Editing Qʼuqʼumatz (section)

==Symbolism==
[[File:Male Resplendent Quetzal.jpg|thumb|right|The ''qʼuq'' "resplendent quetzal" was strongly associated with Qʼuqʼumatz in Kʼicheʼ belief]]
The male resplendent quetzal boasts iridescent blue-green tail feathers measuring up to {{convert|1|m|ft}} long that were prized by the Maya elite.<ref name="Christenson0307p52-53">{{harvnb|Christenson|2007|pp=52–53}}.</ref> The blue-green feathers symbolized vegetation and the sky, both symbols of life for the ancient Maya, while the bright red feathers of the bird's chest symbolized fire.<ref name="Christenson0307p52-53"/> Together, this combination gave a profound religious symbolism to the bird.<ref name="Chris53"/> The snake was a Maya symbol of rebirth due to its habit of [[Moulting#Reptiles|shedding]] its skin to reveal a fresher one underneath.<ref name="Chris53"/> Qʼuqʼumatz 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.<ref name="Chris53"/> These characteristics also indicated a sexual duality between his masculine feathered serpent aspect and his feminine association with water and wind.<ref name="carm279A"/> 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 symbolized with the [[Mesoamerican ballgame]].<ref>{{harvnb|Carmack|2001a|p=279}}; {{harvnb|Fox|2008|p=249}}; {{harvnb|Fox|1991|p=221}}.</ref>

In ancient Maya highland texts Qʼuqʼumatz is strongly associated with water, which in turn is associated with the underworld.<ref>{{harvnb|Christenson|2007|p=59, n. 54}}; {{harvnb|Recinos|1998|p=51, n. 62}}.</ref> The Kʼicheʼ are reported to have believed that Qʼuqʼumatz was a feathered serpent that moved in the water.<ref name="Chris59n54">{{harvnb|Christenson|2007|p=59, n. 54}}.</ref> 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Christenson|2007|p=59, n. 54}}; {{harvnb|Recinos|1998|p=51}}.</ref> The [[Kaqchikel people|Kaqchikel Maya]] were closely linked to the Kʼicheʼ 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 known today as [[Xocomil (weather)|Xocomil]].<ref>{{harvnb|Christenson|2007|p=59, n. 54}}; {{harvnb|Recinos|1998|p=64}}.</ref><ref name="PL xocomil">{{harvnb|Pérez|2018}}.</ref>

Among the Kʼicheʼ Qʼuqʼumatz not only appeared as a feathered serpent, he was also embodied as an eagle and a [[Jaguars in Mesoamerican cultures|jaguar]], he was also known to transform himself into a pool of blood.<ref name="ReadGonzalez00p190-191">{{harvnb|Read|González|2000|pp=190–191}}.</ref> The deity was sometimes represented by a snail or conch shell and was associated with a flute made from bones.<ref name="ReadGonzalez00p190-191"/> As well as being associated with water, Qʼuqʼumatz was also associated with clouds and the wind.<ref>{{harvnb|Carmack|2001a|pp=260, 279}}.</ref>

===Sun and the ballgame===
{{Maya civilization}}
Qʼuqʼumatz was not directly equivalent to the Mexican Quetzalcoatl, he combined his attributes with those of the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Classic Period]] [[Chontal Maya people|Chontal Maya]] creator god [[Itzamna]] and was a two headed serpentine sky monster that carried the sun across the sky.<ref>{{harvnb|Fox|2008|pp=60, 121}}; {{harvnb|Fox|1991|pp=220–221}}.</ref> Sculptures of a human face emerging between the jaws of a serpent were common from the end of the Classic Period through to the Late Postclassic and may represent Qʼuqʼumatz in the act of carrying Hunahpu, the youthful avatar of the sun god Tohil, across the sky.<ref name="Fox8708p60,249">{{harvnb|Fox|2008|pp=60, 249}}.</ref> After midday, Qʼuqʼumatz continued into the west and descended towards the underworld bearing an older sun.<ref>{{harvnb|Fox|1991|p=235}}.</ref> Such sculptures were used as markers for the Mesoamerican ballgame.<ref name="Fox249-y87">{{harvnb|Fox|2008|p=249}}.</ref> Since Qʼuqʼumatz acted as a mediator between Tohil and Awilix and their incarnations as the [[Maya Hero Twins]] Hunahpu and Ixbalanque, the positioning of such [[Mesoamerican ballcourt|ballcourt]] markers on the east and west sides of north-south oriented ballcourts would represent Qʼuqʼumatz carrying the sun to the zenith with the east marker carrying Hunahpu/Tohil in its jaws, while the west marker would represent the descent of the sun into the underworld and would be carrying Ixbalanque/Awilix in its jaws.<ref name="Fox8708p60,249"/>

No ballgame markers are known from the heart of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom and investigators such as Fox consider it significant that these images of Q'uq'umatz carrying the sun are found in the eastern periphery facing the underworld due to the use of the ballgame in mediating political conflict.<ref>{{harvnb|Fox|2008|pp=248–249}}; {{harvnb|Fox|1991|pp=234–235}}.</ref>

===Modern belief===
The various feathered serpent deities remained popular in Mesoamerican folk traditions after the Spanish conquest but by the 20th century Qʼuqʼumatz appeared only rarely among the Kʼicheʼ.<ref>{{harvnb|Read|González|2000|p=182}}.</ref> A tradition was recorded by Juan de León that Qʼuqʼumatz assisted the sun god Tohil in his daily climb to the zenith.<ref name="carmac364">{{harvnb|Carmack|2001a|p=364}}.</ref> According to De León, who may have gathered the information from elders in [[Santa Cruz del Quiché]], the feathered serpent gripped Tohil in his jaws to carry him safely up into the sky.<ref name="Carmack 2001a, p.365">{{harvnb|Carmack|2001a|p=365}}.</ref>