My journey with Maya calendars began on a cold January night in my hometown of Ipswich, England in 1998. I attended a presentation on Maya culture and calendars. The couple who gave the presentation, Michael Baker and Alloa Patricia Mercier, went on to become my teachers. Through them I stepped into a world I had never before contemplated – a different way of counting time. I attended meetings, ceremonies and conferences, receiving inspiration from peoples of many different indigenous traditions.

But it was the knowledge of the Maya that called to me the strongest. A little over a year later I quit my job, sold my house and bought a ticket to Central America. It was my first time travelling, and while I certainly enjoyed the journey, I was there with a purpose. That was to visit ancient Maya sites and find out more about these incredible people. Meeting people along the way guided me in the correct direction for my quest. However, it was at the site of Palenque in October 1999 that the big breakthrough came. The only way I can describe it is that the calendar landed in my heart.

What I present to you on this site are my interpretations of the energies of the Maya sacred calendar. They are derived from a combination of many sources. These include my time spent studying the calendar, with my teacher Tata Rigoberto Itzep Chanchavac. Also from participating in hundreds of sacred fire ceremonies, and from studies of books and academic papers. They are my musings on celestial and terrestrial events. My study of the calendar has led me through a cycle of initiation to the role of Aj Q’ij, a role I was honoured to receive in 2015.

My main aim of this is to, perhaps in some small way, help make society a more cohesive place. When we understand the energy of a day, we can understand what our best course of action might be for a given day. If we follow a course of action supported by the energy of the day, we may find our path to be smoother, our way to be clearer. When our path is smoother we have more energy to help others, and in this way, we can bring society to a greater state of harmony. This is something I believe is the role of both the sacred calendar and the Aj Q’ij.

I write this and give thanks to all the Aj Q’ij’ab who have helped and supported me along the way and the beautiful people of the place now commonly known as Guatemala. Also, I give thanks to the ancient Maya astronomers and scribes who captured the movements of the heavens and translated them into divine systems of timekeeping.

Enjoy!

Mark