Here are the days of the Chol Q’ij mapped onto the Gregorian month of August 2023.

We are now coming up to one of the most important days in the sacred calendar, Wajxakib B’atz, the renewal of the ceremonial cycle. This will occur on 17th August.

August will be rather an interesting month astronomically. Here in this part of Guatemala, the solar zenith passage happens around 11th – 13th August, which also happens to be the peak of Perseid meteor shower. I personally find this very intriguing as this year it seems like the solar zenith will be closer to 12th August, on the day Kame. The timing of the solar zenith is very important as it signifies a time to plant the second crop of corn for this rainy season, the rains coming back soon after, and enough of rainy season left to ensure full development. Corn planted after the solar zenith may not come to its full potential.

The Perseid meteor shower has the possibility to be one of the most impressive meteor showers of the year. This year it nearly coincides with the new moon, meaning that it may be particularly spectacular. The peak will be around 3.30am with up to 45 meteors per hour, radiating from the constellation of Perseus, which you can find in the northeast at about 45 degrees above the horizon at that time.

We also have the reappearance of Venus as a morning planet. on 14th August, Venus will disappear from the evening sky move into its inferior conjunction phase, where it will pass between the Earth and the Sun. According to the Dresden Codex, these events will occur on 5 Q’anil (14th August) and 13 Ajmak (22nd August). This is particularly interesting as it would place Wajxakib B’atz pretty much at the centre of the period, more or less aligning it with the inferior conjunction, when Venus sits directly between the Sun and the Earth. You may like to use this information to watch the heliacal rise of Venus on the 22nd August, where you will see it appear on the Eastern horizon just before sunrise. The light comes back to the world, and what has been hidden in the darkness is revealed, it is sometimes noted as the time of the downfall of leaders. It is even more interesting that this occurs on the day 13 Ajmak, a potent day of ancestral forgiveness.

Please click the calendar for a larger version to print out if you would like to. Below the calendar are clickable links to my interpretation of the energy of each of the days.

If you are the more technically minded I have also created a plugin for Google calendar which will enable 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! It is available for purchase here.

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