Kukulkan, the Feathered Serpent

Kukulkan at the base of the west face of the northern stairway
of El Castillo, Chichen Itza

"In the Yucatec Maya language, the name is spelt K'uk'ulkan and in Tzotzil it is K'uk'ul-chon.
The Yucatec form of the name is formed from the word kuk "feather" with the adjectival suffix -ul, giving kukul "feathered",  combined with kan "snake", giving a literal meaning of "feathered snake"."
(Freidel et al 1993, p. 289.)



"...The Plumed or Feathered Serpent was a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions.

It or he was called Viracocha in the Inca and earlier cultures of Peru and Bolivia, Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan by the Yucatec Maya, and Gucumatz and Tohil among the K'iche' Maya, for example.

The double symbolism used in its name is considered allegoric to the dual nature of the deity or person, where being feathered represents its divine nature or ability to fly to reach the skies and being a serpent represents its human nature or ability to creep on the ground among other animals of the Earth, a dualism very common in Mesoamerican deities.

...

Quetzalcoatl was a bringer of knowledge, the inventor of books, and associated with the planet Venus. And the corresponding Mayan god Kukulkan was rare in the Classic era Maya civilization. However, in the Popol Vuh, the K'iche' Feathered Serpent god Tepeu Gucumatz is the creator of the cosmos.

...

So, it could be that the Plumed/Feathered Serpent concept is one that represents a being, person, or people of a very high state of mental consciousness.

That the Plumed and Feathered Serpent story is found in various parts of South and Central America, as well as Mexico, is, of course, intriguing, especially if the varied groups involved were not in contact with each other..."
(Foerster 2016)





_________________

Freidel, David A.; Linda Schele; Joy Parker (1993). Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman's Path. New York: William Morrow and Company

Foerstet B., 2016; Plumed Serpent: Ancient Bearded Gods Of The Americas