff, shield, cloak, and shell ornament for good luck, Feathered Serpent embarked on the dangerous quest to create humankind. Award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh brings to life the story of Feathered Serpent, one of the most important deities in ancient Mesoamerica. With his instantly recognizable, acclaimed art style and grand storytelling, Tonatiuh recounts a thrilling creation tale of epic proportions.
Download or read book Quetzalcoatl and the Irony of Empire written by David Carrasco and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1992-06-15 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Davíd Carrasco draws from the perspectives of the history of religions, anthropology, and urban ecology to explore the nature of the complex symbolic form of Quetzalcoatl in the organization, legitimation, and subversion of a large segment of the Mexican urban tradition. His new Preface addresses this tradition in the light of the Columbian quincentennial. "This book, rich in ideas, constituting a novel approach . . . represents a stimulating and provocative contribution to Mesoamerican studies. . . . Recommended to all serious students of the New World's most advanced indigenous civilization."—H. B. Nicholson, Man
Download or read book The Myth of Quetzalcoatl written by Alfredo López Austin and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2015-11-07 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Myth of Quetzalcoatl is a translation of Alfredo López Austin’s 1973 book Hombre-Dios: Religión y politica en el mundo náhuatl. Despite its pervasive and lasting influence on the study of Mesoamerican history, religion in general, and the Quetzalcoatl myth in particular, this work has not been available in English until now. The importance of Hombre-Dios and its status as a classic arise from its interdisciplinary approach, creative use of a wide range of source material, and unsurpassed treatment of its subject—the nature and content of religious beliefs and rituals among the native populations of Mesoamerica and the manner in which they fused with and helped sanctify political authority and rulership in both the pre- and post-conquest periods. Working from a wide variety of previously neglected documentary sources, incorporating myth, archaeology, and the ethnography of contemporary Native Americans including non-Nahua peoples, López Austin traces the figure of Quetzalcoatl as a “Man-God” from pre-conquest times, while Russ Davidson’s translator’s note, Davíd Carrasco's foreword, and López Austin’s introduction place the work within the context of modern scholarship. López Austin’s original work on Quetzalcoatl is a pivotal work in the field of anthropology, and this long-overdue English translation will be of significance to historians, anthropologists, linguists, and serious readers interested in Mesoamerica.
Download or read book The Myth of Quetzalcoatl written by Alfredo López Austin and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2015-10-07 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Myth of Quetzalcoatl is a translation of Alfredo López Austin’s 1973 book Hombre-Dios: Religión y politica en el mundo náhuatl. Despite its pervasive and lasting influence on the study of Mesoamerican history, religion in general, and the Quetzalcoatl myth in particular, this work has not been available in English until now. The importance of Hombre-Dios and its status as a classic arise from its interdisciplinary approach, creative use of a wide range of source material, and unsurpassed treatment of its subject—the nature and content of religious beliefs and rituals among the native populations of Mesoamerica and the manner in which they fused with and helped sanctify political authority and rulership in both the pre- and post-conquest periods. Working from a wide variety of previously neglected documentary sources, incorporating myth, archaeology, and the ethnography of contemporary Native Americans including non-Nahua peoples, López Austin traces the figure of Quetzalcoatl as a “Man-God” from pre-conquest times, while Russ Davidson’s translator’s note, Davíd Carrasco's foreword, and López Austin’s introduction place the work within the context of modern scholarship. López Austin’s original work on Quetzalcoatl is a pivotal work in the field of anthropology, and this long-overdue English translation will be of significance to historians, anthropologists, linguists, and serious readers interested in Mesoamerica.
Download or read book How Did the White God Come to Mexico Ce Acatl Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl written by Stefan Heep and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2019-09-12 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most American schoolbooks claim that the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II confused the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés for the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, a fabulous, fair-skinned priest king of ancient times who had promised to return, which is why Moctezuma voluntarily surrendered his mighty empire. In the past, the tale of Quetzalcoatl has inspired many people to speculate about pre-Columbian invaders from the Old World. It has also been abused as another presumed proof of white supremacy. Indigenous traditions, however, saw a Mexican Messiah who played an important part in constructing the Mexican national identity. This book demonstrates that the story of the returning god is a product of “fake news” uttered by Cortés. It does so by analysing the most important sources of the Quetzalcoatl-tale. A systematic context-enlargement that also includes ethnographic information and contemporary history reveals why and how Cortés constructed this story, and why and how the Aztec elite adopted it. This method proves to be an epistemological tool which allows researchers to identify pre-Hispanic information in ethnohistorical texts of colonial times. As a result, the true Quetzalcoatl behind the legend comes to light.
Download or read book The Phoenix of the Western World written by Burr Cartwright Brundage and published by Norman : University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 1982 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Quetzalcoatl and Guadalupe written by Jacques Lafaye and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1987-08-15 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In this study of complex beliefs in which Aztec religion and Spanish Catholicism blend, Lafaye demonstrates the importance of religious beliefs in the formation of the Mexican nation. Far from being of only parochial interest, this volume is of great value to any historian of religions concerned with problems of nativism and syncretism."—Franke J. Neumann, Religious Studies Review
Download or read book A Quetzalcoatl Tale of Corn written by and published by . This book was released on 2014-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quetzalcóatl tales are ancient legends from Mexico and Central America that have been passed down through the ages, primarily by oral tradition. The Quetzalcóatl Tales Series, aimed at K-5 students, particularly in first and fifth grade, introduces young children to these wonderful stories with their sensitive portrayal of this rich and significant culture. These vividly illustrated texts are available in English and Spanish and are accompanied by teacher's guides that provide the archaeological and historical background of each story, as well as a wide range of engaging and educational activities for students. A Quetzalcóatl Tale of Corn tells how Quetzalcóatl followed a trail of ants to the Mountain of Sustenance and stole maize from the gods to feed his people, while A Quetzalcóatl Tale of Chocolate tells the story of Two Wind Deer, the boy who brought chocolate to the people of the earth. In A Quetzalcóatl Tale of the Ball Game, Quetzalcóatl saves his people from war by playing a game with a rubber ball against the Rain God and is rewarded for winning with jade and quetzal feathers.
Download or read book The Legend of Maize written by Kevin Earl and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-29 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An ancient Aztec myth explains the how they got corn and why it is so important to their culture. This colorfully illustrated children's story uses geometric patterns and traditional motifs to represent this important Aztec legend.
Download or read book Legends of the Plumed Serpent written by Neil Baldwin and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meticulously pieced together from personal experiences that come with years of travel, an extensive knowledge of the historic and scholarly works, and a deep appreciation of Latin American art and culture—both ancient and modern—critically-acclaimed biographer Neil Baldwin has created a mosaic of words and images retelling the myth of the Plumed Serpent (or Quetzalcóatl) as it has evolved through the millennia. He has also created an essential guidebook for the armchair traveller and passionate tourist alike. Only a few hours by air from the United States are the mysteries and hauntingly beautiful ruins of Mexico. Among the vines intertwined in the frail latticework of crumbling palaces, spiraling geometric motifs covering vast walls that sink beneath the jungle, and nearly vertical temple steps leading hundreds of feet to a dizzying view of sky and earth, images of Quetzalcóatl abound. The fanged, bug-eyed feathered serpent thrusts his malevolent, sneering head from the pyramid at Teotihuacán; he swims in a river of rock around the temple at Xochicalco; and at Chichén Itzá, serpent and jaguar dance on a trail of stone, their embrace spawning a monstrous snake with clawed forefeet. Depicted as part man, snake, and bird, the Plumed Serpent is the earliest known creation myth from Mesoamerica, the region spanning Mexico and most of Central America. He embodies good and evil, sky and earth, feast and famine—the duality of life itself. Steep, massive temples were built in his honor at Teotihuacán, the vast city of ruins near today’s Mexico City, and at Chichén Itzá in northern Yucatán, the intricate complex that includes the famed ballcourt. Moctezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs, mistook Hernán Cortéz and the invasion of the Spanish in 1519 for the return of Quetzalcóatl. The Catholic Church with its army of Franciscan monks adapted his legend to introduce the indigenous people to Catholicism. The myth enhanced Emiliano Zapata’s stature as a latter-day Quetzalcóatl during the Mexican Revolution. Diego Rivera and the modern muralists invoked his image to include indigenous themes in their state-sponsored art. And Quetzalcóatl inspired English author D. H. Lawrence to write a new “American novel.” These and many other tales are recounted in the words and images of Neil Baldwin’s Legends of the Plumed Serpent. Whether sharing a moment of reflection among the breathtaking ruins, delving into the historic role of Quetzalcóatl during the Spanish Conquest, or tracing the themes of revolution and rebirth in the art of Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, Neil Baldwin’s enlightening prose captures the imagination. Accompanied by numerous illustrations—many photographs taken by the author, and others painstakingly researched and gathered over the past decade—Legends of the Plumed Serpent is a true labor of love.
Download or read book How Music Came to the World written by Hal Ober and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1994 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Retells a Mexican legend in which the sky god and the wind god bring music from Sun's house to the Earth.
Download or read book 2012 written by Daniel Pinchbeck and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on cosmological phenomena of the modern world as well as the author's own research into shamanic and metaphysical belief systems to support the Mayan theory about an unprecedented global shift predicted for the year 2012.
Download or read book The Myths of Mexico Peru written by Lewis Spence and published by . This book was released on 1913 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Quetzalcoatl written by Ernesto Novato and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-03 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading Gilgamesh, Hercules, Aeneas, and Lancelot are instantly recognized as mythological heroes in the West, evoking visions of Persian monsters, ghastly labors, and the founding and glorification of cities, but the name Quetzalcoatl is as mysterious as its spelling. Even those who have come across his name when learning about the history of Mesoamerica - particularly the Aztec and the god's role in the Spanish conquest of their empire - are often unaware that the Mesoamerican deity has tales that equal any of those in the repertoire of the mythological figures mentioned above, and the tale of his transmission into modern times is no less fascinating. As archaeologists quickly learned, there are numerous temples dedicated to Quetzalcoatl all across Mesoamerica. From the Aztec to the Maya, Quetzalcoatl - the Feathered Serpent - rears his beautiful head from magnificent relief carvings in temples no less grandiose than the largest pyramid in the region, that of Cholula in Mexico. Furthermore, thousands of people still gather in the great Mayan city of Chichén Itzá during the spring and autumn equinoxes to watch the shadow of the Feathered Serpent slither its way down the temple known as El Castillo. Worship of the Feathered Serpent can be traced back 2,000 years, and the Serpent's cults appear all across Mesoamerica. The Olmec, the Aztec, and both the Yucatec and K'iche Mayans all had different names for this deity, including Kukulkan, Q'uq'umatz, and Tohil, but his iconography is curiously consistent over several centuries across the region. Depending on who was worshipping him, the Feathered Serpent was a creator-god, the god of the winds, the god of the rains, or merely a near-divine ancestor whose militaristic ways won his followers land and riches before he was eventually marred by lavishness and iniquity, resulting in his demise. To some of the invading Spanish conquistadores, Quetzalcoatl was little more than another demon the "natives" had been worshipping before they were kind enough to bring God to the New World. To others, however, Quetzalcoatl was precisely evidence of the spread of Christianity reaching Mesoamerica long before the conquistadores ever arrived. Much of what modern scholars depend on to understand Quetzalcoatl, however, comes from the period of the Spanish invasion of Mesoamerica, and therefore stories of his blowing the sun across the sky have become mixed with those linking him with Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, this makes for a fascinating picture of a deity whose image has been shaped by some of the most famous civilizations in history and continues to be adopted by people today, often for more than spiritual purposes (as is evident in the adoption of Quetzalcoatl imagery in Mexico's struggle for independence). As a result, Quetzalcoatl was and remains one of the most interesting and enlightening stories ever to have come out of any civilization, and his stories offer a better understanding of the Mesoamerican world. Quetzalcoatl: The History and Legacy of the Feathered Serpent God in Mesoamerican Mythology examines the origins of the deity and his place in the pantheon of gods. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Quetzalcoatl like never before.
Download or read book History and Mythology of the Aztecs written by and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 1998-06-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the great documents of colonial Mexico, the Codex Chimalpopoca chronicles the rise of Aztec civilization and preserves the mythology on which it was based. Its two complementary texts, Annals of Cuauhtitlan and Legend of the Suns, record the pre-CortŽsian history of the Valley of Mexico together with firsthand versions of that region's myths. Of particular interest are the stories of the hero-god Quetzalcoatl, for which the Chimalpopoca is the premier source. John Bierhorst's work is the first major scholarship on the Codex Chimalpopoca in more than forty years. His is the first edition in English and the first in any language to include the complete text of the Legend of the Suns. The precise, readable translation not only contributes to the study of Aztec history and literature but also makes the codex an indispensable reference for Aztec cultural topics, including land tenure, statecraft, the role of women, the tribute system, warfare, and human sacrifice.
