Itzamna
| Itzamna | |
|---|---|
| |
 Itzamna on a 9th century pottery | |
| Other names | Sun Lord, Primordial Fire Bird, Night Sun, First Priest, Hunaphu |
| Affiliation | Thirteen Creator Gods, White Path Clergy (Diviniers) |
| Abode | Flower Mountain |
| Animals | Birds |
| Symbol | "K'in" Sun Glyph |
| Tree | World Trees |
| Color | Yellow |
| Number | 4 |
| Parents | |
| Consort | Ix Chel |
Itzamna is a White Path upper god and creator deity that is said to reside in the Flower Mountain Paradise, the highest realm of the Universe. He is considered to be the "First among equals" of the thirteen Creator Gods, and the one who rules over the Heavens, the Sun, and the birds. Like the other White Path divinities, he is known by many other names and many individuals proclaimed themselves, or were recognized as, incarnations or avatar of Itzamna or one of his aspect. White Path legends also make him the one who divided the earth and gave names to all of its feature. He is also heavily associated with birds, which are his creation.
His heavy ties to the Sun as one of its aspect make him a patron god of the passing of Time, the Calendar, and thus of priesthood and all arts associated to the profession. He is said to be the inventor of Writing and one of the avatar is that of the "First Priest" who brought to the world the scholarly arts and religion to mankind and associated a patron god to all primordial tribes of humans.
When represented as a young or middle-aged man, he is known as the K'inich Ajaw, the Sun Lord. His distinctive features are then his aquiline nose, large square eyes with a k'in 'sun'-infix inside them, and a filed incisor in the upper row of teeth. Under this form, he is the patron god of the day-unit, the month of Yaxkʼin, and his holy number is four.
Another very common representation of Itzamna is as the Way or Spirit-Animal of K'inich Ajaw known as Yax K'ak Mut (Primordial Fire Bird) or Yax K'ak Mo (Primordial Fire Parrot). The specific bird used as a model vary from artist to artist, but Yax K'ak Mut is most often depicted as a Falcon or a Parrot in the Mutul while in Charnea it is famously represented as a Vulture. Its wings are inscribed with the glyphs for "Sun" and "Night" and he is often depicted holding the bicephalous snake, symbol of rain and monarchy, in his beak. Yax K'ak Mo, the "Primordial Fire Parrot", main bird-aspect of Itzamna is represented sitting at the top of the Water Lily Paradise over which he rules. There is at least four other aspect of Itzamna's avian form, each sitting on one of the Cardinal Trees. Inspired by Charnea, modern interpretation of the Eastern Primordial Fire Bird represent him under the traits of a Vulture. Older depiction often prefered a mono or bicephalous Eagle after contacts with the Latium.
Beside the K'inich Ajaw and his Way, Itzamna has many other aspects. As a youthful deity, he is identified with "Tohil", the patron god of the K'iche and Warlike God of the Rising Sun carried inside the mouth of the Feathered Snake K'ukumatz. When Itzamna dies, he transform into the Smilodon God "Night Sun", Akb'al K'in, who then carries the Sun through Xibalba to the Primordial Fire Mountain to rekindle it and then back to the surface. There, Night Sun dies of his wounds and is transformed back into Tohil who is retrieved by K'ukumatz. He is also said to have first incarnated himself among humans as the "First Priest" who divided the primordial tribes, named them, affected them to their patron deities, and taught the first clergies.
Another aspect of Itzamna is Hunaphu, one of the two Heroic Twins of the White Path mythology. At the end of his story, Hunaphu ascend and become the Sun which is considered to be the "birth" of Itzamna. As the god who counts the days, this newly born Itzamna has a perfect understanding and control over time, which explains why he emerge from the primordial chaos long before his birth. This origin myth is the reason behind Itzamna's title of "He who preceded his birth".