The Mayan Mystery: Who was Kukulcan and Quetzalcoatl

In the ancient world there are many mysteries, but none as perplexing as those found in the Mayan culture. From their beginnings to their mysterious disappearance the Mayan’s have baffled us all. One fact that has stumped many is actually one of the figures that is found throughout Mayan religion, the Serpent God, Kukulcan.

Kukulcan is one of the three gods that was thought to have created the Earth. He is a serpent in his natural form and was responsible for teaching the Mayan’s about such things as how to run a civilization, agriculture, and medicine. After a brief period of being on Earth Kukulcan returned to the ocean telling the Mayans that he would return at some later date. Mayans perceived European settlers as the second coming of their god Kukulcan and this was eventually lead to the trust between the two cultures, and the eventual defeat of the Mayans culture. The baffling question is, why would the Mayans think that European settlers were gods? Did they look anything like what the Mayans perceived as Kukulcan? The answer is yes!

Kukulcan had a human form as well as his feathered serpent form. Kukulcan would transform into a man standing about 6 feet tall with long white hair, but most interestingly he was a male Caucasian man with white skin! We find writing from the Mayans and sculptures of what is thought to be Kukulcan and they depict a very European looking figure, totally different from how the Mayan’s looked.

Mayan’s were dark skinned Latin looking people. They were normally not very tall and had brown eyes. Kukulcan in his human form was a complete contrast, having white or silver hair, white skin, blue eyes, and he was tall. Scientist and scholars alike have all wondered why this could have been the case? Why would a civilization have a divine figure, a god that looked nothing like themselves? Why would he look like people found in Western civilization? One theory actually involves the lost city of Atlantis!

Some would think that once Atlantis as described by Plato sank into the ocean some of its citizens would have survived. One man, Kukulcan, could have made his way into Mesoamerica and taught the Mayan’s the secrets of his lost city. This fits the profile of what Kukulcan would have been like, coming from the sea, looking like a European, and teachings of government, medicine, and agriculture, all fit into the idea that Kukulcan could have been from the ancient Atlantis. Also when he left, this mystery man could have traveled across Mexico and found those form the Aztec civilization.

Aztecs worshiped a similar god, Quetzalcoatl, who also matches the description of Kukulcan. Quetzalcoatl taught many of the same things as Kukulcan and once Spanish conquistadors began to arrive in Mesoamerica they were also accepted as gods by the Aztecs. This would lead some to believe that both Quetzalcoatl, and Kukulcan were indeed the same deity, or man as it may be the case.

Both the Mayan and Aztec civilizations remain mostly undiscovered and many mysteries surround both, but still the legend of Kukulcan and his many temples and statues astound and baffle scientist, and will for centuries to come.