This can be seen as a particular day of caring and healing within our communities. This is a day to both offer and ask for a helping hand to steady the passage through the storms of life. This nurtures new life and growth both personally and within your community.

Kawok energy is known for compassion, even in its storm aspect, when this may manifest as “tough love”. She is the guiding hand, keeping the boat steady as the storm rages all around it. She brings the energy of helping each other through the storms of life with compassion and love. Whilst Kawok has a connection to Chak, the rain god, it also has a connection to Ixchel, the grandmother midwife. It is this caring energy of the grandmother which is manifested through Kawok.

Kawok helps us navigate through our problems by washing away the things we no longer need in our lives. Nothing can resist the strength of her current as it clears our path of debris. This can seem destructive, but it is purely to allow the new growth, the new birth to emerge.

Today we see this energy combined with the energy of the number 10. This can represent two hands coming together in friendship and cooperation. It can represent community and, as agreement through shaking of hands, the offer a hand to those in need. It is a friendly and helpful energy. We see this within the Tz’i trecena, and once again this shows us an essence of unconditional love for those around us. We hold their hand as we pass through our storms, providing mutual emotional support. Compassion and understanding bring healing to our communities and allow the newly born to emerge and flourish.

The Midwife Project

While I am not affiliated or associated with this project, I know some of the people involved and believe it to be an excellent initiative. I feel that today is a perfect day to give them a mention. What better day could there be to lend a helping hand to a community midwife program?

In their words: “Our Mission is to offer safe, dignified and culturally appropriate health care to women in Guatemala by empowering indigenous midwives through education. We focus on revaluing the Mayan ancestral knowledge while integrating modern medical practices. With the creation of Holistic Clinic(s) & Birthing Center(s) as a meeting ground and model project. Our Vision is that every woman  has access to humane, respected and safe birth care. The midwives and women are empowered to lead the creation of a thriving community where those who are most vulnerable have their needs met, and men support the women in creating this healthy and vibrant family and community structure.”

You can check out their site and donate here: https://www.midwifeproject.net/donate 

The Nawal Kawok

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. It 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 Ten

The number 10 is another number which demonstrates the connection between the sacred calendar and the human body. As five represents one hand, ten represents two hands coming together. This can be seen as the shaking of hands creating agreement between people. Ten is seen as a good number, a number of community and the laws of society, of acting in harmony.