Tag Archives: Ideas

5 No’j (26th March 2021)

5 N'ojThe energy of the nawal No’j brings us ideas, thoughts and solutions to our problems. Today its combination with the number 5 suggests the need to really put some energy behind our ideas to bring them to fruition.

The concept of a straightforward plan evolving without too much input from ourselves is particularly unrealistic today. The energy that the number 5 brings to the day suggests that a real push will be necessary, with some hard work involved, to get your ideas into motion. It is true that the day may bring some solutions that you had not thought of before, but these solutions may not be quick or easy to employ. In fact, the quick answer may actually cause a problem. One of the qualities associated with the energy of the number 5 is rushing into situations without really thinking them through. Today this could signify that something within your plan needs a little more thought. The consequence of trying to rush your work may result in an unexpected obstruction to the application of your idea.

This is certainly a day to work on solving problems, but the long route to the solution may be the most beneficial. Taking shortcuts to save effort may result in challenges.

A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N'oj). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.
A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (No’j). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

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 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”.

11 No’j (6th March 2021)

11 N'ojThis is a day for “those free-thinking types.” It may be a day with a myriad of genius ideas, although finding a train of thought to follow may be challenging.

Most days which carry the number 11 can be a little confusing to say the least. The strong energy of the 11, combined with its lack of true direction, can lead to situations where you don’t really know where you are, or where you are going, although you are sure you are in the right place. The energy of the nawal No’j may bring some stability to this through its logic. It may be a day of many thoughts and ideas which seem to form some kind of cohesive structure from a certain point of view. You may need to patiently observe your thoughts until the end of the day in order to understand where the trail is leading. In fact it may be that today you are able to come up with the rather left field thoughts that were the missing pieces of your master plan.

Earth Lord
A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N’oj). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

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 last No’j year was 2016 (4 No’j) and 2020 is the year 8 No’j.

The number 11 is a high and odd number. This gives it some rather challenging properties, although it can come good in the end. Imagine you visit Ireland and are transfixed by the green of the hills, then you go to Morocco and are awed by the red of the buildings, then you go to the Caribbean and are moved by the turquoise sea. You return home and paint a beautiful picture using those colours. When you were in Ireland you didn’t know you were going to paint that masterpiece, you may not have even known why you were there.  This is how 11 works. You are sure you need to be doing something, but unsure why. You are collecting experience through many wanderings.

4 No’j (14th February 2021)

4 NojThe energy of thought and ideas comes down to four corners of the Earth today.  This is a day to solidify plans, and to bring ideas into the physical plane.

The 4 is representative of physical stability, or rather the materialisation into physical form. No’j is the flash of brilliance, the inspiration we receive. When we combine the two, we get a rather beneficial day. Today is a day when we are able to materialise our ideas into the physical world. We may have been sitting on them for some time, waiting for the right moment, and now is the time to ground them. These ideas may bring you sustenance, they have the fertile mind of the Earth Lord behind them, and the Earth Lord presides over all that comes from the Earth – crops, jade, silver. The four suggests that the ideas are not quite complete yet, this will happen on 8 No’j, but they are robust enough to be brought into the world and stand on their own two feet. It is a day to get your plans out into the open and allow them to start to bring their benefits into your life.

Earth Lord
A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (No’j). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

 


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.

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 good number.

10 No’j (25th January 2021)

10 N'ojSome days should really work out well, with a strong and positive effect coming from both the nawal and the number. Today, the clear thinking, analytical energy of No’j is combined with the socially helpful 10.

Today is a day to get things sorted out, a day to find solutions within your community. It is a day when the saying “a problem shared is a problem halved” is extremely applicable. Join minds with your friends, colleagues and neighbours to come up with unique and novel solutions to problems that may have been perplexing you for some time.

One slight drawback could be that the energy of the nawal No’j sometimes brings many ideas but not so much action. It may be a day where the mind drifts through many ideas of how to resolve situations within the community, without actually initiating those ideas. This could even result in the ideas themselves becoming muddled, lines of thought being expressed and followed without actual realisation into the physical world. Whilst the energy of No’j does have a practical edge to it, it can on occasion end up lost in its thoughts.

A logical solution to this may come through cooperation. However, despite your combined solution being obvious to you and your group, be aware that you may still be ahead of your time. Be patient with those you explain your new big idea to, they might need a little time to catch up.

A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N'oj). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.
A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N’oj). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

 


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.

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 people acting in harmony with each other.

2 No’j (26th November 2020)

2 N'ojThe energy of the nawal No’j often brings practical solutions to problems, and today the number 2 highlights polarities. This brings the ability to solve problems by understanding both sides of the issue.

The second day of the trecena of Ajmak, the day 2 No’j, enables us to move through the trecena of forgiveness by helping us to understand different points of view. No’j helps us to think things through, its intellect and intelligence empowers our thought processes to come up with the most appropriate solution. However, if we approach problem solving from a unilateral standpoint, we may miss important issues. 2 No’j brings us the the ability to encompass both. Days carrying the energy of the number 2 are always good for mediation, but here we see it particularly linked with intelligent solutions.

With the number 2 highlighting relationships, this could also be a day to help soothe any friction within partnerships.

A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N'oj). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.
A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (No’j). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

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 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.

13 No’j (7th September 2020)

13 N'ojThis 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.

Within the Solar year, today marks the beginning of a new month as we travel through the solar year. Today is the first day of Q’atik translated as the season of passing.

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 will be 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.

6 No’j (18th August 2020)

6 N'ojNo’j, the nawal of the brain and thought is embellished by the number 6 which brings a higher essence into the physical ideas. Today, inspiration may come from more than just what you see around you.

As the trecena of E’ unfolds, today we are entering the balanced period, the sixth, seventh and eighth days which are considered to be some of the easier days to negotiate. The energies of these days are generally conducive in combination with the nawales they are paired with. The E’ trecena can be a time not just of a new direction or new path, but also of new discoveries. The day 6 No’j would suggest a little help comes from the other realms to help to piece together the new ideas and information you may be discovering in this journey. The path is not always straight and even, sometimes there are blockages and obstructions to overcome. The energy of the day 6 No’j can bring divinely inspired ideas of how to move through obstructions on the path, ideas which are practical and relevant in the physical world, yet simultaneously fulfil a greater purpose.

Within the Solar calendar, today marks the beginning of a new month as we travel through the solar year. Today is the first day of Ib’ota or Botam translated as the season of various colours.  We have reached the half way point in the 365 day count, 180 days have passed since the new mam, 8 No’j, took his seat and so now his influence should be at its purest. We are halfway through the energy which has been with us since February 20th 2020, 185 days to go until we change to a new year bearer. The energy of the fields is further diminishing as the crop ceases to grow any higher and starts to move more rapidly into the ripening process. Additionally, this is the time of “canicular” when the rains may relinquish a little and the flowers of many colours adorn the lush green hills of highland Guatemala.

A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (No’j). He makes a sacrifice of his own blood so that the maize, sustenance of the people, will sprout. Representative of fertility and abundance through the cycle of life, death and resurrection. From the Dresden Codex.

 


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. This year is the year 8 No’j, and will run from 20th February 2020 to 19th February 2021.

The number six is said to be the number of ultimate stability. It is the first of the three middle numbers of the cycle, the balance point neither too strong nor too weak. It is a day frequently used for ceremony thanks to its conducive energy. It represents the four directions with the Heart of the Sky and the Heart of the Earth. It also represents family, relating to the six qualities that nourish and hold families together – health, understanding, property, employment, friendship and actions.

The cross at the top of the central hill, Paclom, in Momostenango. Paclom is known as "the six place" and the two armed cross represents the four directions combining with the Heart of the Earth and the Heart of the Sky. This picture was taken on Wajxakib B'atz, February 2010.
The cross at the top of the central hill, Paclom, in Momostenango. Paclom is known as “the six place” and the two armed cross represents the four directions combining with the Heart of the Earth and the Heart of the Sky. This picture was taken on Wajxakib B’atz, February 2010.

8 No’j 0 Nab’e Mam – The Seating of The New Mam

  • The Seating of the New Mam is the moment that the Wayeb has ended, when the period of retreat has finished and we can emerge from our “cave” back into the real world. In some communities, this would be celebrated with feasting and drinking, welcoming in the new grandfather who will guide us through the next revolution of the sun.

This year is governed by the Mam 8 No’j. In addition to 8 No’j carrying the energy of the day, it is also carrying the energy of this new year. The properties and benefits brought by the nawal 8 No’j are discussed in my post for the day of 8 No’j here. The energy of this day is a representative of the energy which we will be living with for the whole year. The general feeling of this year should be about the completion of a journey, and the choice of which direction to go next.

The new Mam may take a little while to settle in. This is usually the first 20 days. Whilst it is obvious that the “administration” has changed, it takes a little time for all the promises made in the campaign to be adhered to. Nothing in nature moves in a square wave, it is always a gentle transition more akin to a sine wave. This is the first light of dawn, the day is just beginning, but we are still experiencing a little of the cold of the night. It will not be until midday, the height of the cycle that we will experience the fullest expression of the energy of this year lord. We can expect that in around 140 days or so, 11 No’j (19th June 2020).

The last time we experienced No’j year was 2016, which was the year 4 No’j.  No’j years (along with E’ years) are usually seen as being benevolent years. They the years when we are able to use our minds to understand how to bring our plans and ideas into action. We may see a resonance from the last appearance of No’j, as the 4 could represent laying the foundations for the plan, the pilot program. Four years on, as we enter the year 8 No’j, we have refined our plan and are able to unveil it in its entirety.

On a grander scheme of things, the cycle of the year bearers repeats every 52 years. Of course, we do not relive exactly the same experiences, but we may see similarities with the last time this year bearer was in office. That was the year 1968, when Mam would have taken his seat on the Gregorian day 4th March. This gives us the opportunity to understand how to engage with the benefits of, and avoid the errors committed during, the previous incarnation of the Mam 8 No’j.  For some ideas on major events of 1968, please click here.

 

Old man possum – Aj Wuch – brings the Mam of No’j to carry the year. From the Dresden Codex