The second day of the Wayeb is said to represent recognition of yourself, during your introspective period. This is combined with the day representing new concepts and the illumination of what has been in darkness. This is a day to identify the things within you that have been brought to light in the year 9 Iq’.
6 Aq’ab’al represents the stabilisation of new concepts, particularly those pertaining to family. As 9 Iq’ filled our lungs with the breath of life, what part of you was illuminated this year? The concepts that you have had, the dreams you have begun to turn into physical, stable reality, how did you breath life into them, and how did they change your life? Were you able to use them to bring greater stability to your family?
Here is a recording of a presentation I made of my perceptions about Wayeb, the final five days of the 365 day solar calendar, and how they might be navigated.
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. 5 Iq’ was the year bearer for 2017. If we imagine reality as a ship and the year bearer as the captain, it is as if the captain has died and been replaced by the ghost of the previous captain.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 5 Iq’ suggests a review of the way you were able to work on our communication, and on our breath during the last 360 days, during the current year, 9 Iq’. 9 Iq’ could be seen as a year reflecting the breath of life, it could also be seen as the voice of the women. It certainly feels like in this time we are now able to breathe more freely having re-established our life breath. There have certainly been some very interesting changes and upsets to the establishment brought through the voices of women. On this first day of reflection, we could ask ourselves “where did I put my energy into change, and what areas still need some work?”
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
Clear and effective communication is always an important goal, especially if it can become something which transcends the usual level. Today is a day to work towards this ideal, although it might not come easily.
The nawal Iq’ does highlight communication, but it also brings about changes and its most challenging property is anger. These three properties can all be seen working hand in hand. Lack of communication can lead to anger, as can enforced, or unforeseen changes. It is worthwhile remembering this on Iq’ days, as sometimes the energy can make people more sensitive to these things and produce a stronger than expected reaction.
Days carrying the number five have some interesting properties and can lead to some frustration. It all comes down to putting effort into or working on the properties of the nawal to which it is attached.
This can lead to a day where putting a little extra effort into the clarity of your words will certainly help to overcome possible negative outcomes. In fact with suitable attention to detail your hard work may pay off, and your words will be blessed by the divine breath, inspiring those around you.
Today is the first day of the Tz’ipin Q’ij or Wayeb, the closing days of the Mayan solar year. It is the beginning of 5 days of reflection and meditation. 5 I’q was the bearer of the year in 2017, and here we see it come around once more. I have created a separate, special post about the closing days of the year here
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 Sacred Mayan calendar is often said to be a calendar of human life, and parts of it can be seen as a microcosm of the human body. The number five is one of these parts. It is representative of the hand with it’s five digits. It is with our hands that we work, and with what we earn for that work that we pay our debts. Five is also a number that relates to the sacred fire where we pay our debts with offerings and prayers. Five might be so busy working that it fails to remember what it is working for. It can also signify that what it is attached to becomes work, or is “hard work”.
The energy of the nawal Imox can have some overwhelming properties if the connection to the collective consciousness is over-emphasised. However, today it moderated by the gentle, balanced energy of the number four.
Imox can give rise to some of the most amazing innovations and creations, after all, it represents the place from where all emerges. It also represents the dream state, the muse that inspires at such a primal level you might not always notice its influence to begin with. It provides glimpses of possible futures and connections with those around us. These can be subtle feelings and sensations which lead us towards concepts and ideas. This can create confusion, especially if we cannot differentiate between sensations which are truly ours, and those which we pick up from the consciousness of our community.
The combination of the energy of the nawal Imox with the number 4 gives us the ability to bring some stability to those flashes of inspiration. This can help us to bring our dreams towards a physical reality, it may also help us to stabilise the “chatter” we pick from the collective consciousness.
Nawal Imox represents the collective consciousness, the great ocean. It is the moment before the “big bang”, when all that existed was the dream of the creator. It is everything and nothing in one place, the ovum from which reality was conceived. Imox is still very much in the other world, requiring another component to physically manifest the dream into reality.
Imox is considered to be a feminine nawal. Sometimes called water lily, sometimes crocodile, it is an embodiment of the primordial. It was from the great ocean that the four first men raised sky to create the world which we inhabit. Imox can also be seen as the Darwinian swamp from which all life emerged. It is fertile and creative, the mother that gave birth to our entire reality.
As the water lily, Imox is probably a representative of Nymphaea alba, the white water lily. It has been suggested that the white water lily was smoked by the ancient Maya in a similar way to the blue lotus was used by the Egyptians. It was a plant which allowed access to the otherworld, a plant from which visions came if used correctly.
Imox is our common origin, and as such links us all together. It is the place of dreams, the collective conscious we delve into on our nightly voyages. It may also relate to the place that certain plant medicines take us to in order to bring us wisdom. However, as the font of all of creation, Imox harbours the dark as well as the light. When faced with the entirety of creation, the line between sanity and madness may become blurred.
Imox is a day to celebrate the spirit of the times, to understand the collective mind, particularly of humanity. It is a day to dream your creations, your art, your music. It is a day when we may all feel connected, a day when the psychic field between us may be particularly strong. Discernment may be called for, to understand when to dissociate from the collective, to remember your individuality, and to pull yourself back out of the dream world.
The number 4 is very important within Mayan mythology. Four represents the cardinal points, the four colours of maize, the four carriers of the year, the two equinoxes and two solstices, as well as midnight, sunrise, midday and sunset. The number four is representative of the four first men, who raised the sky from the sea to create the world we live on. In Mayan myth it is four pillars that support the sky from the Earth. As you can imagine, four is a number which represents stability, a solar number. Even though it is still low, it is thought of as a beneficial number.
The outer world can sometimes be a harsh place. Sometimes we are gifted, and other times, we wonder where it all went wrong. The energy of 3 Ajpu would suggest that the focus for the day should be on the search for the divinity within.
Learning to find the holiness in all things is a truly noble ideal, which may also sometimes be rather unrealistic. It is probably more true about that which occurs in nature rather than that which is created by humans, but even so the natural world can be problematic with regards to human existence. Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes all are relatively commonplace in the Maya territories. It is difficult to see the divinity in that which wipes out your family or generations of work. On the smaller scale, trying to find the divinity within human interactions can be a challenging task. It is not impossible, we understand the drives and motivations behind actions we may strongly disagree with, but how can those actions really be part of the one?
Today may bring external demonstrations of the lack of a “higher purpose” to the fore, even more so than usual. The energy of 3 Ajpu would suggest that it is time to look for signs of divinity within yourself and your home. Today may be a day to retreat to your own “holy of holies”, find the flower words, the creation within your own heart.
Nawal Ajpu is once again a nawal with a multitude of meanings and translations. In the Yucatec language it is known as Ahau, in Kiche is is also known as Junajpu. These are in turn variously translated into English as lord, hunter, blow gunner, flower and sun. Each one of the translations has it’s merits, and represents an aspect of this auspicious nawal.
Within the ancient Mayan society, the royals were not just political leaders of their particular city-states, they were priest-kings and priest-queens. They served as the conduit to the divine, deriving their wisdom for guiding their people through their connection with the Heart of the Earth and the Heart of the Sky. This wisdom enriched both the ruling dynasty and their people, as they would be working in harmony with the gods. Thus the ruler of the city was also the physical embodiment of the divine, and it is to this that Ajpu is so closely related. Likewise it represents our potential, the state of divinity to which we may aspire.
Ajpu represents the holiness in life, the divinity in the physical world, and our search for it. It is that moment when you look closely at a flower to see the beautiful detail, the moment when you see the magnificence of the landscape you live within, the beauty in your child’s eyes or your partner. It is the random act of kindness that restores our faith in humanity. It is the search for the underlying meaning in all situations, understanding that each person is a part of the whole. Whether we like it or not, and however we judge it, we are all a part of creation. Our every action, and every action of others gives us the opportunity to explore ourselves and our reaction, whether we are attracted or repelled by the action of others. However, sometimes Ajpu can lead us to become immersed in the other world, to lose sight of reality, it is important to remember to stay in touch with the Heart of the Earth as we reach to the Heart of the Sky.
There are various myths about the creation which link with the number 3. One is that at the time of creation, three stone jumped out of the fireplace and formed the new world. These three stones are called the hearthstones, and are still seen in many Maya homes today, on the fire supporting the tortilla griddle. From an astronomical point of view, the stones are the stars Alnitak, Saiph and Rigel in the constellation we call Orion, and the Smoky Fireplace is the Great Orion Nebula (M42)
A (slightly crude) montage showing a proposed correlation between the constellation of Orion and the triadic structure of Maya pyramids. This one is “El Tigre” at the El Mirador site. Photo and montage by Mark Elmy
The number 3 is still in the low end of the range of numbers. It does not have much energy yet, and it is also an odd number. It can represent the home, relating to the three hearthstones laid by the creators, and this is probably a good focus for a 3 day. However, it is possibly the most troublesome of the numbers to deal with, it lacks stability and represents challenges and obstructions. The number three brings up internal/external dilemma. The lack of stability in the physical, external world that it brings suggests that the more appropriate action is to look to the internal world, both of the home and of yourself.
Sometimes a little self-sacrifice helps to bring the new into the world, and that may certainly be the case today. Duality arises from division, and here separation occurs as the new life emerges for the old.
Chak sends the fire serpent (lightning) from the sky, from the Dresden Codex
Kawok represents the birth process in all its glory, the emergence of the new hope, new life into the world even through both the ecstatic and the traumatic. Whilst the birth process may be painful, the result is one of the most important, if not the most important, part of life itself.
The number two represents the duality of existence. This reproduction cannot happen in unity. Duality, with all its difficulties, is a necessary part of life. Neither one aspect or the other is better than the other, which is what can lead to indecision. Each side is complementary to the other, the masculine brings balance to the feminine.
Today both sides or polarities can be called on to bring the new into the world. This is the day to ask for the new emergence, the new life created by two equal and opposite forces enlivening the world.
Ixchel empties the water jar, washing away the old world in order to bring in the new. From the Dresden Codex
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 2 is representative of duality, of polarity. Although it is a low number it has surprising strength as it is said to be able to call upon both aspects or polarities of what it is attached to. It is said to be the number of lovers, it signifies relationships and self-sacrifice. Whilst it can lend itself to mediation, seeing both sides of the story, it also can be indecisive.
The trecena of Tijax presents an opportunity to release what is causing imbalance in life in order to promote healing, to cut through to our truth. It is a time of refinement as we polish our inner diamond.
Within the village of San Pablo la Laguna, there is an organisation doing great work. They are called ODIM and are specialising in medical and educational services. During the pandemic restrictions, they helped feed many people, but this is in addition to their regular, long term work there. You can find out more about them through this link https://tinyurl.com/yb4l3rux
If you would like to dive deeper into the sacred calendar, I will be running a workshop from 10 am – 2pm (Guatemala Time, UTC -6) from 21st to 25th February. There are currently some space available. For more information, please go to https://thefourpillars.net/?page_id=1120
My 2022 calendar is now available. The calendar shows the days of the Chol Q’ij, formatted onto the Gregorian calendar. This year it is available electronically as a pdf in both English and Spanish. Printed versions, in English, are beginning to run low, but are still available locally here in Guatemala, from Nectar, Palo Santo and Lava Love Cacao in San Marcos. See this link for more detail https://thefourpillars.net/?page_id=6093
Today the quest begins! The Kawok trecena saw your rebirth, with E’ you started a journey which lead you to Kan where you were blessed by wisdom. Yesterday you received the knowledge of the ancestors, now it’s time to put it to work
Up until now, the preparations were being made, and now it is time to begin to put your abilities to use. After all, they may be given freely, but there is a point to having them.
Tijax brings with it a tenacity, a desire to bring balance to the world. It does so through healing division, sometimes by trimming to create balance, other times by dispatching the disharmonious. Tijax is on a “mission from God” to create a better world, and today this mission begins.
We are coming to some interesting points in the calendar, in particular Wajxakib (8) B’atz and Kajib (4) Ajpu. Both are very important days with regards to creation, and 1 Tijax helps to set the scene. It is almost like the first cleansing, the idea or plan to begin cutting away the old growth to allow the new field to be planted.
Today is the day to take a fresh look at what needs to be healed or removed in order to bring harmony into your life. It may even require a little outside assistance, whether in the form of encouragement or just advice on where cuts can be made. Today is the beginning of the healing process.
The nawal Tijax is often thought of as an obsidian blade or knife. How the blade is used depends on the intention of the person wielding it. It can be wielded by a warrior or by a surgeon. These would seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but where Tijax is concerned the aim is the same – healing.
Tijax is the nawal of the holy warrior. In the Mayan book of creation , the Popol Vuh, the first act of the hero twins was a mission given to them by the Heart of the Sky to rid the world of the false gods Seven Macaw, Zipacna and Earthquake. This is their quest, their crusade, and is represented by Tijax. They then sacrifice themselves in the underworld (Kame) and are resurrected with magical abilities (Ix). By destroying the false gods, the twins brought balance to the world, and helped mankind, they brought healing to the world. They cut out that which caused disease, exactly as a surgeon would do.
Tijax is celebrated as a day of healers, particularly what could be seen as the masculine aspect of healing. It is a day of crusading, of standing up for what is right. It has a tenacity to it, it is sometimes belligerent, it will not be stopped in its quest. It is the healer who refuses to give up on finding a cure. Tijax gives powers of discernment and refinement. Just as the surgeons scalpel cuts away disease and the warriors blade dispatches the evil, the sculptors chisel creates beauty by remodelling the base material. It is a day of alchemy, both internal and external, turning the ordinary into the divine.
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.
This should be a very interesting day for anyone involved with ancestral knowledge, as the nawal of the brain combines with the number of the spirit world.
This day has the potential for true genius. No’j is usually known for its grounded ideas, the practicality with which knowledge is applied to problem solving. However, the strength of the number 13 may give rise to at least a leap of faith within this process. This is a day when the answers being sought after may come through the whispers of the ancestors, helping you to piece together the information you have. This is certainly not to say this is a bad thing, just that it may be rather difficult to give any logical working of your solution other than “it just came to me.”
If there is a problem in your life that you know one of your ancestors would be able to solve, today is the day to ask for their help, whether they are still in this world or not.
The nawal No’j is the nawal of thought, of intelligence and intellect. Within the count of days, there are two geniuses. B’atz is the creative genius, No’j the intellectual one. No’j is an energy of masculine, logical thought. No’j is the problem solver, it gives ideas and solutions which work in the real world. No’j gives a different way to understand situations, and through this ability comes innovation. It is thought, but also understanding and, indeed, knowing. As such, No’j is also a day associated with divination.
This energy is not necessarily social, it can lead to becoming absorbed into one’s work, lost in one’s thoughts. The influence of No’j can create ideas which may be very much ahead of their time. Do not be surprised if ideas you have on this day take a little time to catch on, the people you express the ideas to may need a little time to process, to see the genius within the idea.
No’j is also one of the classic year bearers, or year lords. As a year bearer it is thought to be one of the more beneficial and benign energies. The year, 2016/7, was the year 4 No’j, and the year 2020 was 8 No’j.
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 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.
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