The Trecena of K’at gives us the opportunity to reassess what we wish to keep, and what we wish to let go of, in order to grow. It contains one of the most important days of the calendar, Wajxakib (8) B’atz, the day of initiation, the first day of the ceremonial cycle.
We also named our upcoming retreat The Junajpu (One Hero) Retreat. It is designed to help understand and connect with the hero, the divine essence, that each of us carry. We have decided to plan for a future despite the current restrictions and relaunch the retreat for the next Ajpu trecena beginning March 9th 2021. For more information on the retreat, please visit our new site https://fourpillarsretreats.com/
Whilst K’at does represent the net which gathers the harvest, it also has an association with what it contains, the seeds. Here, on the day 1 K’at, we see the new seed planted for the next harvest.
In the cycle of re-creation, the soil of the field has been turned and the tilled, infused and fertilised by the wisdom of the ancients. The threads of creation are being gathered ready to join the new to the old on the day Wajxakib B’atz.
The nawal K’at is associated with Ixq’ik, Blood Moon, who, in the Popol Vuh, was magically impregnated in Xibalba (the underworld) by the spirit of Jun Junajpu. Jun Junajpu and his brother Wucub Junajpu were summoned by the Lords of Death to Xibalba to face the challenges after they disturbed the Lords by playing the ball game too noisily. Unfortunately this first pair of heroes went unprepared and were tricked and sacrificed by the Lords of Death. After their deaths, the head of Jun Junajpu was hung in a calabash tree, where it eventually blended in with the wizened fruit on the tree. However, it was known to speak and the news of this dis-incarnate voice in the tree reached Blood Moon. She decided to go an visit the tree where she was asked to hold out her hand. The head spat into her hand and she became impregnated with the Hero Twins, Junajpu and Xbalamque. She was banished from Xibalba and went to meet the mother of Jun Junajpu and Wucub Junajpu, Ixmucane. At first Ixmucane did not accept that Blood Moon was carrying her grandchildren, and set a task to fill a net with corn from the garden. When Blood Moon arrived, there was only one stalk, but by pulling the corn silk, the plant magically produced an abundant harvest and Blood Moon was accepted as telling the truth.
In this story we see the relationship between Blood Moon and the nawal K’at, the creator of magical abundance and a bountiful harvest. This was the gathering, the bringing together of the family through this harvesting, we also see the seeding.
When combined with the number 1, new births and new beginnings are signified. This is the beginning of something new, new growth all around. The previous day, 13 Aq’ab’al, could be seen as a spiritual conception, and here the new process begins. This conception will be gestated through Wajxakib (8) B’atz, until finally the birth process assisted by 3 Kawok leads to 4 Ajpu, the new world, the resurrection of the maize, the birth of Junajpu.
The energy of 1 K’at can be seen as being about gathering together and embracing the new time. Life is a continual cycle of birth, death and rebirth. We have the possibility to reap an abundant harvest, but right now in order to do that we need unity. It is time to put aside differences and work together to plant the new field if we are to enjoy abundance on the future.
Main photo credit: Marybel Iriondo
Orchard Orb Weaver Spider, by Marybel Iriondo
K’at signifies a net and represents gathering together or bundling. Here, in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to this day many crops are harvested and carried in nets – oranges, lemons, avocados to name but a few. Through this we see one of the positive meanings of this nawal, that of abundance and harvest. K’at is a great day to draw things together, whether this means gathering in your crops, collecting ideas and opinions for your projects, or inviting people to a social event. It is a day of prosperity and the bounty which comes from the Earth, a day of gardeners, but also of merchants.
However, K’at also has its more challenging side. An abundant crop will fill the net, but it will also slow you down. K’at is also the nawal of prisons and burdens, as the net which gathers, can also ensnare us. When candles are purchased for the fire ceremonies, they come in bundles held together by little strings. When the nawal K’at is addressed during the fire ceremony, these strings are put in to the fire, with offerings, to ask K’at to help us release ourselves from our burdens, from the ties which bind us. These ties can also be seen as excessive attachment to material things.
The number 1 is representative of the seed, of unity. It represents birth and beginnings. It is a low and odd number, which usually represents something challenging. However, the seed can grow into a mighty tree, it is full of potential. It just needs the correct nutrients and conditions to germinate and develop, just as sometimes we need encouragement to develop our ideas.
We are already in the 20 day countdown towards the day 8 B’atz, one of the most important days in the sacred calendar. 13 Aq’ab’al features very strongly in this period.
In the “Maya Cross” form of astrology, one of the positions represents conception. This is a day 8 days (or 268 days) before the birth date. Today, the day 13 Aq’ab’al represents the conception day of 8 B’atz, the reweaving of the world through the joining of the old fabric with the new.
Aq’ab’al represents conception in itself. It is a joyful day when new concepts are proposed for creation into the physical world. In this way, Aq’ab’al acts as a bridge between the dreaming potential of all that is, which we see in the nawal Imox, and the physical world. It has moved into our physical reality, but it is hidden within the mother. In some senses it is between the worlds, we cannot see it in its own right but we know it is there, we know the new life is on its way.
The number 13, of course, represents the world of the ancestors, the spirit world. When we combine this with the nawal Aq’ab’al we can begin to understand just how auspicious this day could be.
13 Aq’ab’al is the new conception into this world from the spirit world. It represents the passing of the wisdom and knowledge from the ancestors into our new world. It gives us the pattern for the joining of the old world with the new. This is a potent day to revisit ancestral teachings and understandings, to bring their concepts into modern life.
In the Kiche language, the word aq’ab means night. The suffix -al changes the meaning slightly, to hint at change and alludes to the dawning of the day, the time between darkness and light, night and day. Just as birth is the beginning of the mortal journey, Aq’ab’al is the beginning of the day, although the detail of the day may still be obscured. Aq’ab’al is representative of new things, things which are not yet fully formed. While in Santiago Atitlan one day, a friend explained to me the different parts of a weaving in process on a backstrap loom. Aq’ab’al is the warp (the vertical threads), B’atz is the weft (the horizontal threads) which creates the whole cloth, and the newly woven cloth is Kawok. In order for the weaver to create, first she has an idea in her head or a dream. She sets out the dream on her loom by setting up the warp. Thus, the design has passed from being just an idea, to the beginnings of a woven reality, although it still requires creative input before it becomes whole. Aq’ab’al can also represent conception, the fertilised egg is far from ready to be born, but has passed from the dream or spirit world into the physical.
Aq’ab’al days are great days for the start of new things, particularly new relationships – Aq’ab’al has a strong affinity with marriage. It is also a perfect day for starting new projects, or at least bringing them into the world of light from the world of dreams and ideas.
The number 13 is the final number on the pyramid. 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 divination, 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.
A strong number and a strong nawal combine today to give the potential for great inspiration or great bluster. The decision on how to use your words may result in big consequences.
The nawal Iq’ has the power to inspire, after all, it is the breath of life itself, the divine breath, moving through us, animating us and bringing movement into the world. However, sometimes that movement is uncertain, it brings unexpected changes. Sometimes Iq’ brings destruction with its force.
Today it is married with the number 12, the highest of the even numbers. Whilst it is powerful, the fact that it is an even number usually gives the energy of 12 days a rather positive feel as they bring together previous experiences from our lives.
The energy of 12 Iq’ could be seen as providing an understanding of how to embrace a sudden change based on previous experiences. It could also be a day to use the experience you have gained through your life to motivate and inspire others through your words. However, it is also a day to be aware of your temper as the strength of your words today may cause far more damage than intended.
Nawal Iq’ is another strong nawal. It represents communication and particularly divine inspiration. It is the wind, the breath of life, that which brings the change in seasons.
The communication brought by Iq’ can be enlightening and inspiring. It is the breath of the divine which flows through us all, in fact the word for soul is Saq Iq’ – white breath. When our breath stops, our divine essence leaves our physical body. When we engage ourselves with the divine breath we are able to create, to manifest with our words, to inspire those around us. However, Iq’ also has a destructive side. It has the ability to blow like a hurricane and may level everything before it. It is the angry words which cut down everything in their path.
Hurricane is one of the few English words which is actually derived from a Mayan word- Junrakan, meaning “one footed”. Junrakan is another name for the Heart of the Sky, one of the creator deities. Once again it seems that certain patterns follow through the sequence of the nawales which are interrelated. Imox, the female creative principle, or egg, is fertilised be Iq’, the male principle. Their combination results in Aq’ab’al, the conception and a change in the state, bringing the dream into reality.
Iq’ is a day of communication, a day of inspiration. It can be a great day to express yourself through written or particularly verbal means. It is also a day on which changes happen. You can either embrace those changes or resist them, but be aware that the wind blows forcefully and resistance of change requires a great deal of energy. Embracing change helps you to learn to dance like a leaf in the wind.
The number 12 is the penultimate number. In some ways it can be seen as the last Earthly number, the number 13 representing the spirit world. We travelled through the mortal world with 1 through 6, then the other world with 7 through 12. In this way 12 can be seen as a point of bringing all of the experiences into one bundle for presentation to the spirit world as we step into 13. As such, the number 12 brings a wealth of experience into one place, it is rather like writing an autobiography. It is totality, all that is, brought together.
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