There has always been a great deal of confusion as to the actual identity of this enigmatic
teacher of the Mayans and much argument over who Quetzalcoatl really was or even whether he
was a real figure at all. However it is reasonable to assume that he was indeed an actual character
because of the detailed descriptions of him that were preserved in Mayan traditions. It’s unlikely
that the Mayans would have fabricated a pale skinned, bearded god of western appearance if they
had not actually once seen a person fitting that description as it is completely contrary to the
appearance of the dark skinned and beardless Mayans.
There also exists a stele depicting Quetzalcoatl. The relief clearly depicts a bearded person of
western appearance (fig.131). There is also a character of extremely similar features that is
described in many other South American cultures. All of these characters are pale skinned and
bearded, all dress in long flowing, robe-like garments and all are said to have appeared suddenly,
imparted great knowledge and wisdom on the civilizations they visited and then departed. In all
instances the man was said to be traveling north when he departed and all of these legends
associate the figure with ‘feathered serpents’ in some way.
This same character has been known as: Quetzalcoatl in Cholula; Votan in Chiapas;
Wixepeocha in Oaxaca; Viracocha in Peru; Bochica in Columbia; Zamma and Kukulcan in
Yucatan; Sume and Paye-Tome in Brazil and Gucumatz in Guatemala. The similarities in the
stories from all of these places give weight to the very real possibility that such a person did
actually once exist.
One early and very well researched article that contained some quite well reasoned insights
into Quetzalcoatl was written by a man named Dominick Daly. The article was first published in
a November issue of ‘American Antiquarian’ in 1880 and later reprinted in ‘The Unexplained’ by
William Corliss and again in ‘Lost Cities of North and Central America,’ a very informative book
by David Hatcher-Childress. In the article Daly had this to say:
“The Mexicans had preserved a minute and apparently an accurate description of the personal
appearance and habits of Quetzalcoatl. He was a white man, advanced in years and tall in stature.
His forehead was broad; He had a large black beard and black hair. He is described as dressing in
a long garment, over which there was a mantle marked with crosses. This is a description which
was preserved for centuries in the traditions of a people who had no intercourse with or
knowledge of Europe, who had never seen a white man, and who were themselves dark skinned,
with but few scanty hairs on the skin to represent a beard.
“It is therefore difficult to suppose that this curiously accurate portraiture of Quetzalcoatl as an
early European Ecclesiastic was a mere invention in all its parts – a mere fable which happened to
hit on every particular characteristic of such an individual. Nor is it easier to understand why the
early Mexicans would have been at pains to invent a messiah so different to themselves and with
such peculiar attributes. Yet despite of destructive wars, revolutions and invasions – in spite of
the breaking up and dispersal of tribes and nations, the traditions of Quetzalcoatl and the account
of his personal peculiarities survived among the people until the days of the Spanish Invasion.
“... Enough remained of the teachings of Quetzalcoatl to impress the Spaniards of the sixteenth
century with the belief that he must have been a native of Europe. They found that many of the
religious beliefs of the Mexicans bore an unaccountable resemblance to those of Christians. The
Spanish ecclesiastics in particular were astounded by what they saw and knew not what to make
of it. Some of them supposed that St. Thomas ‘the apostle of India’ had been in the country and
imparted a knowledge of Christianity to the people; others with pious horror and in mental
bewilderment declared that the Evil One himself had set up a travesty of the Religion of Christ
for the more effectual damning of the souls of the pagan Mexicans.
“The religion of the Mexicans as the Spanish found it was in truth an amazing and most
unnatural combination of what appeared to be Christian beliefs and Christian virtues and morality
with the bloody rites and idolatrous practices of pagan barbarians. The mystery was soon
explained to the Spaniards by the Mexicans themselves. The milder part of the Mexican religion
was that which Quetzalcoatl had taught them. He had taught it to the Toltecs, a people who had
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