Quetzalcoatl (“winged serpent” or “plumed serpent”) is the Aztec or Nahuatl name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerican culture from whom, according to myth, almost all Mesoamerican peoples claim descent. To the Maya area, he was approximately equivalent to Kukulkan, which also translates as “feathered serpent” in different Mayan languages. In Peru he was called Amaru.  More from Robert Sepehr, author and anthropologist.