Tag Archives: Ancestors

13 B’atz (12th August 2020)

13 B'atzThe energy of the nawal of creativity combines with the influence of the ancestors to bring forth a powerful day for creative activities, especially when they bring in elements from the past.

We all draw our inspiration from somewhere as we create our beauty into the world. Today very much highlights communication with our ancestors, or receiving inspiration from them that you weave into your creation. It may be the words or ideas of our grandparents, or even further back in time that we hear today, which bring the final touches to our masterpiece.

We often have the idea that the new ideas are the most important, but each idea and each new thing is built on the foundation of the old. When we make ceremony, we call in all the altars and shrines we have worked at before, each ceremony builds on the energy of the previous ones. Each ceremony is different, but they share the same foundation.

Of course the creation of beautiful art or your reality can be seen as a serious business, but the energy of nawal B’atz can often make light of it. The creative energy flows so easily that it is a happy and fun experience,  you might find yourself remembering granddad’s jokes or grandma’s laugh as you work on what you are creating.

Today you may gain inspiration from the ancestral creations of your region. Your distant ancestors may communicate something vital to incorporate into your new weaving through their ancient patterns. This is not just a day about creating art, B’atz represents the weaving of  time to create the sacred calendar. This was the legacy of the ancestors here in Central America, and we may expect some intuition to pass from them through their work, through their creation, to illuminate our understanding of the movement of time itself.cropped-Nawales-in-a-ring.png

There are two nawales which bestow incredible talents, one of which is B’atz. B’atz is the nawal of artisans and of weavers, but this is not just creation and weaving on the Earthly level. B’atz weaves the threads of time together to create reality. B’atz is the nawal of the sacred calendar, which could be considered to be the fabric created from these individual threads of time. If B’atz is clever enough to weave time into order, then of course it is clever enough to create more down to Earth trinkets. B’atz is the master artisan, creating whatever it chooses, at will. It is just as comfortable painting, as it is playing music or writing. The arts come naturally to this nawal. However, this can lead to issues when B’atz has to deal with those less talented than itself. This can lead to a certain arrogance around those who fail to achieve their standard of excellence.

Their talent draws attention, which is something B’atz craves. It is the nawal of the born entertainer, who can sing, dance and play all at once. This nawal is the life and soul of the party, it also makes excellent teachers, who hold the attention of students through entertaining them. It is a particularly fun loving nawal that feeds on the adoration of the crowd that it pleases.

It is a day to create, especially within the fields of the arts. It is also a day to weave your reality the way you see fit. Where Aq’ab’al was the conception, B’atz is the gestation. Now is the time to incorporate what you wish into the pattern before it is birthed.

The number 13 is the final number. It represents the spirit world. It is said that on Halloween, the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. However within the sacred calendar, this thinning happens every 13 days. This connection with the spirit world creates a powerful day, where both the positive and negative aspects of the nawal it is attached to come through strongly. It is a very good day for activities such as divinations, however, ceremonies on 13 days are generally only carried out by the most experienced Aj Q’ij who understand how to work with that strength of energy.

8 Kame (7th August 2020)

8 KameThe number 8 can be seen to represent birth (1) and death (7) brought together. Combined here with Kame, the nawal of transformation, this day strongly represents the turning of the wheel of life and the growth it creates.

As the days go, there can hardly be a more representative energy of the cycle of life and possibly the cycle of the soul. Today is a day that ceremonies will be made to honour our ancestors, those who are walking their path in the other world. It is said that after death, the souls pass into the underworld where they pass through the houses of challenges. Upon completion of the challenges, they then climb the world tree to the heavens, from where they again incarnate. Today we remember our ancestors, their love and what they brought to us. We are here because of them, we carry their DNA forwards. They taught us things both through their actions and their words. It is for all of these things that we thank our ancestors, we show our love, we show that they are remembered. We hold them in our hearts, and in our memories they live on. This is a day to embrace joy and allow Kame to burn away our grief.

When we see Kame in combination with the 8, this really brings home the wholeness of the cycle of life. It is not just the physical death of the body, every change we go through is a death or end of something. Even birth is the end of a cycle of gestation, the beginning of parenthood, the beginning of a new life. This is a day to celebrate those changes. It is a day when we embrace the changes which happen through the emergence of the new (1) and the death of the old (7) all together in one place. In this Kawok trecena, as we go through our own rebirth process, today is the changing point where we become that which our process has brought us to, we step through the veil into our new self.

The day 8 Kame is also seen as the perfect day to get married. When a couple are married, their lineages become entwined, woven together. This is obvious as their offspring will carry the DNA of both bloodlines. However, it is also seen as having an effect of bringing together the ancestors. The wishes of the ancestors are considered in a great many things and a marriage on a day which honours them is thought to be highly beneficial. The reason why the 8 Kame is particularly seen as beneficial is that not only is it a day on which the ancestors are honoured, it is a day which takes into consideration the four first couples  – Balam Kitze and Kaja Paluna; Balam Aq’ab and Chomija; Majujkutaj and Tz’unun Ya; Balam Ikim and Kakixaja. According to the creation stories, they are the ancestors of us all, the guardians of each of the cardinal points. They bless the union of the couple with the masculine and feminine aspects of the properties of each of the directions – strength, wisdom, spirit and abundance.

Materials for a wedding ceremony. A corn cob each of red, white, black and yellow, together with a bowl of water for each direction, bring a physical representation of the properties of the four first couples to the bride and groom. Photo by Hana Wolf

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, 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.

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. It can also 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 become whole. It is the most common day for ceremonies to be made, it is still in the balanced range of numbers and is an even number, which is also considered fortunate. As 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 ceremony.

13 Tijax (30th July 2020)

The ancestors guide your hands today as you wield the obsidian blade. Trust in them, but go easy with your cuts. The strength of the energy of the day may cut more than you intended or bite off more than you can chew.

Tijax has the goal of the resolution of duality and is tenacious in this quest. Whether it is healing or warfare, Tijax will not give up until it has achieved its goals. When we combine it with the strength of the number 13, we have a very potent combination.

Tijax can be argumentative and it is possible that tempers will fray today. Today more than any, it will be important to really be aware of your words. They may have more power than you imagined and you might find them wounding deeply, even if that was unintended. You might be speaking the truth, but there are ways to get the message over without causing confrontation, which would negate your message. On the other hand, be aware of that people may not have full control of themselves today, 13 Tijax is affecting everybody. Listen for the truth, but don’t take things too seriously, act calmly and think carefully before reacting.

On this, the final day of the Kame trecena, the obsidian blade of Tijax is connected to the spirit world cutting us free from the dense energy, transforming us into our higher aspect, ready for the rebirth of the Kawok trecena.

In this we can see the other aspect of what could also be a memorable day for the right reasons. It is a day to call upon your ancestors or the spirit world to give you the strength and tenacity to cut yourself free of that which holds you back on your life path. Just be aware that should you do this it may bring some very decisive action. It might not be just burning bridges, more so vaporising them.

Tijax is the representative of the healer, bringing unity and divinity into the world by removing that which is out of balance. Today is an excellent day to ask for healing from your ancestors, or from the spirit world. This could particularly apply to conditions which are long term or genetic. If you have the opportunity to make an appointment to receive healing in some form, but particularly energetic healing, today you might find that it has a particularly strong effect.


 

The nawal Tijax is often thought of as an obsidian blade or knife. How the blade is used depends on the intention of the person wielding it. It can be wielded by a warrior or by a surgeon. These would seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but where Tijax is concerned the aim is the same – healing.

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. This is their quest, their crusade, and is represented by Tijax. They then sacrifice themselves in the underworld (Kame) and are resurrected with magical abilities (Ix). 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. It has a tenacity to it, it is sometimes belligerent, it will not be stopped in its quest. It is 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. It is a day of alchemy, both internal and external, turning the ordinary into the divine.

The number 13 is the final number. It represents the spirit world. It is said that on Halloween, the veil between the worlds is the thinnest. However within the sacred calendar, this thinning happens every 13 days. This connection with the spirit world creates a powerful day, where both the positive and negative aspects of the nawal it is attached to come through strongly. It is a very good day for activities such as divinations, however, ceremonies on 13 days are generally only carried out by the most experienced Aj Q’ij who understand how to work with that strength of energy.