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

New Calendar Page – July 2025

22nd June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Here are the days of the Chol Q’ij mapped onto the Gregorian month of July 2025.

The Delta Aquarids meteor shower falls on the night of the 29th/30th. This is known as a moderate shower and it will fall approximately 1 week after the new moon. Moonset will be around 10.30pm in the constellation of Virgo. The constellation of Aquarius, from where the meteors appear to radiate, will rise in the early evening. Therefore, the best time to see the meteor shower will probably be between 10 pm and dawn.

Podcasting

If you have been enjoying my trecena videos over the past 7 years, you maybe interested to know that I am now making them available as podcasts in addition to the usual YouTube video. You can find it on Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Deezer, Castbox and iHeart Radio.

Calendar Workshop

If you would like to dive deeper into the sacred calendar, I will be running a workshop via Zoom from 12 pm to 4 pm (Guatemala time, UTC -6) from Monday 14th – Friday 19th July 2025. There are currently spaces available. For more information, please go to https://thefourpillars.net/?page_id=1120.

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/

The Trek to El Mirador

I recently completed my sixth trek around the El Mirador basin. While there is a tough, physical element to this, I also consider it a deeply spiritual journey. It is a pilgrimage, and a deeply transformative journey. If you would like to see what it’s like, I made a series of videos about our experiences on each day of the trek. My highlights were days 1, 3 and 5, but day 4 was incredible too! You can find the videos here https://thefourpillars.net/the-trek-to-el-mirador/

If watching the videos inspires you, maybe you would like to join me for the Junajpu Journey in March 2026 when I will make the El Mirador trek again. This time I am creating a truly intentional journey, weaving in ceremony and spiritual practice. You can find out more here: https://thefourpillars.net/the-junajpu-journey/

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/

Gregorian date	Day Name (Clickable)	Keywords, ideas, concepts
July
1	3 Tz'ikin	Inner vision, challenges to prosperity
2	4 Ajmak	Physical acts of forgiveness or redemption
3	5 No'j	Working on ideas
4	6 Tijax	Physical healing from divine sources
5	7 Kawok	End of the storms, finalising the new birth
6	8 Ajpu	Beginning and end of the light
7	9 Imox	Life emerges from the primordial
8	10 Iq'	Community communications
9	11 Aq'ab'al	Many strong new concepts
10	12 K'at	Gather life experience to collect abundance
11	13 Kan	The power and wisdom of the spirit world
12	1 Kame	The beginning of transformation
13	2 Kej	Strength through partnership
14	3 Q'anil	Inner light, external challenges to growth
15	4 Toj	Paying off physical debts
16	5 Tz'i	Working on faith and loyalty
17	6 B'atz	Physical creations divinely inspired
18	7 E'	End of the road, choose your path
19	8 Aj	Ceremony for harmony in the home and civic leadership
20	9 Ix	The day of Mother Earth, women's magic, magical side of life
21	10 Tz'ikin	Vision for prosperity of the community
22	11 Ajmak	Many ways of forgiving
23	12 No'j	Ideas forged from the experience of life
24	13 Tijax	Divination for healing, spirit empowers discernment
25	1 Kawok	Clearing the way for new life to enter, re-birthing
26	2 Ajpu	Divinity through self sacrifice, seeing the holy in partnership
27	3 Imox	Inner creativity, obstructed connection to the collective
28	4 Iq'	Stabilising change in the physical through solid words
29	5 Aq'ab'al	Work to bring the dream into being, the new concept
30	6 K'at	Stabilising the abundance, gathering divine inspiration
31	7 Kan	Finalising the wisdom, choosing how to employ power

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

7 Kame (22nd June 2025)

21st June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

7 Kame can be seen as an important day to end a transformative period. Facing up to challenges, particularly the most frightening ones, moves your evolution forward.

The Day 7 Kame can be seen as a prominent day, it is the name of one of the Lords of the underworld. In the Popol Vuh, the Mayan book of creation, 1 Kame and 7 Kame are the main villains in the story of the descent to the underworld of both sets of heroes, one Junajpu and seven Junajpu and the hero twins Junajpu and Xbalamkiej.

In the story, Junajpu and Xbalamkiej venture to the underworld to avenge their father Jun Junajpu and bring back his head from Xibalba. They do this through self-sacrifice and transformation, which allows them to become their magical selves. In this guise, they trick 1 Kame and 7 Kame into being sacrificed and therefore overcome death itself. Wucub (7) Kame was the second to be sacrificed and after this Xibalba falls. The remaining Xibalbans are subjugated and denied their previous gifts. From this point on they would only receive “the guilty, the violent and the wretched”

“Such was the defeat of the rulers of Xibalba. The boys accomplished it only through wonders, only through self transformation.” – From Popol Vuh translated by Dennis Tedlock

Why is 7 an ending?

When we look at the sequence of numbers, as they are applied to the appearance of one particular day, we see a different pattern to how they appear within a trecena. If we begin at 1 Kame, the next to appear is 8 Kame, then 2 Kame. The day 7 Kame is the last of the sequence. Often the appearance of pairs (such as 1 and 7 Ajpu or 1 and 7 Kame) relate the totality of a concept, as all other numbers of that day fall between the 1 day and the 7 day. Thus, the death of lord 7 Kame represents the final victory over Xibalba, the victory over death itself.

Number Sequence.jpg — 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.

Today is, therefore, a day to finally lay to rest anything which has been tormenting you. It is a day to release grief and a day to let go of your sadness. Your past sacrifices and transformation have strengthened you in order to make the final blow. In words more familiar to our mindset, it is the day to confront and overcome your demons. Sometimes you can only do this by going to that place where they dwell. Once complete you can re-emerge into the world, shining in your full brightness, ready for the initiation day 8 Kej.

Nawal Kame

Kame relates to death, which often makes people nervous. However, this nawal is seen as an extremely positive day. Birth is the gateway into the mortal life, death the gateway into the eternal. In many shamanistic traditions, the initiate goes through several death experiences during training. This can be through the use of particular herbs, or sometimes through accident or illness. In these experiences the density of the mortal realm falls away and the greater understanding emerges. It can often be described as a spiritual transformation. In the Popul Vuh, the Mayan book of creation, the Hero Twins descend to the underworld, Xibalba, to confront the Lords of Death. They pass the many challenges set for them, but eventually end up being tricked by the Lord of Death. Instead of giving in, the Hero Twins choose to sacrifice themselves.

They give instructions to a pair of seers to convince the Lords of Death to grind the Twins’ bones to dust and throw the dust in the river. Everything went according to plan and five days later the twins appeared as catfish in the river. They then transformed into vagabond “magicians”. In this way we see a literal transformation from the crusader (Tijax) through death (Kame) to the higher self (Ix). This is the potential of the Kame day, to face ones fears and attain a higher perspective, to advance the journey of your soul. This is also a day to remember your ancestors and friends that have passed into the other realm, to remember what they taught you, and to thank them for their wisdom that helped you to grow.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

6 Kan (21st June 2025) – Solstice 03:42 UTC

20th June 2025 Mark Elmy 1 Comment

Use your wisdom to stabilise the balance of power in our world. It could be a good day to call on the power of heaven and Earth to share wisdom with the physical world.

Kan is a very strong nawal, it is the raw energy of the lightning and the power associated with that. It is the lightning in our blood, our life force energy. However, raw energy without direction can be destructive, and its strength may be too much for us to handle. It has the potential to be exactly the absolute power which corrupts absolutely.

However, today we see it combined with the number of ultimate stability, the number 6. This gives us a chance to understand and harness the energy. Thus, we can truly use it to bring wisdom to our families and communities. With the 6 connecting the four directions with the Hearts of the Earth and Sky, we have the potential to draw both power and wisdom from each of these points. We can do so in a balanced way, using it to bring harmony to the world around us.

Therefore, the on day 6 Kan we can draw on the energy from all directions to gain the wisdom to see through illusions of power, our own or those of others.

Solstice

Today marks the June solstice. In the northern hemisphere this is the longest day. However, it is also the day on which the day on which the Sun’s energy is strongest. For many people this is the day when the sun is at its highest in the sky. As the Chol Q’ij is particularly concerned with the Sun, the energy of the solstice may also enhance the qualities of todays nawal.

If you plan to make ceremony, a great focus might be to ask for the energy of the Sun to help you. On this day of 6 Kan, connect with the heart of the sky and the heart of the Earth to draw that energy into your heart. Allow your heart to expand as a ball of light, empowered by the Sun, bringing wisdom and balancing power to all it touches around you. Perhaps you could even envisage the light spreading through the physical plane and bringing that balance throughout our world.

The Nawal Kan

Lady Xoc demonstrates the correct direction of energy — Lady Xoc pierces her tongue and receives wisdom for her people from her ancestor emerging from the mouth of the vision serpent. From http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/maya-lintels.htm

Kan is one of the more powerful nawales and it represents just that – power. It is connected to serpents, and serpent symbolism is very strong in Maya mythology. In the past, lightning was referred to as sky serpents, and what is seen in the outer world is reflected by the inner world. The power of Kan comes from something which is referred to as itz or coyopa, the lightning in the blood. This is the power which may also be known as Ki, Chi, Prana, kundalini or “the force”. It is life force energy. Kundalini is a sanskrit word actually meaning coiled, like a snake.

Training must be undertaken when working with any of these energies, in order to understand how to use them. In its most positive aspect, the energy of Kan brings great wisdom; in its negative aspect, great destruction. A lack of understanding or control of this power can lead to undesirable consequences. The dark side of Kan can seduce with its power, and a very sexy power it is too, holding its prey in an almost hypnotic grip with its allure. It can become the ultimate ego trap.

However, it is also said that the feathered serpent Q’uq’umatz brought wisdom, through the sciences of astronomy and agriculture, to the ancient Maya. Here we see the positive aspect of Kan, where the ability to work with the body lightning brings great wisdom. People born on a Kan day can become some of the greatest healers or psychics. However, they can also become the darkest sorcerers and manipulators.

The Number Six

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. Thus, ceremonies are often made on six days thanks to their conducive energy.

The number 6 carries the qualities of the number 4, but has an extra axis. If we think of the number four representing the cardinal points, the number six adds a vertical axis to these. It brings in the Heart of the Sky and the Heart of the Earth. The number six has the stability of the number four embellished by the masculine and feminine principals. If the number four represents the physical world and the number 6 represents the physical world animated by the life force energy.

Thus, it also represents family, relating to the six qualities which hold families together – health, understanding, property, employment, friendship and actions.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

5 K’at (20th June 2025)

19th June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Working on letting go, to give space in your net for what is appropriate, may be a good focus today however challenging that task might be.

That does not mean that the outcome will be negative. There is a suggestion here that your hard work will be paid off. Nevertheless, on another day the abundance you receive might come to you more easily. This is a day to work on bringing together all the threads, ideas and plans into one place.

K’at also allows us to assess what will be useful to keep in our net for our journey, and what is no longer required. It may be that an emotional attachment to something that you once held dear may be preventing you from progressing. K’at may highlight what you are ready to release. It helps you sort through what you carry, ensuring that you pack correctly for your journey.

Sometimes we can cut our ties in one go and release ourselves, other times it needs more effort. Today might not release all of your burdens simultaneously. However, putting your energy in to the process of releasing yourself from attachments will certainly help your progress.

The Nawal K’at

K’at signifies a net and represents gathering together or bundling. In the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to this day many crops are harvested and carried in nets – oranges, lemons, avocados to name but a few. Through this we see one of the positive meanings of this nawal, that of abundance and harvest. K’at is a great day to draw things together. This could mean gathering your harvest, collecting ideas for your projects, or inviting people to a social event. It is a day of prosperity and the bounty which comes from the Earth, a day of gardeners and merchants.

However, K’at also has its more challenging side. An abundant crop will fill the net, but it will also slow you down. K’at is also the nawal of prisons and burdens, as the net which gathers, can also ensnare us. When candles are purchased for the fire ceremonies, they come in bundles held together by little strings. When the nawal K’at is addressed during the fire ceremony, these strings are put in to the fire, with offerings, to ask K’at to help us release ourselves from our burdens, from the ties which bind us. These ties can also be seen as excessive attachment to material things.

The Number Five

The Sacred Mayan calendar is said to be a calendar of human life. 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 its five digits. It is with our hands that we work, and with what we earn 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”.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

4 Aq’ab’al (19th June 2025)

18th June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Today is a good day to begin a project or to ground a new concept. Whilst the full light of the new day is still shrouded in darkness, the clarity of dawn has arrived.

Of course, we don’t know yet exactly how the day will pan out, but we can see a clear sky and we have the potential for a beautiful day.

If there is something you have been dreaming of for a while, start to create a concept from the dream today. It may not necessarily be the emergence of the concept into the real world just yet, it still needs to gestate. It could be that you were dreaming about making a journey, if so, today is the day to book the tickets.

In one sense, you have begun the journey, you have moved it into the physical, yet you have not taken the first step yet. Booking the tickets for the journey is one metaphor we can use to describe the essence of this day, but we can apply this idea in many ways. It is a day to make the preliminary sketches for your masterpiece or to write up your business plan. Romantically, it is also a great day to pluck up the courage to make that first date! It is a day where you can begin to stabilise the new concept you can bring to your life and the world.

The Nawal Aq’ab’al

The word aq’ab is translated as dark. The suffix -al changes the meaning slightly, alluding transtition and the dawning of the day. It is the time between darkness and light, night and day. Probably our best way to translate it would be as twilight. Birth is the beginning of the mortal journey. Aq’ab’al is just the beginning of the day and of things which are not yet fully formed.

In Santiago Atitlan one day, a friend explained to me the different parts of a weaving on a backstrap loom. Aq’ab’al is the warp (the vertical threads), B’atz is the weft (the horizontal threads) which creates the whole cloth. The newly woven cloth is Kawok. In order for the weaver to create, first she has an idea in her head or a dream. She sets out the dream on her loom by setting up the warp. The design has passed from being just an idea, to the beginnings of a woven reality. Thus, concept requires creative input before it becomes whole. Aq’ab’al can also represent conception. The fertilised egg is far from ready to be born, but has passed from the dream or spirit world into the physical.

Aq’ab’al days are great days for the start of new things, particularly new relationships – Aq’ab’al has a strong affinity with marriage. Also it is a perfect day for starting new projects. It is the time to bring them into the world of light from the world of dreams and ideas.

The Number Four

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. It was said to be they 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 good, down-to-Earth number.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

3 Iq’ (18th June 2025)

17th June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Listen to your inner voice for inspiring words today as you may find that they do not come from the outer world. The strong and unpredictable nature of the day could cause some challenges regarding communication and changes.

There are two ways of writing numbers in Maya glyphs. One is the dot and bar notation that you see alongside the glyph for the nawal above. The other is where the numbers are denoted by the heads of various deities. Within this notation, the number 3 is denoted by the head of the wind god. Thus, the day 3 Iq’ may be seen as having double the potential of another Iq’ day.

This extra power could again go either way, but whatever way it goes it is likely to be powerful. The obstructions associated with the number 3 make give this day the potential for mixed messages to say the least. If you have anything important to communicate it may probably be best to wait, as today your words may become jumbled. Whilst you might get your message across, the energy of today might even lead to your words being misinterpreted.

Today you may be inspired to make changes, with the power of the wind god behind you. However, as the external expression can be challenged, you may find your desired changes rather difficult to achieve today. Once again, the inner world is the place to make the changes. It is a day to make the changes within in order to affect external change. As the number 3 can represent the home, this would be a perfect day to make these changes within your home. Thus, If there was ever a day for a “Spring clean”, this is it. Allow the breath of fresh air to cleanse your home.

Veintena Rukub Pach

This day, 3 Iq’, represents the beginning of a new month within the solar calendar. The month of Rukab’ Pach is associated with the second season of hen hatching. It marks the time of the year in the northern hemisphere, where the sun is present for the longest period, the growing season is at its greatest potential. Sometimes we can look as cycles as learning and then implementation, often the first or upwards part can be the learning part. If we apply this to the idea of the year lords, perhaps it is the first 140 days that we are learning to adjust to the energy of the new Mam, and here we have reached the pinnacle. It is time to “hatch out” the lesson and use the fullness of the solar energy to propel us forward in our new work.

The Nawal Iq’

Nawal Iq’ is another strong nawal. It represents communication and particularly divine inspiration. It is the wind, the breath of life, that which brings the change in seasons.

The communication brought by Iq’ can be enlightening and inspiring. It is the breath of the divine which flows through us all, in fact the word for soul is Saq Iq’ – white breath. When our breath stops, our divine essence leaves our physical body. When we engage ourselves with the divine breath we are able to create, to manifest with our words, to inspire those around us. However, Iq’ also has a destructive side. It has the ability to blow like a hurricane and may level everything before it. It is the angry words which cut down everything in their path.

Hurricane is one of the few English words which is actually derived from a Mayan word- Junrakan, meaning “one footed”. Junrakan is another name for the Heart of the Sky, one of the creator deities. Once again it seems that certain patterns follow through the sequence of the nawales which are interrelated. Imox, the female creative principle, or egg, is fertilised be Iq’, the male principle. Their combination results in Aq’ab’al, the conception and a change in the state, bringing the dream into reality.

Iq’ is a day of communication, a day of inspiration. It can be a great day to express yourself through written or particularly verbal means. It is also a day on which changes happen. You can either embrace those changes or resist them. However, be aware that the wind blows forcefully and resistance of change requires a great deal of energy. Embracing change helps you to learn to dance like a leaf in the wind.

The Number Three

There are various myths about the creation which link with the number 3. One is that at the time of creation, three stones jumped out of the fireplace and formed the new world. These three stones are called the hearthstones and are still seen in many Maya homes today, on the fire supporting the tortilla griddle. From an astronomical point of view, the stones are the stars Alnitak, Saiph and Rigel in the constellation we call Orion, and the Smoky Fireplace is the Great Orion Nebula (M42)

The number 3 is still in the low end of the range of numbers. It does not have much energy yet, and it is also an odd number. It can represent the home, relating to the three hearthstones laid by the creators, and this is probably a good focus for a 3 day. However, it is possibly the most troublesome of the numbers to deal with, it lacks stability and represents challenges and obstructions. The number three brings up internal/external dilemmas. The lack of stability in the physical, external world that it brings suggests that the more appropriate action is to look to the internal world, both of the home and yourself.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

2 Imox (17th June 2025)

16th June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Choose your reality today. Imox connects us with the collective consciousness, and it is up to us to choose its light or dark aspect. Which are you manifesting?

One of the hazards of Imox days is the possibility of sinking into the dreamlike depths of the collective consciousness. Imox is a fertile place to allow our minds to wander. However, it is easy to get stuck in this swamp of creation. What you can bring out of these depths can be something truly in harmony with the spirit of the times. That’s if you manage to extract yourself from the dream. Imox can be seen as infinite possibilities. Thus, it can also be like staring into the abyss. It can inspire or terrify. The energy of Imox is not always the easiest to work with.

Today, the energy of the number 2 is coupled with Imox. This can be seen as being able to understand the duality. The energy of the number two helps us to discern between the dream world and reality. It is, perhaps, rather a useful combination, one which may help bring out the best in the “crazy” day.

We could also see the number 2 as representing self-sacrifice. Today there is a possibility that you might need to make a sacrifice of your energy to bring your dreams closer to the surface. Perhaps the most charming interpretation would be when we see the number 2 as the number of lovers, suggesting that today you are particularly able to form a collective consciousness with your partner. Today is a day of dreaming together.

The Nawal Imox

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.

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.

Imox is a day to celebrate the spirit of the times, to understand the collective mind. It is a day to dream your creations, your art, your music. Imox helps us all feel connected, when the psychic field between us may be particularly strong. Discernment may be called for, to understand when to dissociate from the collective. It is important to remember your individuality.

The Number Two

The number 2 is representative of duality, of polarity. Although a low number, it has surprising strength. 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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

New Recording – The Trecena of Ajpu (16th – 28th June 2025)

15th June 2025 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

The Trecena of Ajpu inspires us to begin the quest for the divine within each one of us and to embark on our heroic journey.

Are you feeling ready for a heroic journey? I am currently organising one for the Trecena of Ajpu in March 2026. You can find the information about the Junajpu journey here: https://thefourpillars.net/the-junajpu-journey/

You’ll find the YouTube link at the bottom of this page. However, I am now making these recordings available as a podcast! You can find it on Spotify, Amazon Music, Castbox and iHeart Radio. Now on Apple Podcasts and Deezer too!