Mexico Culture: Quetzalcóatl at Xochicalco and other symbolism

When Reed and I visited Xochicalco just south of Cuernavaca, we were both struck by the symbolism that infuses the site—most explicitly figures found on the Templo de Quetzalcóatl (Temple of the Feathered Snakes). The sculpted reliefs on the temple are outstanding as art, but their symbolism is at least as powerful.

This post attempts to describe the symbolic meanings that inform these works of art—which, after all, the Xochicalca people didn't at all regard as 'art'! The symbolic figures communicated meaning—including sophisticated religious concepts.

Metaphor is widely used throughout Mesoamerican to convey meaning. I'm often struck anew by the highly attuned visual sense of many of our indigenous friends. One barely-literate friend spent perhaps 10-minutes describing all that she saw in a particularly beautiful painting of pueblo life that hangs here at Casa Mariposa. It was not a one-time event. Her responses to various 'objects' that we've brought home suggest that she actively interacts with them:  they 'speak' to her.

For me 'Mesoamerican culture' is not at all 'dead'. It is alive and well and surrounds us today. It is in this spirit that I'd like to share what we 'saw' during our visit to Xochicalco.     

Templo de Quetzalcóatl
The subtle colors are intriquing

It's not an exaggeration to say that Xochicalco is dominated by the Templo de Quetzalcóatl. 

Templo de Quetzalcóatl - Another View

The symbolism of Quetzalcóatl—also known as the 'plumed serpent'—is multi-layered and rich. The serpent is associated with water, caves, and the sky and hence with the cold, wet energy called ecahuil. But the serpent is also known for swallowing its prey whole and for shedding its skin; in this sense, then, the serpent symbolizes death, rebirth and transformation.

Birds take to the sky, which is home also to the sun and to the hot-dry energy called tona. The long blue and green tail feathers of the quetzal bird are highly regarded—sometimes they represent royalty.

Quetzal, sacred to the Aztecs and Maya
During mating season, the male grows blue and green twin tail feathers three feet (1 meter) long;
these tail feathers were worn ceremonially by Mesoamerican rulers and priests

Quetzalcóatl, the ‘plumed serpent’, thus combines earth and the sky, water and sun (fire). We shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Quetzalcóatl was a very complex God. Some see in him a culture hero. When the Spanish arrived, the Aztecs thought Cortés was Quetzalcóatl returning as he had promised.

As the God of Venus, Quetzalcóatl was one of the four sons of the creator gods, and he played an active part in creating the universe. After the first four worlds were destroyed by water, fire, wind and earthquakes, he created a new humankind by mixing his blood with a powder made of the bones of the ancestors.

Quetzalcóatl helped in discovering the maize (corn) seeds—a discovery which was to Mesoamerica what wheat was to Mesopotamia and rice to China. Throughout Mesoamerica, rituals propitiated both the God of Sun and the Gods of Water, precisely as if the sacred plant, maize, were a synthesis of both sun (tona) and water (ecahuil). Certainly, maize requires sun, water and earth to grow in order to yield its life-sustaining kernals.

Quetzalcóatl was the patron of knowledge and of the highest priests. During his life-time as ruler of mythic Tula, he led a life of prayer and ascetism. Quetzalcóatl was also the God of Wind. 

Each corner of the temple depicts two feathered serpents

The Templo de Quetzalcóatl is decorated with beautifully sculpted reliefs representing eight huge feathered serpents—two at each corner (see photo above). These feathered serpents are adorned with great headpieces, snails, important leaders and the symbol for ‘new fire’—the ritual celebration that occurs every 52 years when the 365-day solar calendar and the 260-day divinatory calendar coincide.

Head of one 'plumed serpent'

The Pacific Ocean is 150 miles west, so I was startled to see sea life at Xochicalco. But archaeologists have determined that seashells were obtained throughout Mesoamerica as a result of trade and tribute. Hence the representation of sea life—e.g., starfish, conch shells, sand dollars—at Xochicalco testifies to the city-state’s control of key trade routes and to its military prowess in subjecting other peoples to pay tribute. 

                Pottery Starfish

Pottery Conch Shell

                                                                                               Pottery Sand Dollar                        

Ollín: Symbol of Movement and Transformation

In Mesoamerica, moreover, it was believed that the mountains of the earth rest upon the sea, so the depiction of sea life carried symbolic meaning. As I mentioned earlier, metaphor was used extensively to describe abstract religious concepts throughout Mesoamerica. For example, ollín refers to motion and to the essential vitality and dynamism of life itself; that is, to transformation. In the sculpture shown below, the folded, ribbon-like form at the base represents ollín.

Ollín is the crossed, ribbon-like shape that forms the base of this sculpture
Xochicalco Museum

Emerging from its chrysalis to become a butterfly (mariposa), the butterfly is another symbol of transformation. Below is the sculpted  head of a butterfly.

Butterfly (mariposa) Head
Xochicalco Museum

The jaguar was the Sun God of the Night who, traveling west to east through the Underworld, emerged each morning at sunrise to resume his east-west trip. This journey was not taken for granted, but was supported by religious rituals. Below is a sculpture of the full body of a jaguar and a close-up of the jaguar's head.

Sitting Jaguar (above) and Jaguar's Head (below)
Xochicalco Museum

Let me end this tour of Xochicalco with a lovely plate depicting 'dancers'.  Reed and I disagree over what, exactly, is depicted.  Reed votes for 'dancers' but I have my doubts. The short necks and torsos, and the long, skinny legs suggest 'monkeys' (monos) to me.

Here's what I've been able to find out about monkeys as symbols:  Spider monkeys are social animals that live in groups of 40 to 50, and they range farther north than any other New World monkey—that is, than do either the howler monkeys or capuchin monkeys.  We saw spider monkeys at the Ecological Park in Cuernavaca.

In Central Mexico, the monkey was known as ozomatli and was the 11th day sign. Babies born on the day Ozomatli were thought to be lucky and happy persons.

Plate depicting Dancers
Xochicalco Museum

Maybe these are 'Dancing Monkeys'!  What's your vote?

In any event, the graceful, vital aesthetic of the plate conveys to me much of what I felt about Xochicalco itself. The Xochicalca people only occupied this site for a little over two hundred years (650-900 C.E.) but what they constructed in this short time is powerful testimony to their creative, imaginative intelligence.