Encounter with the Plumed Serpent

Encounter with the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Maarten Jansen
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1607327104
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

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Book Description
The Mixtec, or the people of Ñuu Savi ('Nation of the Rain God'), one of the major civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica, made their home in the highlands of Oaxaca, where they resisted both Aztec military expansion and the Spanish conquest. In Encounter with the Plumed Serpent, two leading scholars present and interpret the sacred histories narrated in the Mixtec codices, the largest surviving collection of pre-Columbian manuscripts in existence. In these screenfold books, ancient painter-historians chronicled the politics of the Mixtec from approximately a.d. 900 to 1521, portraying the royal families, rituals, wars, alliances, and ideology of the times. By analyzing and cross-referencing the codices, which have been fragmented and dispersed in far-flung archives, the authors attempt to reconstruct Mixtec history. Their synthesis here builds on long examination of the ancient manuscripts. Adding useful interpretation and commentary, Jansen and Pérez Jiménez synthesize the large body of surviving documents into the first unified narrative of Mixtec sacred history. Archaeologists and other scholars as well as readers with an interest in Mesoamerican cultures will find this lavishly illustrated volume a compelling and fascinating history and a major step forward in knowledge of the Mixtec.

Encounter with the Plumed Serpent

Encounter with the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Maarten Jansen
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
ISBN: 1607327104
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 417

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Mixtec, or the people of Ñuu Savi ('Nation of the Rain God'), one of the major civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica, made their home in the highlands of Oaxaca, where they resisted both Aztec military expansion and the Spanish conquest. In Encounter with the Plumed Serpent, two leading scholars present and interpret the sacred histories narrated in the Mixtec codices, the largest surviving collection of pre-Columbian manuscripts in existence. In these screenfold books, ancient painter-historians chronicled the politics of the Mixtec from approximately a.d. 900 to 1521, portraying the royal families, rituals, wars, alliances, and ideology of the times. By analyzing and cross-referencing the codices, which have been fragmented and dispersed in far-flung archives, the authors attempt to reconstruct Mixtec history. Their synthesis here builds on long examination of the ancient manuscripts. Adding useful interpretation and commentary, Jansen and Pérez Jiménez synthesize the large body of surviving documents into the first unified narrative of Mixtec sacred history. Archaeologists and other scholars as well as readers with an interest in Mesoamerican cultures will find this lavishly illustrated volume a compelling and fascinating history and a major step forward in knowledge of the Mixtec.

Legends of the Plumed Serpent

Legends of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Neil Baldwin
Publisher: PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1610392698
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
Meticulously pieced together from personal experiences that come with years of travel, an extensive knowledge of the historic and scholarly works, and a deep appreciation of Latin American art and culture—both ancient and modern—critically-acclaimed biographer Neil Baldwin has created a mosaic of words and images retelling the myth of the Plumed Serpent (or Quetzalcóatl) as it has evolved through the millennia. He has also created an essential guidebook for the armchair traveller and passionate tourist alike. Only a few hours by air from the United States are the mysteries and hauntingly beautiful ruins of Mexico. Among the vines intertwined in the frail latticework of crumbling palaces, spiraling geometric motifs covering vast walls that sink beneath the jungle, and nearly vertical temple steps leading hundreds of feet to a dizzying view of sky and earth, images of Quetzalcóatl abound. The fanged, bug-eyed feathered serpent thrusts his malevolent, sneering head from the pyramid at Teotihuacán; he swims in a river of rock around the temple at Xochicalco; and at Chichén Itzá, serpent and jaguar dance on a trail of stone, their embrace spawning a monstrous snake with clawed forefeet. Depicted as part man, snake, and bird, the Plumed Serpent is the earliest known creation myth from Mesoamerica, the region spanning Mexico and most of Central America. He embodies good and evil, sky and earth, feast and famine—the duality of life itself. Steep, massive temples were built in his honor at Teotihuacán, the vast city of ruins near today’s Mexico City, and at Chichén Itzá in northern Yucatán, the intricate complex that includes the famed ballcourt. Moctezuma, the ruler of the Aztecs, mistook Hernán Cortéz and the invasion of the Spanish in 1519 for the return of Quetzalcóatl. The Catholic Church with its army of Franciscan monks adapted his legend to introduce the indigenous people to Catholicism. The myth enhanced Emiliano Zapata’s stature as a latter-day Quetzalcóatl during the Mexican Revolution. Diego Rivera and the modern muralists invoked his image to include indigenous themes in their state-sponsored art. And Quetzalcóatl inspired English author D. H. Lawrence to write a new “American novel.” These and many other tales are recounted in the words and images of Neil Baldwin’s Legends of the Plumed Serpent. Whether sharing a moment of reflection among the breathtaking ruins, delving into the historic role of Quetzalcóatl during the Spanish Conquest, or tracing the themes of revolution and rebirth in the art of Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, Neil Baldwin’s enlightening prose captures the imagination. Accompanied by numerous illustrations—many photographs taken by the author, and others painstakingly researched and gathered over the past decade—Legends of the Plumed Serpent is a true labor of love.

Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology

Stalking the Plumed Serpent and Other Adventures in Herpetology PDF Author: D. Bruce Means
Publisher: Pineapple Press
ISBN: 1561646229
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
Based on his more than 40 years of field research, Means, an expert on the eastern diamondback rattlesnake, reveals the biological complexity and beauty of the animals he has studied. In Australia, Means searches for the fiercey, reputed to be the worlds deadliest terrestrial snake. In Mexico, he stalks the rattlesnake that might have served as the model for the mythical plumed serpent of Mayan art. In Florida, he is chased by cottonmouth moccasins. Through his experiences, Means hopes that readers will gain a new appreciation for animals called herps, or creepy-crawly things.

Children of the Plumed Serpent

Children of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Virginia M. Fields
Publisher: Scala Arts Publishers Incorporated
ISBN: 9781857597417
Category : Indian art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Apr. 1-July 1, 2012 and at the Dallas Museum of Art, July 29-Nov. 25, 2012.

Mystery of the Plumed Serpent

Mystery of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Barbara Brenner
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780394845319
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
Michael's knowledge of Mexican history and Elena's taste for adventure help the twins unravel the mystery of the golden snake.

The Plumed Serpent

The Plumed Serpent PDF Author: David Herbert Lawrence
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
ISBN: 9781853262586
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
Kate Leslie, an Irish widow visiting Mexico, finds herself equally repelled and fascinated by what she sees as the primitive cruelty of the country. As she becomes involved with Don Ramon and General Cipriano, her perceptions change.

Tales of the Plumed Serpent

Tales of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Diana Ferguson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
"Fascinated by the history and cultures of three highly developed ancient societies--the Mayans, followed by the Aztecs in Mesoamerica and the Incas farther south--Ferguson examines their artifacts and those of the Spanish conquistadors, in relation to the traditions preserved today by their many descendants...Part anthropological study, part history and part folklore... distills a huge amount of information to present a clear, uncluttered and rich resource."--"Publishers Weekly." "Fun, inspiring, educational, and all in all, a great read."--"The New Times."

In the Land of the Feathered Serpent

In the Land of the Feathered Serpent PDF Author: Richard Brusca
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781794544727
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 473

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Book Description
In the 1980s, many countries in Latin America were struggling to break free from decades of dictatorial rule by despots propped up by the U.S. government. In the Land of the Feathered Serpent is the story of a bright but naïve young marine biologist, with an outsized libido and a hypersensitive nose, who finds himself on a Homeric journey of discovery in Central America and Mexico during this period. As with Odysseus, Odel Bernini's journey takes place both in the physical terrain and in the landscape of his mind as he travels through the lowland jungles of the Petén rainforest and the 10,000-foot high sierras of Guatemala's Maya realm. Odel gets caught up with dirty politics and the CIA, is seduced by a dark siren, is nearly killed by a Cyclops, and is swept into the world of Maya mysticism. In the end, Odel finds himself transformed in unexpected ways. An adventure story and mystery, Odel's journey explores themes of truth and deception, trust and love, the dark heart and bright hope of humankind, and personal growth. The facts, places, and most characters in the story are real. Odel Bernini and his close friends are, however, purely fictional. See the Feathered Serpent website for further details www.featheredserpent.online

Return of the Plumed Serpent

Return of the Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Graham Hancock
Publisher: Coronet
ISBN: 9781444788365
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
After routing the Maya at the battle of Potonchan, the conquistador Hernan Cortes turns his attention to the much bigger prize of the Aztecs and their golden city Tenochtitlan. But in order to win the Aztecs' gold Cortes and his small force of just 500 men will have to defeat the psychotic emperor Moctezuma and the armies of hundreds of thousands he commands. Cortes expects the warlike Tlascalans, hereditary enemies of the Aztecs, will join him but instead finds himself locked in a life or death struggle with the Tlascalan battle king Shikotenka who sees that the Spaniards will not stop with the destruction of Aztec power but will go on to annihilate all the ancient cultures of Mexico unless the invaders can be driven back into the sea."

Plumed Serpent

Plumed Serpent PDF Author: Brien Foerster
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781530418039
Category : Aztec gods
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In many South and Central American countries, as well as Mexico, their are oral traditions of a great teacher or teachers that had light skin, full beards and likely arrived at about 100 AD. This teacher or teachers taught the local people about advanced agriculture, astronomy, metallurgy and other arts and sciences. Most stories state that this visitor or visitors arrived from the east. This book seeks to see if all of these stories are describing the same person or persons.