New Video – The Trecena of Imox (20th March – 1st April 2023)

The trecena of Imox is a time for a new dream. It is far from something which can be brought in to place right now, but it gives the opportunity to plant the seeds for the dreams you wish to bring to fruition over the next 260 days.

This video was recorded and uploaded while travelling, and as it publishes today, I am at this moment deep in the forest at the ancient site known as El Mirador. My apologies if it lacks the usual titles, I wanted to make sure I made a video for you, but I don’t have access to my usual equipment. normal service will be resumed for the trecena of Ix!

My 2023 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 available locally here in Guatemala, from Palo Santo and Lava Love Cacao in San Marcos. It is also available at the candle shop of Nana Maria Feliciana, opposite Banrural in San Juan la Laguna. See this link for details on how to get your pdf https://thefourpillars.net/?page_id=9580

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

Popol Jay is an ancient name to define the House of the Council of Elders, among the Maya of Guatemala. These were places of wisdom where sacred knowledge about medicine, the calendars, music, spiritual practice and more was kept and passed to future generations. All were burnt down during the Conquest and subsequent Colonization periods. Today, the Q’eqchi’ Maya Council of Elders Releb’aal Saq’e has joined forces with many supporters to rebuild the Popol Jay of the North, in the lowlands of the Petén region, heart of the Maya culture of the Classic Period. The Elders have worked hard to acquire land and co-design this Center of Knowledge to share ancient wisdom with the World. To donate to the Elders of Peten to fund the Popol Jay, please use this link https://tinyurl.com/8s7vkvr

If you would like to dive deeper into the sacred calendar, I will be running a workshop via Zoom from 10 am – 2pm (Guatemala Time, UTC -6) from 10th – 14th April 2023. There are currently some spaces available. For more information, please go to https://thefourpillars.net/?page_id=1120 

See the video here: https://youtu.be/rX1RDH6iabE

1 Imox (20th March 2023) – Equinox

1 ImoxToday we begin a new a new trecena, and some would say a whole new cycle of the calendar. This is a point of novelty, which could almost be called the “dream seed”, a new inspiration to develop over the coming 260 days.

For me, the day 1 Imox has the words “in the beginning” very firmly attached to it. It is the moment before the first sound, before the first movement, a fleeting idea, glimpses of a dream. Whilst the “beginning” of the sacred calendar is often debated, I feel the best analogy is that of an analogue clock. As we look at it we see a circle of numbers. Depending on how we look at it we can see our day beginning at midnight, at sunrise or at the time when we start our work. Each viewpoint is as valid as the others, and has a reason for being so. Barbara Tedlock assigns 1 Aq’ab’al as the first day in “Time and the Highland Maya” , whilst many Aj Q’ijab here assign 1 or 8 B’atz as the first day. The idea of Imox being the first day is supported in ancient architecture, but far less common now. In reality, the circle has no beginning or end.

Imox is pure potential, limitless and directionless. Likewise, the number 1 also represents potential. Today is a day to dream, and dream big. It may be confusing, the initial images might not make sense to begin with, as so often with dreams. It might be best not to attempt to fit them together just yet, just allow the ideas to come and grasp their energy for use later on. It is a day where you may be delving deep into the collective consciousness, to see what dreams are possible. It is the seed hidden deep in the dark moistness, with the ability to become whatever you wish it to. It is yours to grow, yours to guide, but today a little encouragement from others, to start to grow this dream seed , may prove very helpful. They may also help you to pull yourself out of the depths and come up for air once in a while.

Equinox 

Additionally, today is the day of the equinox, a day of equal light and darkness. We are moving out of one cycle and into the next within the Earth’s cycle. This gives an extra sense of equilibrium. This is the time of the year that changes are happening the most rapidly. In the Northern hemisphere, the dead world is coming back to life rapidly as the days lengthen with the greatest rate of change. In the Southern hemisphere the reverse is true, yet the rate of change is just as great. This could be a particularly powerful day to bring to the light a something which requires forgiveness which has been long hidden in the darkness. 1 Imox can be seen as the beginning of a new dream, a new 260 day cycle and the March equinox can be seen as the beginning of the astrological year. It seems to me that this combination is highly significant of the start of something new and grand. This is the ideal day to get a new dream started.

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 ampla, 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 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.