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Wind Jewel of Quetzalcoatl

By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.

Description

Ehecatl's conch pectoral

Central Mexican painting and sculpture of Quetzalcoatl as Ehecatl show the ehecacozcatl, a sectioned conch "wind jewel" on the chest: breath, the wind that sweeps the road for rain. Codices (Borgia, Borbonicus, and kin) carry the type. The Florentine Codex describes Quetzalcoatl's wind aspect. It is an emblem of a god, not a unique named quest-gem with a smith. Mixtec and Mexica books are the witnesses; there is no Homeric-style epic of its making. The spiral is breath made visible.

Primary Sources

“Quetzalcoatl as Ehecatl wears the wind jewel, the cut conch of breath, who clears the way for water.”
Florentine Codex (Quetzalcoatl-Ehecatl) / Central Mexican codex iconography(c. 16th century CE (codices older in type))

Powers & Abilities

Wind CallingBreath of LifePath Opening