Quetzalcoatl, or the plumed serpent was known as the keeper of the Mat in the fourth or fifth generation of Cauec lords. The Plumed Serpent served as both Keeper of the Mat and keeper of the reception house. However, it was Plumed serpent and Cotuha who together founded Rotten Cane. Both of them were regarded as lords of genius-that is, lords with powerful spirit familiars-and Plumed Serpent in particular put on miraculous demonstrations of shamanic power. It is difficult to separate Plumed Serpent as king from Plumed Serpent as deity. He is said to have taught the Toltecs the art of gold-mining. Sumerian literature also speaks of Gods who taught the earthlings to mine gold.
Quetzal literally means blued or green and is the name of a bird in the new called Nahua quetzalli, Pharomachrus mocinno. Interestingly enough we can see the name Pharo contained in the name of the bird. The bird is confined to localized cloud forest habitats scattered from Chiapas to Panama.
Toltec tribal beliefs are prevalent from the southwestern United States in the north to today's Nicaragua in the south-Mesoamerica-held that at the very beginning there was the olden God, Creator of All things, of the Heaven and of the Earth, whose abode was in the highest heaven. Sahagun's sources attributed the origin of this knowledge to the Toltecs;

"And the Toltecs knew
that many are the heavens.
They said there are twelve superimposed divisions;
There dwells the true god and his consort.
He is the Celestial Gof, Lord of Duality;
His consort is Lady of Duality, Celestial Lady,
This is what it means;

He is king, he is Lord, above the twelve heavens.

Forgive me, but this sounds alot like Budhism, the twelve heaven concept. This also sounds like a rendering of Mesopotamian celestial-religious beliefs, according to which the head of the panteon was called Anu (Lord of heaven) and who with his consort Antu (Lady of Heaven) resided on the outermost planet. The symbol was thereafter adopted by all peoples of the ancient world and evolved to the emblem of the winged disk.Quetzalcoatl's shield and symbols depicted on early Mexican monuments are uncannily similar
The Olden Gods of whom Nahuatl texts related legendary tales were depicted as bearded men, as befits ancestors of the bearded Quetzalcoatl. As in Mesopotamian and Egyptian theogonies, there were tales of divine couples and of brothers who espoused their sisters. Of prime and direct concern to the Aztecs were the four divine brothers Tlatlauhqui, Tezcatlipoca-Yaotl, Quetzalcoatl, and Huitzilopochtli, in the order of their birth. They represented the four cardinal points and the four primary elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water-a concept of the "ROOT of all things." well known in the old world from end to end.
In Mexico we find the Pyramid of the Sun, and another 3000 feet southward, one reaches the Cuidadela, a quadrangle that contains at its eastern side the third pyramid called the Quetzalcoatl pyramid. A mapping project led by Rene Millon in the 1960's established that this north-south avenue extended for nearly five miles-longer than the longest runwayss at modern airports. In spite of this remarkable length, the wide avenue runs straight as an arrow-quite a remardable feat at any time. Native American myth indicates that Quetzalcoatl, climbed the stairs of the pyramid in front of vast audiences to make love to the Goddess who lived in it.
The archaeologists believe that the four Atlanteans stood atop the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl, supporting the ceiling of the temple atop the pyramid as though they were holding up the Celestial canopy. This is the role played in Egyptian beliefs by the four sons of Horus, who were holding up the sky at the four cardinal points. According to the Egyptian book of the dead, it was these four Gods who linked Heaven and Earth, who accompanied the deceased pharoah to a sacred stairway whereby he would heavenward for an eternal afterlife. There are shades of this in western culture, where myths indicate the dying Roland was met upon death and carried to the afterlife by the archangel Michael.
In Yucatan the Maya called him Kukulcan; in the Pacific regions of Guatemala and El Salvador he was called Ziuhtecuhtli; the names all meant the same: Feathered or Winged Serpent. Temples were lofted atop step pyramids to worship the Serpent God, and the skies were observed to watch for the key celestial cycles. But there came a time when the god-or all of the celestial gods-had left. Seen no more, they were presumed to have been swallowed by the ruler of the night, the jaguar, and the image of the great god was henceforth covered by the jaguar's mask through
which the serents, his ertstwhile symbol still emerge.
But Quetzalcoatl promised to return. Fervently the skywatchers of the jungles consulted ancient almanacs. Priests advanced the notion that the vanished deities would return if offered the throbbing hearts of human victims. But the cities of the Gods remained abandoned, and the jungle cast a green mantle over the domain of the Serpent Gods.
As at Tula, facing the pyramid-temple across the great plaza is the main ball court. It is an immense rectangle arena. At Chichen Itza, as at Tula, there exist three temples that were richly decorated with scenes of warriors, mythological encounters, the TREE OF LIFE, and a winged and bearded deity with two horns.
Indeed Cuzco itself was a testimonial in stone both to the familiarity with the twelve-house zodiac and the antiquity of that knowledge. We have already mentioned the division of Cuzco into twelve wards and their association with the zodiac houses. It is significant that the first word, on the slopes of Sacsahuaman, was associated with Aries. For Aries to have been associated with the spring equinox, as we have shown, we have to turn the clock back more than 4000 years.
(Aries lies on the bottom of the slope representing the root chakra, the bottom one, The others lie above, but they can only be integrated by the fire of Aries. So you see, there is knowledge in Cuzco, if one studies it. The root Chakra, combines the heart and head Chakra).