Q'uk'umatz
K'iche' · deity · K'iche' traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Q'uk'umatz, the Quetzal-Serpent, is the feathered creator deity of the Popol Vuh and the K'iche' counterpart of the wider Mesoamerican Feathered Serpent known to the Yucatec Maya as Kukulkan and to the Nahua as Quetzalcoatl. Wrapped in the shimmering green and blue plumes of the quetzal bird and coiled beneath the primordial sea, Q'uk'umatz joins with Tepew to think and speak the cosmos into existence. Sources within the highland tradition also record Q'uk'umatz as the name of a semi-legendary K'iche' lord said to have transformed himself into a serpent, an eagle, and a jaguar, blurring the line between the creator god and a deified ruler.
Domains
- creation
- water and wind
Powers
- brings the world into being through speech
Epithets
- Q'uk'umatz — Sovereign Plumed SerpentTedlock, Dennis. Popol Vuh. Simon & Schuster, 1996. (secondary)
Relations
- companion: TepewThe two are a fixed creative dyad throughout the opening of the text.Ximenez, Francisco. Popol Vuh manuscript, c. 1701-1703. (primary)
Sources
- Q'uk'umatz, the Plumed Serpent, is the co-creator deity paired with Tepew and is described as feathered in quetzal green and blue, lying in the primordial waters.: Ximenez, Francisco. Popol Vuh manuscript, c. 1701-1703. (primary); Recinos, Adrian. Popol Vuh. University of Oklahoma Press, 1950. (secondary)