Between about 1200 and
500 BCE a people called by archaeologists the Olmecs lived on the Gulf Coast of
Mexico. They built ceremonial centers, for example La Venta, which were
carefully planned temple communities. At La Venta, a group of buildings was
arranged symmetrically along one axis, with a clay pyramid, shaped like a
fluted cone, at the south end.
Olmec
religion seems to have centered on the jaguar in various guises. At La Venta,
three identical mosaic pavements made from blocks of green serpentine were
discovered, each laid out in the form of a stylized jaguar face. As soon as
each had been finished, it was covered up. These could have been some kind of
offering to the beast.
On
the lid of a stone coffin, or sarcophagus, at La Venta, a jaguar mask is depicted,
with feathers for eyebrows and a forked tongue of the type found only in snakes.
This seems to show the jaguar as part bird and part snake, suggesting that he is the ancestor of the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl, usually shown as a plumed
serpent. It also suggests that, in Olmec times, different animals were combined
to form one god, an idea basic to Central American deities.
The
Olmec jaguar could also assume human characteristics. A carving from the site
of Potrero Nuevo, Mexico, shows his union with a woman, an act that was believed
to have produced a race of half-human and half-jaguar creatures. The human element
is generally childish, with a paunch and stubby limbs, onto which are grafted
the jaguar characteristics: fangs, sometimes claws, and a snarling mouth, turned
down at the corners. The heads are often cleft at the top. These hybrid creatures
were probably deities, possibly of fertility.
Reference
Introduction
to World Religions. (2010). Google Books. https://books.google.com/books?id=Z3AjAwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=introduction+to+world+religions+Christopher+Hugh+Partridge&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiZy7G3-ebmAhXHBc0KHVQBAvEQ6AEwAXoECAMQAg#v=onepage&q=introduction%20to%20world%20religions%20Christopher%20Hugh%20Partridge&f=false
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