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Chapter 14
People of the Serpent
Graham Hancock – FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS
After spending so long immersed in the traditions of Viracocha, the
bearded god of the distant Andes, I was intrigued to discover that
Quetzalcoatl, the principal deity of the ancient Mexican pantheon, was
described in terms that were extremely familiar.
For example, one pre-Colombian myth collected in Mexico by the
sixteenth-century Spanish chronicler Juan de Torquemada asserted that
Quetzalcoatl was ‘a fair and ruddy complexioned man with a long beard’.
Another spoke of him as, ‘era Hombre blanco; a large man, broad
browed, with huge eyes, long hair, and a great, rounded beard—la barba
grande y redonda.’ 1 Another still described him as
a mysterious person ... a white man with strong formation of body, broad
forehead, large eyes, and a flowing beard. He was dressed in a long, white robe
reaching to his feet. He condemned sacrifices, except of fruits and flowers, and
was known as the god of peace ... When addressed on the subject of war he is
reported to have stopped up his ears with his fingers. 2
According to a particularly striking Central American tradition, this ‘wise
instructor ...’
came from across the sea in a boat that moved by itself without paddles. He was a
tall, bearded white man who taught people to use fire for cooking. He also built
houses and showed couples that they could live together as husband and wife;
and since people often quarreled in those days, he taught them to live in peace. 3
Viracocha’s Mexican twin
The reader will recall that Viracocha, in his journeys through the Andes,
went by several different aliases. Quetzalcoatl did this too. In some parts
of Central America (notably among the Quiche Maya) he was called
Gucumatz. Elsewhere, at Chichen Itza for example, he was known as
Kukulkan. When both these words were translated into English, they
turned out to mean exactly the same thing: Plumed (or Feathered)
Serpent. This, also, was the meaning of Quetzalcoatl. 4
There were other deities, among the Maya in particular, whose
1
Juan de Torquemada, Monarchichia indiana, volume I, cited in Fair Gods and Stone
Faces, pp. 37-8.
2
North America of Antiquity, p. 268, cited in Atlantis: The Antediluvian World, p. 165.
3
The Mythology of Mexico and Central America, p. 161.
4
See Nigel Davis, The Ancient Kingdoms of Mexico, Penguin Books, London, 1990, p.
152; The Gods and Symbols of Ancient Mexico and the Maya, pp. 141-2.
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