Quetzalcoatl

The feathered serpent who promised to return. Some say he was a visitor, not a god.

The Feathered Serpent — Kukulkan to the Maya — is a civilizing teacher-god who departs and promises return. Colonial sources claiming Moctezuma took Cortés for the returning god are now considered post-conquest embellishment. The 'foreign teacher' reading links the node to ancient-astronaut claims; the serpent iconography links it to the worldwide serpent-wisdom motif the reptilian lore later inherited.