Akuun mbatsuun' (the Fire god)
Tlapanec · deity · Tlapanec traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Akuun mbatsuun' is the fire god in the religion of the Tlapanec (Me'phaa) of Guerrero. In the Me'phaa creation myth the Fire god is born on the bank of the river together with the Sun (Akha') and the Moon (Gon') and is reared by Akuun ñee, the goddess of the temazcal sweatbath. Fire is central to Me'phaa ritual: the New Fire is kindled at weddings, at the assumption of office and at religious ceremonies, a 'counted offering' whose symbolism Danièle Dehouve has analysed in detail. The deity's name carries the element akuun (aku) shared by the Me'phaa domain gods who stand below the dominant Sun-and-Moon pair.
Domains
- fire
- hearth
Powers
- to embody and govern fire
Epithets
- Akuun mbatsuun'Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8 (G. K. Hall, 1995), 'Tlapanec' (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Akha' (the Sun)The Fire god is born together with the Sun on the bank of the river and reared by Akuun ñee.Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8 (G. K. Hall, 1995), 'Tlapanec' (Sun, Moon and Fire born together on the riverbank) (secondary)
- sibling: Gon' (the Moon)The Fire god is born together with the Moon on the bank of the river and reared by Akuun ñee.Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8 (G. K. Hall, 1995), 'Tlapanec' (secondary)
Sources
- Akuun mbatsuun' is the fire god of the Me'phaa (Tlapanec), born on the riverbank with the Sun and the Moon and reared by the sweatbath goddess; the divine fire renewed in the Tlapanec New Fire offering.: Dow, James W., and Robert Van Kemper, eds., Encyclopedia of World Cultures, Vol. 8: Middle America and the Caribbean (Boston: G. K. Hall, 1995), 'Tlapanec' (secondary); Dehouve, Danièle, La ofrenda sacrificial entre los tlapanecos de Guerrero (Mexico: UAG/CEMCA/INAH/Plaza y Valdés, 2007) (secondary)