Category Archives: Chol Q’ij – The Energies of the Days

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

11 Ajpu 3 Tz’apin Q’ij – The Fourth Closing Day

Leave a comment

The fourth closing day during the period of Tz’apin Q’ij is associated with definition. In this solar cycle, it is combined with the energy of a day which has some very profound meanings.

We have passed through the three previous days and identified where we are. This time has you helped to identify your strengths and your weaknesses, and asked you to accept this as a part of your rebirthing process?  Now with the experience, knowledge and understanding of yourself, it is time to start charting your course for the coming year of 13 Iq’.

The energy of the day 11 Ajpu brings an understanding that our quest for a higher purpose in life means exploring some unusual ideas or places. We are not going to find the answers following a logical path. Instead we may have to rely on our intuition to guide us. It might take us places which may seem unconnected to our life path. Yet, if our intuition suggests them, we should follow it. This may take us out of our comfort zone, but isn’t that where the most growth occurs? The energy of Ajpu can represent the hero and maybe we need to call on the strength of that inner hero to explore the road less travelled.

Today we combine that with the energy of the fourth closing day, that of definition. It is time to define our journey forward to our highest purpose, calling on our intuition to guide us. In our time of introspection and retreat we have space to do this.

This is, therefore, a day to really define our spiritual path, however unlikely it might be, for the coming year of 13 Iq’.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

11 Ajpu (16th February 2025)

Leave a comment

11 AjpuSometimes on the quest for a higher purpose, we just have to trust our instincts. All possibilities have to be investigated, whether they share a logical connection or not.

Today you might find yourself almost desperately searching for the divinity in the world. Its combination with the energy of the 11 may send you on a convincing wander, even if you don’t know why.

It is as if you can feel it somewhere close. Somewhere out there there is a goodness, a true holiness that can be embraced and experienced. It brings everything into its divine state, yourself, your family and your community. The strong energetic combination with the number 11 gives a drive and purpose to find it. It might not give the exact direction of where to go, or possibly even what you are looking for. It is just better than what you are experiencing now, a better world. This can be difficult to work with. However, sometimes you just need to walk for the sake of taking a walk. This way opens up new possibilities and opportunities. Having no destination in mind, allowing yourself to be guided by synchronicity, but walking with determination, you may make discoveries.

“If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.” Raymond Inmon

Today might not bring the exact solutions you are looking for, you might not even understand exactly how the pieces you do find fit into the divine plan. This will take some time to come together and to come to clarity. However, you will not find them at all if you do not follow the impulse to go looking for them in the first place.

The Nawal Ajpu

journey to your highest potential

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 variously translated as lord, hunter, blow gunner, flower and sun. Each one of the translations has its 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 Hearts of the Earth and the Sky. This wisdom enriched both the ruling dynasty and their people, as they would be working in harmony with the gods. The ruler of the city was also the physical embodiment of the divine, and Ajpu is closely related to this. 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 the search for underlying meaning, 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.

Every action of ourselves and others gives an opportunity to explore ourselves and our reaction. Sometimes we are attracted, sometimes repelled by the action of others. Occasionally 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 Earth as we reach to the Sky.

The Number 11

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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

10 Kawok 2 Tz’apin Q’ij – The Third Closing Day

Leave a comment

The third closing day focuses on acceptance. If you are using these 5 days to close the solar year, it is a good day to understand what you choose to accept from the previous solar year. It is also a day which might highlight what you cannot accept.

Here we see this third closing day combined with a powerful feminine nawal, that of Kawok. She represents the energy of rainstorm, of the birth of the new and the midwives. Kawok is dedicated to bringing new life, but also has a tough love. She will make sure we get through the process, but also she will ensure that we go through the process.

Today we might ask the question “what we have accepted and what we can no longer accept?” As we move out of this year of consolidation of knowledge, 12 No’j,  how can we use it to come up with solutions? As we move into the year 13 Iq’ can we come up with a solution which will deal with the changes ahead?

Sometimes we also have to accept that to birth new ideas into our world may take us through a painful process.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

10 Kawok (15th February 2025)

Leave a comment

10 Kawok This can be seen as a 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

Ixchel empties the water jar, washing away the old world in order to bring in the new. From the Dresden Codex
Ixchel empties the water jar, washing away the old world in order to bring in the new. From the Dresden Codex

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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

9 Tijax (14th February 2025)

Leave a comment

9 TijaxThis is a day to cut through to the truth in life. The energy of Tijax can be seen to cut through to truth, perfection and purity. Today that energy pairs with the number representing life and the feminine.

An interesting combination of the predominantly masculine nawal of Tijax, with the number of the feminine occurs today. This may be seen as a day on which the divided may become united through compassion.

Tijax may be known for many things. It is seen as the crusader, championing the holy, using its fine edge of discernment to cut away that which is out of balance. Tijax is also seen as the healer, particularly the energy healer, who experiences the illness to heal others. As the knife Tijax severs the attachments which no longer serve. It is the chisel, that creates the divine art from the mundane block of stone or wood. These are all seen as being active, masculine traits, rather than the the passive, feminine side.

However, today pair Tijax with the number of the divine feminine, the number 9. This is the day when all of those active “masculine” traits are balanced through their association with the more feminine qualities of compassion and nurture. It is a day of the healing women, a day to celebrate in particular their ability to resolve duality through their discernment. This should also be a particularly empowering day for women in general, bringing out the strength and tenacity of their warrior aspect.

The Nawal Tijax

Sacrificial Death God 1

The nawal Tijax represents an obsidian (or flint) blade. How the blade is used depends on the intention of the person wielding it, a warrior or a surgeon. These would seem like opposite ends of the spectrum. However, where Tijax is concerned the aim is the same – healing and purification.

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. 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, 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. This is a day of alchemy, both internal and external, turning the ordinary into the divine.

The Number Nine

The number nine is the number of lunations in the human gestation period and in the sacred calendar. The sacred calendar is known as a calendar of life, and it is women that give life. As such the number nine is seen as the number of life and the number of the divine feminine. It gives all that it is attached to a strong feminine presence. It is a day on which women may wish to give thanks for their gifts.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

9 Tijax 1 Tz’apin Q’ij – The Second Closing Day

Leave a comment

The second closing day of the period is said to represent recognition of yourself, during your introspective period. On this day of Tijax, this could help us to recognise the healer within.

It is once again a fascinating combination for this day of the solar year. 9 Tijax is a day of healing, particularly through women. It can also be seen as a day of purification of life. Tijax cuts away anything which causes imbalance, it cuts through to the truth. It sees through to the perfection within.

If we they bring these understandings together with this day of introspection we find some interesting reflections. As we finish up this solar year, this day of introspection may ask us to recognise the potential within ourselves, and what we might need to cut away in order to bring it out. Tijax can bring the surgeon’s attention to detail and focus. Where might you use a fine eye for detail to discern what of the previous year needs to be cut out? Which matters might require greater focus to be surgically removed them and bring life into balance? How can this process initiate a healing in life?

By analysing these things on this day of recognition we have the opportunity to purify ourselves. We can move into the next solar cycle free of those things which have taken us out of balance.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

New Video – Tz’apin Q’ij (The Closing Days)

4 Comments

Tz’apin Q’ij is seen as a time of introspection, to take stock of what has happened over the previous year. In some communities, it is seen as a time when public ceremony is avoided. It is a time when the energies of the days are unsupported and misfortune may occur.

The posts that I write every day concern the Chol Q’ij. This is the Maya sacred calendar, which consists of 260 days. However, this is not the only calendar used by the Maya people. One of the other calendars is known as the Macewal Q’ij. This has been called a civil or agricultural calendar, it is the solar calendar. There are ceremonies associated with certain days of the Macewal Q’ij, particularly the arrival of the new Mam or Year Bearer. This is the first day of the new Solar year.

However, the new year is not here just yet. We first pass through the Tz’apin Q’ij, the closing days. These are the five days at the end of the 365-day count. They are thought of as an unpredictable time when the energy is directionless. The final five days of the solar year are overseen by the previous Mam of the same nawal. 8 No’j was the Mam for 2020. If we imagine time as a ship and the Mam 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 period of time is thought of as being so unpredictable.

In this video I will suggest how we might get the best out of these closing days, our time of introspection.

Readings

If you would like to know what your nawal brings to your lifepath, please follow this link to get a reading with me https://thefourpillars.net/maya-lifepath-reading/

13 Iq’ / 2025 Calendar

My 2025 calendar is now available. The calendar shows the days of the Chol Q’ij, formatted onto the Gregorian calendar. Currently it is available electronically as a PDF in both English and Spanish. See this link ‎for details on how to get your pdf  https://thefourpillars.net/2025-calendar/

Printed versions, in English, are available locally in Guatemala in San Marcos at Lava Love Cacao and Palo Santo. They are also now available in the USA through Soul Lift Cacao through this link https://bit.ly/4etcGZl

Google Calendar Plugin

For the more technically minded I have also created a plugin for Google Calendar. This enables you to track the days of the sacred calendar on your smartphone. In this way you can ensure that your activities are aligned to the most conducive energies! I have also added a description to every day, just click on the day name. It is available for purchase https://thefourpillars.net/google-calendar-plugin/

Worthwhile Recipients of Your Donations

When I mention programs within my videos, it is because I know the people involved and can vouch that your donations will go towards helping the people for which they are intended.

Bringing Water Stability to Families

A wonderful, highly active project to bring water stability to families is Water4Life Global. Jenna MacEwan and her team have been making a difference to peoples’ lives since 2018. They provide water filters to local families throughout Guatemala, thereby giving direct access to clean drinking water. Additionally, they are directly involved in action which helps to clean up the local sources of water. This is achieved through greywater treatment projects, reforestation and education. To learn more or donate, please visit: https://water4lifeglobal.org/donate/

The Midwife Project

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 

Konojel

I mention the Konojel program and their work in San Marcos la Laguna. They have turned from a basic, “let’s make sure bellies are full” program to one of much more social development. You can check out their programs and donate here https://konojel.org/donate

Odim

Within the village of San Pablo la Laguna, there is an organisation doing great work. They are called ODIM and specialise in medical and educational services. However, 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 http://www.odimguatemala.org/donate

You can see the Tz’apin Q’ij video here

https://youtu.be/rO2AKeR5VhE

[https://youtu.be/rO2AKeR5VhE]

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

8 No’j 0 Tz’apin Q’ij – The First Closing Day

Leave a comment

Tz’apin Q’ij is seen as a time of introspection. We are allowed to 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, many do not leave the house. It is a time when the energies of the days are unsupported and misfortune may occur.

The posts that I write every day concern the Chol Q’ij. This is the Maya sacred calendar, which consists of 260 days. However, this is not the only calendar used by the Maya people. One of the other calendars is known as the Macewal Q’ij. This has been called a civil or agricultural calendar, it is the solar calendar. There are ceremonies associated with certain days of the Macewal Q’ij, particularly the arrival of the new Mam or Year Bearer. This is the first day of the new Solar year. Kenneth Johnson wrote an excellent first-hand account of his experience in Momostenango of the arrival of the new Mam here

However, the new year is not here just yet. We first pass through the Tz’apin Q’ij, the closing days (sometimes also known as Wayeb). These are the five days at the end of the 365-day count. They are thought of as an unpredictable time when the energy is directionless. The final five days of the solar year are overseen by the previous Mam of the same nawal. 8 No’j was the Mam for 2020. If we imagine time as a ship and the Mam 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 period of time is thought of as being so unpredictable.

The First Day of Tz’apin Q’ij

The introspection of the  first day of Tz’apin Q’ij is used to review the previous year. Its combination here with the day 8 No’j suggests a review of the knowledge and information you acquired during the previous 360 days. This is during the period of the current year, 12 No’j, which began on 19th February 2024.

8 No’j can be seen as a wholeness of thought. This is an interesting nawal for the first day of Tz’apin Q’ij. New information may have come to light which helps to inform what you already knew. New issues may have come up which will require rethinking our position and coming up with alternative solutions. That wholeness of thought can come from the use of both the creative and logical areas of our minds. Perhaps the review process to be considered today might be one which stimulates exactly this.

first day of Tz'apin Q'ij 
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
Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

8 No’j (13th February 2025)

Leave a comment

8 N'ojThis day could be seen as our ability to use our whole brain. The logical and the artistic minds work together to come up with a solution.  Understand the true scale of problems and how to overcome them.

Today whole solutions may arrive, a whole package to make the world a better place for all. This is a day to celebrate our ability to plan and solve problems.

As humans, we have been blessed with the amazing gifts of our brains and our minds. We can use them to achieve incredible feats and to advance our lives, and those of our families and communities. We can use them to solve the problems around us to make our world a better place. However, sometimes that intelligence turns against our evolution. New ways to profit from the destruction of our planet and ourselves come from the brains of some humans. This of course shows the difference between intelligence and wisdom. Our intellect can also lead us to overthink situations. It can lead us into such minute details that confusion or inaction occurs.

Today we see these qualities combined with the number which represents wholeness. This can give us the ability to think through every aspect of a situation. It suggests that we can use all aspects of our intellect and knowledge, to resolve what we need to. We can use our minds to gain inspiration, combined with the understanding of how to bring an idea to completion.

It is a day to make ceremony to give thanks for our ability to think and for the knowledge we receive. We can also ask for pardon for when we act without fully thinking through the consequences of our actions.

Veintena Tz’apin Q’ij

Today we move into the final five days of the solar year, called Tz’apin Q’ij (or Wayeb.) These are important days within the calendar and will be covered in their own individual posts. You can see the post about the first day of Tz’apin Q’ij  here

The Nawal No’j

A depiction of the Earth Lord, the patron of the day Caban (N'oj). <yoastmark class= 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, and No’j is the intellectual one. No’j is an energy of masculine, logical thought. As the problem solver, it gives ideas and solutions which work in the real world. No’j gives a different way of understanding 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 Eight

The number 8 is considered to be several wholeness. It can be seen as birth (1) and death (7) combined to represent the whole cycle of the soul. Also, it can be seen as the point where the four first men who raised the sky from the sea were joined by their wives and the world became whole. The eighth day of the trecena is the most common day for ceremonies to be made. Therefore, it is still in the balanced range of numbers and is an even number, which is also considered fortunate. This wholeness represents every aspect of the energy of the day with which it is coupled. It is the wholeness of the nawal that is addressed in the ceremony.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

7 Ajmak (12th February 2025)

3 Comments

7 AjmakToday allows us to forgive once and for all both others and ourselves. Muster your energy, take a deep breath and release.  It is the day to let any harmful feelings go and enjoy the sweetness that returns.

Today, the nawal Ajmak, signifying pardon and forgiveness combines with the number 7 representing finality and closure. This can be the day to draw a line under past issues.

There comes a time when we just have to “drop it.” We cannot continue walking our path if we are laden with burdens of guilt or blame. We are humans, we make mistakes, and some of us make more than others. These mistakes are how we learn, they are part of why we are here. We have to learn to accept ourselves and each other for who we are, in all our glorious (and messy) humanity. Ajmak highlights the power of redemption, the ability to be forgiven and to forgive. However, is it done in totality, or is it just lip service to an idea? Can you really reset to neutrality, or will there always be something hanging around?

This may not be easy, the number 7 is also said to represent the seven shames. When combined with Ajmak it may truly represent the greatest of affronts. After all we are within the trecena of Tz’i, the time to embrace the state of unconditional love and trust.

I’m sorry

Please forgive me

Thank You 

I love you

Nawal Ajmak

Raw honey, fresh from San Juan la Laguna by Mark Elmy

Ajmak is the nawal of pardon and forgiveness, the nawal of redemption. It is the energy of being human, of falling and getting back up again and giving those chances to others. When the creators fashioned the four first men, the Bacab’ob, they created them as equals. These four first humans had superhuman abilities, including the ability to see through space and time. As equals were not desired, the gods smoked the mirror of perception, giving us our human set of senses. When we lost the ability to see through time, we lost the ability to see the true consequences of our actions and thus we needed to start asking for forgiveness.

Sometimes even well-meaning actions can cause problems at a later date. Ajmak represents this ability to forgive others, the ability to forgive ourselves and the ability to accept forgiveness. Ajmak is a sensual energy, which creates some of the reasons for its needing to be forgiven. It is kind and very lovable, but irresponsible. It can be a very talented energy, with great ideas. However, it can also be very easily distracted, especially by anything that makes it feel nice. This often leads Ajmak to fail to fulfil its true potential, although due to its lovable nature it is easy to forgive. One of the lessons with regard to the Ajmak energy is learning to forgive oneself.

The Number Seven

If we imagine the numbers 1 through 13 as a pyramid, the number seven would be at the top. Seven is the number of balance, it gives the ability to weigh up situations and see all points of view. While this may be very noble, it may lead to indecision.

However, it is also known as a number of death and endings, which would seem strange as it is only half way through. It is another representation of the change of state of the soul, showing half of the journey (1-6) in the mortal world and half (8-13) in the otherworld. As such it can be a great number on which to finalise or end something.

7 the final step

The sequence of numbers as they appear with each appearance of a nawal. Here we see that the sequence begins with 1 and ends with 7, giving 7 as a number of finality.