This is a day to show gratitude to the Earth for all you have received in life. The day 12 Ix can be seen as gathering your life’s wisdom, wealth and experience together.
As we travel through our lives, we have a continuous and ongoing experience with the energy of the Earth. Many do not realise it, and many choose to ignore it. However, it is from the Earth that all material emerges.
Industrialised societies tend to see the Earth as an inanimate source of material wealth. Non-industrialised societies see her as a living entity with whom we can interact, and she carries the nawal Ix. So, on Ix days, prayers are offered at her places, the shrines and altars, and her ears, to ask for what we need in our world.
When we understand our relationship with Mother Earth, we enhance our abilities to interact with this world. This can be seen as wisdom, at least with regard to thriving in our Earthly world rather than just surviving. The further we move through life, the more we gather with regards to our experience. Today we celebrate what we have gathered through life about our understanding of the way the world works.
This is a day when we can draw on our life experience of how to make things work, how to draw upon our “magic” or our knowing of how to ask the Earth for what we need. We also draw on our experience of gratitude, our understanding that this is the lubricant to keep the energy moving. Our life experience helps us understand how to make the appropriate ceremonies to give thanks. It is a day to use our life experience to protect and honour mother Earth.
Nawal Ix
Ix is considered to be the most feminine of the nawales because it embodies the spirit of the Heart of the Earth. It can be seen as a representation of Mother Earth or the Maya version of Gaia. Ix is known for its nurturing energy, as it takes care of all things. However, this nurturing should not be mistaken for weakness, as Ix also embodies the power and stealth of the jaguar, which is its animal totem. The jaguar is a powerful jungle cat that moves stealthily through the darkness of the night with spots on its back representing the milky way. Ix carries the sun on its nightly journey through the underworld.
In industrialized societies, the Earth is often seen as an inanimate source of material wealth. However, non-industrialized societies view her as a living entity that we can interact with, and she carries the nawal Ix. Therefore, on Ix days, people offer prayers at her shrines and altars to ask for what they need in the world. To keep Ix healthy, it is important to approach her with a spirit of gratitude and humility. Ix is deeply connected with the natural world, where it finds its wisdom, power, and wealth. Therefore, it is a day to give thanks, remember gratitude, and engage with your magic.
The Number 12
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.
