K'awiil

K'awiil
God of Lightning, Serpents, and Fertility Axe of Ch'ak Creator god
Scepters depicting K'awiil are a regal symbol in the Mutul
Other names	B'olon Tzak'ab', Hurakan, Heart of the Sky, the Powerful One, the One-Legged
Affiliation	Thirteen Creator Gods, Ch'ak
Planet	Jupiter
Mantra	hun yax hun kʼan
Animals	Snakes
Symbol	Lightnings, axes, cigars
Number	9

K'awiil is a White Path creator deity associated with Ch'ak, the rain deity. The relationship between K’awiil and Ch'ak in the White Path' Mythology is complex and difficult to define: K’awiil is the Heart and Axe of Ch'ak, his foremost servant and messenger but also his mind and power. Ch'ak is K’awiil first pupil and outer shell, but also its master and handler. And even if the two can be seen acting on their own, the White Path "Orthodoxy" consider them to be, in fact, the same god.

He is characterized by a zoomorphic head, with large eyes, long, upturned snout and attenuated serpent tooth. Classical depictions show him with a smoke-emitting stone celt coming out of his forehead, although in modern time it has been increasingly replaced by K'awiil smoking a cigar. Another defining characteristic is his serpent leg, representing a lightning bolt.

In regal rituals, he is often depicted as Unen K'awiil, the infant lightning god, to be held by the monarch as a promise of abundance and 'Innumerable Generations' (B'olon Tzak'ab in Mutli, another name of the deity). This tie between K'awiil and fertility come from the White Path' creation myth, in which K'awiil is the Creator god who plunged into the Abyss to bring back to the surface the First Mountain after a fight with Sipak the primordial sea monster. He then created Lightning from his leg and wherever his bolts striked the earth, seeds appeared. Nonetheless, K’awiil was transformed by his plunge in the Abyss, and it's Ch'ak the rain deity who re-emerged with K'awiil as his axe and heart.

In the modern days, the cult of K'awiil is associated with statehood especially in the Mutul. He is the monarch' source of power, without which the ruler would be nothing. He is both the violent axe used by the ruler to establish their rule, but also the promise of abundance and a better future for the people.

The Charnean Tamddaic religion worships the incarnation of the river Obul, Tanit, as an aspect of K'awiil. Tanit is depicted as a white serpent in the grasp of Kaharna, the rain mother aspect of Ch'ak in Tamddaist religion. K'awiil-Tanit is the sister and follower of Ch'ak-Kaharna that lashes out in response to mortal transgressions, represented by the unpredictable and often deadly flooding of the river Obul.