Ehecatl
Bearing his billed mask, Quetzalcoatl became Ehecatl, the Wind. Ehecatl supplied a life-giving wind that inspired the earth's and humanity's life. The small statue raises its hands above its slouching back, as if to support the large bundle he carries. In parts of central Mexico, certain wind gusts and storms are still referred as ehecacoatls ("wind serpents") or Quetzalcoatl. NMAH
The dancing monkey holds its tail in one hand and wears a buccal mask on its face. For centuries Quetzalcoatl has been associated with the wind and the sky. A later development on this belief tells of a billed mask Quetzalcoatl used to breathe wind into the sky. This stone sculpture also shows the monkey dancing upon a swirling pattern, not shown in this picture, that represents the chaotically shifting winds. NMAH
This is one of the most well-known works of Mixtec pottery. On the left side, the major deity 9 Wind can be recognized as his face and mask point out to the right. In a sitting posture, he offers a decorated human head to an ancestral deity. In Mixtec, he was also Koo Sau, the Feathered Serpent. NMAH
This is a detail from a stone pillar approximately ten feet tall. Most of the space on this side of the pillar is filled in with an elongated portrait of the wind god, stretched vertically and compressed along the flanks to fit on one side. Because this god bears symbols of the wind and of life, he is equated with the Feathered Serpent, probably the most universal and humanly god across Mesoamerica. NMAH
The priest in this stela is offering one of the most sacred substances on earth - his blood. To do this, he has run a branch through the end of his tongue and let the blood drip down its point. I think he is a priest of Quetzalcoatl/Ehecatl because he wears the conch pectoral that is also called the ehecaicoxcatl - in one myth Quetzalcoatl created life with the aid of a conch. (In this case, the blood offering may also be a rite of penance.) The conch is a widespread symbol of life in Mesoamerica, especially among the Huaxtecs and the Aztecs. I am still not clear on the small creature on the left that appears to be licking the sacrificial blood. This stela is from Huilocintla, Veracruz. NMAH
The figure appears to portray a young priest, perhaps akin to the Adolescent, a young Huaxtec priest for Quetzalcoatl. On this image from central Veracruz, however, the outstanding feature is its buccal mask, which is smoothly refined. The holes atop this lad's head may have held long, colorful plumes during ceremonies, and the hand opened for hoisting a banner. LA
