As we move further into the Gregorian calendar month of August 2016, I complete my first cycle of writings on each day of the Chol Q’ij. This cycle actually completes on 13 Iq’, as my writing began on the day 1 Aq’ab’al. It has been a monumental journey for me, finally allowing my ideas out to a larger world. I thank you for all the kind comments, the support and for taking to time to read. I hope that my interpretations of the energies of the days has helped you in some way to navigate through your own journey. Whilst this almost sounds like a “goodbye” speech, I can assure you that it is not. I will continue with my daily writings, for the moment refining my earlier pieces with the new understandings that writing on a daily basis have instilled in me.
In the meantime, I have been thinking about ways in which I might make this wonderful and important tool easier to use. I realised that sometimes I might write that a day is a great for garden work, or legal matters, or for a journey. Conversely, it may be that certain days would be less conducive for those things too. This information may be useful, but it would be more useful to have that information well in advance, so that you have the opportunity to plan ahead. Unless you have a great degree of freedom in your life, you may not be able to change your planned day when you find out what its significance is in the morning of that day!
For this reason, I have created this Gregorian calendar page. This will contain a calendar for each Gregorian month on its individual page. The image of the month planner can be printed out for offline reference, so that you can see what is coming up and how you can work it into your life. Below the calendar will be a table with the Chol Q’ij day, Gregorian reference date and some key words and a clickable link to the in depth analysis of the day. This is still a work in progress, so you may find that a link to a day has last years Gregorian date on it, this will be rectified over time.
I hope that you find this useful, and once again thank you for your interest on both the calendar and my interpretations of it.
The nawal Kame represents transformation, particularly spiritual transformation, and today it is coupled with the number representing community. This could give a day of profound changes in society.
The energy of Kame assists transformation from one state of being to another. If these changes are embraced they can be moved through at a determined rate. However, one way or another they will happen. If they are constantly resisted, they may become enforced changes, transformations which happen suddenly and at a rate we have no control over. The end result may be the same, but the process may seem harsher.
The number 10 is seen as representing community and the laws of society. Today could be a day of profound, possibly spiritual, change within society in general. This could also represent the support of your community to help you through your own transformation and growth. It is representative of our ability to work together to assist each other through our changes, whether they are enforced or voluntary.
In addition to this energy of profound change in society, today is also the day within the Dresden Codex on which Venus returns to the sky as an evening star. Astronomically speaking, Venus has been a theoretically visible for a few days now. Tonight Venus should be the first time when it is clearly visible as an evening “star” for a few minutes, appearing from the glare of the Sun, only to set a few minutes after the Sun.
According to Bruce Scofield in the book How to Practice Mayan Astrology, Venus can represent the rise and fall of leaders. They describe the rise of a great leader, seen as a bright shining light who becomes so bright he gets lost in hedonism. This leads to his downfall and eventual exile, the rise and fall of the morning star. The superior conjunction is seen as a time of judgement and redressing the balance before the leader is born again, this time humble, mortal and obeying the laws of society as the evening star. Eventually he is sacrificed, the inferior conjunction, and once again is born as the rising light in the world.
With the energy of 10 Kame combining with the reappearance of Venus, it could signal end end to the trials which began on 11 Ajmak (20th April) with the superior conjunction of Venus. The light travelled through the underworld as the planet Venus disappeared behind the Sun, from the point of view from Earth. Now, the light returns, in the wisdom place of the west, possibly signifying the emergence of a steadying influences as society goes through a profound change. The trials during the preceding 80 days have humbled the false leaders, and now new wisdom emerges.
Additionally, we will be under the influence of the full moon, this time falling in the western sign of Capricorn. This is also a strong emphasis on responsibility, boundaries and structure. Once again we see a stabilising influence emerging after the time of trials, although this may occur by establishing new boundaries.
Venus appearing as an evening star for the first time after its journey behind the Sun relative to the Earth (Superior Conjunction)
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 10 is another number which demonstrates the connection between the sacred calendar and the human body. As five represents one hand, ten represents two hands coming together. This can be seen as the shaking of hands creating agreement between people. Ten is seen as a good number, a number of community and the laws of society, of people acting in harmony with each other.
As the Mayan new solar year approaches I have been thinking about the relationship between the Chol Q’ij, the 260 day Mayan sacred calendar, and the Macewal Q’ij, the 365 day Mayan solar calendar, or ordinary days. In the Macewal Q’ij, “new year” will occur on February 21st in 2016, and because of the lack of an intercalary day, February 20th from 2017 to 2020. The Macewal Q’ij consists of 18 months of 20 days, which are then followed by a period of 5 days known as Wayeb.
Each new solar year, a new year bearer (also known as Mam, grandfather, cargador or Year Lord) takes his seat. There are four year bearers in use here in Guatemala, these are Kej, E’, N’oj and Iq’. They cycle much as the days cycle; 2012 was 13 N’oj, 2013 was 1 Iq’, 2014 was 2 Kej, 2015 was 3 E’ and 2016 will be 4 N’oj. In 2017 the solar year will begin on the day 5 Iq’, so we see the same sequence of year bearers with the number increasing by 1 each time. These are the year bearers currently used by the K’iche’ people of Guatemala. Archaeologists give a slightly different count as they start their count, the Ha’ab, 40 days later. The year bearers are the same, but the number is increased by 1, making 2016 the year 5 N’oj. There is also another count which starts 13 days later, due to an extra 13 days being added in February of 2013, which changed the year bearers. This was known as the “Gran Wayeb” and while this has many logical reasons and has been adopted in some areas, I do not know many indigenous day keepers who have adopted it yet.
The Chol Q’ij consists of 260 days and is commonly seen as 20 periods of 13 days, which are sometimes referred to as trecenas. Each trecena has a different attribute depending on the days involved and their strengths. However, there is another way of counting the Chol Q’ij which co-ordinates it’s movements with that of the Macewal Q’ij; that is by counting 20 day periods. Each month of the solar year begins with a seating day, which is usually given a value of 0, and ends on a day numbered 19. Therefore, the first day of the solar year, consists of two components, and in 2016 will be 4 N’oj 0 Nab’e Mam. After 20 day have elapsed, the solar month will change and the month of Rukub Mam will start on the next N’oj day, the date 12 N’oj 0 Rukub Mam. I have compiled the dates into the table below to show the entire year.
[supsystic-tables id=’1′]
What this table shows is that the bearer of the year presides over each of the Macewal Q’ij months, moving through each of his variations. He moves through the solar year twice, once thirteen times, then the second time five times (marked with a *), then through the Wayeb. The ** on the Wayeb marks that the year bearer only takes his seat for five days, and that it is the year bearer which governed for the previous appearance of this year bearer. For example, 13 N’oj was the year bearer of the year 2012, and 1 Iq’ was the year bearer on 2013. This seems hardly a coincidence and probably relates to the “Ghost” of the previous Mam taking responsibility after the current year bearer has “died”. The Wayeb is known as a time when public ceremony should be avoided, some people do not wash or comb their hair, they may not leave the house. It is a time when the days are unsupported and misfortune may occur.
When these cycles are compared with the life cycle of the maize, possible clarity occurs. The life cycle of the maize, the sustenance and substance of the people is 260 days. If Maize was planted on 21st February, it would be harvested on 7th November, which incidentally also around when rainy season usually ends. The maize grows and ripens, then the plant dies and is doubled over so that it dries out. In this way we see the 260 days as a cycle of life. From the 7th November through to 16th February there is no rain, so new life, the new sprouting of the maize, cannot occur. This is the second period of the year bearer, the 100 days, which could be seen as a journey through the otherworld, the world of the dead. We then have the 5 days of mourning, before the new year bearer takes his seat and the cycle of life begins again.
I have been asked a question a few times in the last few days regarding the energy of the year. It seems that many people found 2015 a very challenging year. They thought they were glad to see the back of it a couple of weeks ago, only to find out that challenging things are still happening. I want to write a much larger article on the 365 day count and the year lords, which I will reserve for the arrival of the new Mam in February, but for now I thought I would write something to give some of my frustrated friends a glimmer of hope.
Before I start I would like to clarify that I am basing my new solar count day on what my teacher observes, that the new 365 day count will begin on February 21st. There are some groups which are changing over to a new set of Year Bearers, which will begin their new year on March 6th, and the archaeological count used in Mexico and known as the Ha’ab will roll over on April 1st.
The Year Lord who took charge of 2015 was the Year Lord (or Mam) 3 E’. Much as I am writing about the energy of the day, the energy of an entire year can either be favourable or unfavourable. E’ is considered to be one of the more favourable Year Lords, bringing with it a spirit of travel and discovery, although is may also be somewhat restless at times. It is about more than just the physical journey, it is about our path in life and where that may take us. The number 3 is a challenging number which can represent blockages and obstructions, instabilities and difficulties, and here we have it connected with our life path. As you can imagine this can make for a rather challenging year, uncertainty and blockages in one’s path. The benefits of the E’ year not only muted, but turned into challenges.
On 21st February 2016, the new Mam will take his seat. This will be start the year 4 N’oj. N’oj is also considered to be a favourable nawal, it is a nawal of ideas, thought and intellect. It is the energy of the problem solver. It is coupled with the number 4, again thought to be a good, stable number. Representing the four directions and the fourfold aspects of the passage of the Sun – sunrise, midday, sunset and midnight, as well as the solstices and equinoxes. It stabilises that which it is joined with and can be seen as bringing the qualities of the nawal it is associated with into the physical world. Here we see it coupled with the nawal of ideas and intellect, which suggests that the energy which will be coming in will be more conducive to manifesting our ideas into reality.
Nature does not change in straight lines or square wave patterns, rather more like rolling sine wave type patterns. Just as the tides of the seas ebb and flow, so do the energies of the days and of the years. I will look at the patterns involved in the passing of the years in another article, but suffice to say there may be some changeover time between the year 3 E’ and the year 4 N’oj. However, I would expect that hopefully you should be finding life calmer and more stable by the end of February.
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