The final closing day completes these days of introspection and retreat. Whilst this is the day when we can see the dawn of the new year coming, it may also be the most difficult day. It is the day when we start the process of emergence from the chrysalis.
The energy of the day 11 Ajmak brings an essence of forgiveness and acceptance. This is not a simple or straightforward forgiveness, this is coming at us from all directions. It asks us to look at the past, present and future from the point of view of forgiveness. Ajmak also encourages us to redeem ourselves, to accept ourselves and others for exactly who we are.
The final closing day crystallises the process we have been through. Here we understand that it is about what we wish to carry into the new year. It gives us an opportunity to release any burdens of guilt, blame or shame before the new year arrives.
What do you want to leave with the casing of your previous year? Are you ready to forgive and transform? What a wonderful way to bid farewell to the Mam 11 E’ and welcome the Mam 12 No’j.
The fourth closing day during the period of Tz’apin Q’ij is associated with definition. In this solar cycle, it is combined with the energy of a day which has some very profound meanings.
We have passed through the three previous days and identified where we are. This time has you helped to identify your strengths and your weaknesses, and asked you to accept this as a part of your connection to the Earth? Now with the experience, knowledge and understanding of yourself, it is time to start charting your course for the coming year of 12 No’j.
The energy of the day 10 Tz’ikin brings a spirit of community vision. The nawal Tz’ikin helps us to see the way forward. It brings us the visions which help us to thrive. Today this is combined with the number 10, which focuses on community and cooperation. Bringing these together we can understand just why it might be such an interesting day. It brings the essence of a shared community vision, one of prosperity for all. Within the energy, there is a sense of cooperation and bonding, if one thrives all thrive.
Today we combine that with the energy of the fourth closing day, that of definition. It brings a drive not to just have a vision as some kind of fantasy, but asks us to define it. In our time of introspection and retreat we have space to do this.
This is, therefore, a day to really define our vision for our community for the coming year of 12 No’j.
The third closing day focuses on acceptance. If you are using these 5 days to close the solar year, it is a good day to understand what you choose to accept from the previous solar year. It is also a day which might highlight what you cannot accept.
Here we see this third closing day combined with both the nawal and the number of the feminine. Ix is strongly connected with the Earth and our ability to manifest with her. Yet we also see disrespect towards her daily. We see how certain elements of society are destroying the only home we know, the only known habitable planet for humans.
It might ask us to question what we have accepted and what we can no longer accept. As we move out of this year of exploration, discovery and learning, 11 E’, how can we use what we have found? As we move into the year 12 No’j can we come up with a solution which will benefit the Earth?
She is our source of life, but she also brings out our magic. Sometimes this might be difficult to accept too. What has reminded you of the magic of your connection to the Earth in the past year? Are you ready to accept a profound connection to the Earth, and to your own abilities?
Sometimes we also have to accept that we did what we could. Maybe we might have done more, maybe we will achieve tha in teh next solar cycle.
Tz’apin Q’ij (or Wayeb) is seen as a time of introspection. We are allowed to take stock of what has happened over the previous year. In some communities, it is seen as a time when public ceremony is avoided. Some people do not wash or comb their hair, many do not leave the house. It is a time when the energies of the days are unsupported and misfortune may occur.
The posts that I write every day concern the Chol Q’ij. This is the Maya sacred calendar, which consists of 260 days. However, this is not the only calendar used by the Maya people. One of the other calendars is known as the Macewal Q’ij. This has been called a civil or agricultural calendar, it is the solar calendar. There are ceremonies associated with certain days of the Macewal Q’ij, particularly the arrival of the new Mam or Year Bearer. This is the first day of the new Solar year. Kenneth Johnson wrote an excellent first-hand account of his experience in Momostenango of the arrival of the new Mam here
However, the new year is not here just yet. We first pass through the Tz’apin Q’ij, the closing days, also known as Wayeb. These are the five days at the end of the 365-day count. They are thought of as an unpredictable time when the energy is directionless. The final five days of the solar year are overseen by the previous Mam of the same nawal. 7 E’ was the Mam for 2019. If we imagine time as a ship and the Mam as the captain, it is as if the captain has died and been replaced by the ghost of the previous captain. Maybe this is why this period of time is thought of as being so unpredictable.
The First Day of Tz’apin Q’ij
The introspection of the first day of Tz’apin Q’ij is used to review the previous year. Its combination here with the day 7 E’ suggests a review of the the roads you travelled during the last 360 days. This is during the period of the current year, 11 E’, which began on 19th February 2023.
7 E’ can be seen as the end of the road. This is a highly interesting nawal for the first day of Tz’apin Q’ij. The meanderings and wanderings of the year 11 E’ may have revealed new destinations. These new experiences may have superceeded some old ones. Maybe paths which were once familiar now hold no interest. When we get to the end of the road with something it is time to choose our new path. It is with this energy that we begin this period of introspection. Today would be a good day to meditate on which paths have ended for you in the past solar year. Equally, which new paths have appearred to you. The day 7 E’ brings the energy to balance our path. Which paths are you ready to leave in the old year and which will you take forward?
Pawahtuun, also known as Mam and god N. Known as the god of the Wayeb and the number five. An old man that carries a conch shell, who was both a beloved creator and a trickster. From the Dresden Codex
The fifth day of Wayeb completes these days of introspection and retreat. In some ways, whilst this is the day when we can see the dawn of the new year coming, it may also be the most difficult day. It is the day when we start the process to emerge from the chrysalis.
There may be a crystallisation of the process which has been taking place though the days of Wayeb. Here it is combined with the auspicious day of 10 B’atz, the day of community arts. This is a wonderful day to be making any artform with your community. Community arts festivals would be highly signified by this day, even though it is in Wayeb. Perhaps the crystalisation of the process is the beauty which comes out when we come together as a community to combine our creative forces. What a wonderful way to bid farewell to the Mam 10 Kej and welcome teh Mam 11 E’.
The fourth day of introspection during the Wayeb is associated with definition, and in this solar cycle it is combined with the energy of a day which has some very profound meanings.
We have passed through the three previous days and identified where we are. This time has you helped to identify your strengths and your weaknesses, and asked of you to accept all this as a part of who you are. Now with the experience, knowledge and understanding of yourself, it is time to start charting your course for the coming year of 11 E’.
The day 9 Tz’i is a very interesting day, especially highlighting faith in life. As we have passed through the year 10 Kej, no doubt our faith has taken a few knocks. Maybe we have been tempted by our vices, especially the ones we have carried through our lives. Each of these moments could be seen as a test. Perhaps in our reflection today, we could consider the moments when our faith in our life path has faltered, or when we have succumbed to familiar vices. As we venture into the intrepid exploratory year of 11 E’, we will need to carry our faith with us, and of course, walk this bold path in a spirit of unconditional love. It is a perfect day to ask for a guide or guardian to accompany us on our journey ahead.
The third day of Wayeb focuses on acceptance. When we combine this with the day 8 Toj, we can understand that it can be about accepting any debts we need to be cleared in order to move forwards.
8 Toj is a highly ceremonial day, and here falling in Wayeb is particularly interesting. 8 Toj could be seen as the ceremony of ceremony. It is a great day to make a ceremony to clear all debts, but here in the middle of Wayeb we can see it as really clearing out any lingering energies from the year 10 Kej. It is a great day to be finalising any payments so that you can move into the next solar year free of any burdens. As the third day of Wayeb represents acceptance, this could signify that maybe some of these debts may be things you didn’t want to accept. Maybe you feel that there are things which are not “officially” your responsibility to pay, but you can see the benefit to all should someone step in and pay them. This could be an excellent opportunity to create some goodwill before we move into the energy of the new solar year.
The second day of the Wayeb is said to represent recognition of yourself, during your introspective period. This is combined with the day representing maturing and ripening. This is a day to identify the things within you that have been brought to their fruition in the year 10 Kej.
7 Q’anil can be seen as the final ripening. It is a day which invokes the moment when we know that what we have been growing has come full term, that the ripening process is now complete and it is time to choose where we wish to focus next. What do you recognise that has ripened within you? What are you ready to give thanks for and move on from? How has your connection with nature and your place within your community (represented by Kej and 10 respectively) helped you to mature in this solar year, and what are you now choosing to mature as you go forward?
The posts that I am writing every day concern the days of the Chol Q’ij, the Mayan sacred or ritual calendar, which consists of 260 days. However, this is, of course, not the only calendar used by the Maya people. One of the other calendars used is known as the Macewal Q’ij or Ordinary Days. This has been termed a civic or agricultural calendar, which may seem less grand than the sacred days, but without agriculture, the people would starve. There are ceremonies associated with certain days of the Macewal Q’ij, not least the arrival of the first day, the new Year Bearer. Kenneth Johnson wrote an excellent first hand account of his experience in Momostenango of the arrival of the new year bearer or Mam here
However, the new year is not here just yet, first we have to get through the Tz’ipin Q’ij, the closing days, also known as Wayeb. These are the five days at the end of the 365 day count. They are thought of as a dangerous time, when the energy is confused to say the least. It is interesting to note that the final five days of the solar year are overseen by the previous incarnation of the same nawal. 6 Kej was the year bearer for 2018. If we imagine reality as a ship and the year bearer as the captain, it is as if the captain has died and been replaced by the ghost of the previous captain. Maybe this is why this time is thought of as being so unpredictable.
Wayeb is seen as a time of introspection, a time when we take stock of what has happened over the previous year. In some communities, it is seen as a time when public ceremony is avoided, some people do not wash or comb their hair, they may not leave the house. It is a time when the energies of the days are unsupported and misfortune may occur.
The introspection of the first day of Wayeb is used to review the previous year. Its combination here with the day 6 Kej suggests a review of the way you were able to bring stability to your connection with the natural world during the last 360 days, during the current year, 10 Kej, which began on 19th February 2022.
10 Kej could be seen as a year of integrating community with nature. Kej represents the wilderness, and is said to strengthen us when we connect with it. It can strengthen our determination, and through spending time in the natural world, the forests and the mountains, we can better understand the ways of nature. It can help us to overcome our stubbornness, which can also be a trait of Kej when it gecomes unbalanced. Kej can also be seen as the nawal of the spiritual leader, those who draw their strength from close observation of the natural world. On this day of introspection and evaluation, it may be interesting to meditate (in nature, if possible) on how you have used this solar year to connect with both nature and you community, how you might have used your time spent in nature to inspire agreement and cooperation to your community.
Pawahtuun, also known as Mam and god N. Known as the god of the Wayeb and the number five. An old man that carries a conch shell, who was both a beloved creator and a trickster. From the Dresden Codex
The fifth day of Wayeb completes these days of introspection and retreat. In some ways, whilst this is the day when we can see the dawn of the new year coming, it may also be the most difficult day. It is the day when we start the process to emerge from the chrysalis.
There may be a crystallisation of the process which has been taking place though the days of Wayeb. Here it is combined with the auspicious day of 9 Kame, the nawal of death and transformation combined with the number of life and the feminine. As we travel through the trecena of Tijax, purifying and healing, we can also see that the appearance of this energy at this time can be very profound. We can see it as transforming into new life, the final day of the old solar year, 9 Iq’, dying and being resurrected into the new solar year of 10 Kej. The process of emerging from the chrysalis may have entailed some uncomfortable transformations, and Wayeb has given us the time and space within which to go through them. Now it is time for the butterfly to emerge, for the phoenix to rise from the ashes, ready for the new solar year.
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The final closing day completes these days of introspection and retreat. Whilst this is the day when we can see the dawn of the new year coming, it may also be the most difficult day. It is the day when we start the process of emergence from the chrysalis.
