The Nawal Ajpu helps us to recognise the divinity in all that surrounds us, it sends us on our quest to understand the holiness of life. Today it shows us that we have to look in wholeness, in every aspect.

The Nawal Ajpu represents the heroes of the Popol Vuh, Junajpu, Jun Junajpu and Wucub Junajpu. They were the ones who descended to the underworld to confront the Lords of Death. Jun Junajpu and Wucub Junajpu failed in their task and were killed. However, Jun Junajpu’s severed head magically impregnated the maiden Blood Moon with twins, Junajpu and Xbalamque. Where the father and uncle failed, the second generation was victorious. Finally, the Xibalbans were defeated, bringing peace to those who dwell in the earthly realm.

With Ajpu representing the sun, we can see this interplay as representing the victory of light over darkness. The days numbered 8 are commonly used for ceremonies. Today this ceremony could celebrate and honour the heroes that bring the light into our lives. However, without their opponents, heroes would not exist. Neither would the legendary stories we celebrate, whatever our tradition. The challenges we confront are what bring out the divinity within us, without them, there would be no quests and no progress. It is a day to celebrate our failures as well as our victories. These are all experiences which have brought out the hero from within us.

It is easy to see the beauty in what we have been taught is divine, but can you see it within the mundane? Can you find the divinity in what you judge to be a negative situation? It is a day to see that all has come from oneness, everything is part of the divine.

The Nawal Ajpu

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 it 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 allows exploring ourselves and our reactions. Sometimes we are attracted, or repelled by the actions 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 Eight

The number 8 is considered to be a number of 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.