7 Kame can be seen as an important day to finalise 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.

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.