This is potentially one of the most turbulent days within the sacred count of days, but my own experience of these days has rarely seen that aspect. In fact, it has usually fully embraced the new birth aspect.

The day of the storm sent from the spirit world could be one interpretation of the combination of the nawal Kawok with the number 13. It certainly has the power to be intimidating. The ultimate day of the rain god where all might be washed away by the flood, where all is destroyed.

However, new creation can only happen where there is space for new growth, and if everything is covered with the outworn, the new growth cannot emerge. Here the spirit world lends a hand in the birth process, bringing its strength to the delivery. In fact we might consider that which comes in to the world today to have been birthed from spirit. As such we can see an auspicious nature of the energy of today. This does not necessarily mean it will be a gentle day. If there is anything hanging around that you should have cleaned up, you might find yourself pushed into confronting it for clearance today. The debris of many years may be washed away, and whilst the process may bring some fleeting pain, the end result will be worth it. If there is something blocking your new growth, today is the day to ask for the assistance of the spirit world to wash it away. It is a day when healing may come from another realm.

Nawal Kawok is in some ways a counterpart to the nawal Tijax. Where Tijax has masculine aspects of healing, Kawok has the feminine aspect. Kawok is sometimes referred to as rain or storm. It is this rain that washes away that which has been cut out by Tijax.

While most healing roles do not seem to be gender specific, one is. Both women and men may be healers, prayer makers, herbalists and diviners, only women will become midwives. Kawok is the energy of the midwife. Kawok helps to clear the obstructions from the birth process, in some ways it actually represents the birth process. Kawok brings the new into the world. In the Mayan cross, Kawok, the birth process finishes the sequence which starts with Aq’ab’al (conception) and moves through B’atz (gestation.) In the sequence of the calendar, Kawok precedes Ajpu. Ajpu represents the resurrection of the maize lord, also the creation of the world. Kawok creates the conditions for that to happen, the rain which brings forth the sprouting of the maize.

In its storm aspect, Kawok can be destructive, although it is a destruction which allows a new creation to happen. Kawok energy can give rise to some tempestuous situations, it can be a day which can give people a rough ride, although this may be for the eventual good. It is a day to ask for the gentle rain to bless your crops, and for the harsh rain to stop. It is a day which washes away the old and outworn in life, so that the new growth, life and divinity may emerge.

The number 13 is the final number. It represents the spirit world. It is said that on Halloween, the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. However within the sacred calendar, this thinning happens every 13 days. This connection with the spirit world creates a powerful day, where both the positive and negative aspects of the nawal it is attached to come through strongly. It is a very good day for activities such as divinations, however, ceremonies on 13 days are generally only carried out by the most experienced Aj Q’ij who understand how to work with that strength of energy.