Q'uq'umatz (also spelled Ququmatz, Qucumatz, Gucumatz, Kucumatz, K'uk'ulkan, K'uk'ul-chon, and other ways) is the Postclassic Mayan feathered serpent god, closely related to Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs.
Origin
The Feathered Serpent was a prominent supernatural entity or deity, found in many Mesoamerican religions. It was called Quetzalcoatl among the Aztecs, Kukulkan among the Yucatec Maya, and Ququmatz and Tohil among the K’iche’ Maya. The corresponding Mayan god Kukulkan was rare in the Classic era Maya civilization. However, in the Popol Vuh, the K’iche’ feathered serpent god Tepeu Q’uq’umatz is the creator of the cosmos.It is likely that the feathered serpent deity was borrowed from one of these two peoples and blended with other deities to provide the god Q'uq'umatz that the K'iche' worshipped. Q'uq'umatz may have had his origin in the Valley of Mexico; some scholars have equated the deity with the Aztec deity Ehecatl-Quetzalcoatl, who was also a creator god.
Role
Q'uq'umatz was the god of wind and rain who created humanity together with the god Tepeu, the god of lightning and fire. Both of these deities were considered to be the mythical ancestors of the K'iche' nobility by direct male line. Q'uq'umatz carried the sun across the sky and down into the underworld and acted as a mediator between the various powers in the Maya cosmos. The deity was particularly associated with water, clouds , the wind and the sky.
Among other Mayan cultures, the Feathered Serpent was more often seen as a messenger between gods and men, and was sometimes known as the Vision Serpent.