Etymology and Symbolism
The name translates literally as "Quetzal Serpent" although it is often rendered less accurately as "Feathered Serpent". The name derives from the K'iche' word q'uq', referring to the Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno, a brightly coloured bird of the cloud forests of southern Mesoamerica. This is combined with the word kumatz, meaning "snake". The male Resplendent Quetzal boasts iridescent blue-green tail feathers measuring up to 1 metre (3.3 ft) long that were prized by the Maya elite. The blue-green feathers symbolised vegetation and the sky, both symbols of life for the ancient Maya, while the bright red feathers of the bird's chest symbolised fire. Together, this combination gave a profound religious symbolism to the bird. The snake was a Maya symbol of rebirth due to its habit of shedding its skin to reveal a fresher one underneath. Q'uq'umatz thus combined the celestial characteristics of the Quetzal with the serpentine underworld powers of the snake, giving him power over all levels of the Maya universe. These characteristics also indicated a sexual duality between his masculine feathered serpent aspect and his feminine association with water and wind. This duality enabled the god to serve as a mediator between the masculine sun god Tohil and the feminine moon goddess Awilix, a role that was symobolised with the Mesoamerican ballgame.
In ancient Maya highland texts Q'uq'umatz is strongly associated with water, which in turn is associated with the underworld. The K'iche' are reported to have believed that Q'uq'umatz was a feathered serpent that moved in the water. In the Annals of the Cakchiquels, it is related that a group of highland Maya referred to themselves as the Gucumatz because their only salvation was said to be in the water. The Kaqchikel Maya were closely linked to the K'iche' and one of their ancestors, Gagavitz, was said to have thrown himself into Lake Atitlán and transformed himself into the deity, thus raising a storm upon the water and forming a whirlpool.
Among the K'iche' Q'uq'umatz not only appeared as a feathered serpent, he was also embodied as an eagle and a jaguar, he was also known to transform himself into a pool of blood. The deity was sometimes represented by a snail or conch shell and was associated with a flute made from bones. As well as being associated with water, Q'uq'umatz was also associated with clouds and the wind.
Read more about this topic: Q'uq'umatz
Famous quotes containing the words etymology and/or symbolism:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)