64
THE LOST REALMS
Figure 24 Serpent" was none other than the Egyptian concept of the Winged Serpent (Fig. 25) that facilitated the transfiguration of the deceased pharaoh to the realm of the ever-living gods. In addition to Quetzalcoatl, the Nahuatl pantheon was replete with deities associated with serpents. Cihuacoatl was the "Serpent Female." Coatlicue was "the one with the skirt of serpents." Chicomecoatl was "Seven Snake." Ehecacoamixtli was the "Cloud of wind snakes," and so on. The great god Tlaloc was frequently depicted with the mask of a double-serpent. And so, unacceptable as this might be to pragmatic scholars, mythology, archaeology, and symbolism lead to the unavoidable conclusion that Central Mexico, if not all of Mesoamerica, was the realm of the Serpent Gods—the gods of ancient Egypt.
Figure 25