Tag Archives: Harvest

11 Q’anil (7th November 2022) – Samhain 10.36 UTC

6th November 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

This may be a day where many ways to maturity may exist. In harmony with the recent 7 K’at day, 11 Q’anil may also bring visions of the ripe harvest all around.

There are some nawales where their combination with the number 11 would cause rather a few issues. The strength and lack of direction applied to forceful energies may be rather challenging. However, the energy of Q’anil is known for its soft and jovial nature, after all, its association with the perfection of ripeness should be cause for celebration. The main confusion of the day may come from deciding which path to follow to lead to this abundance when all around seems golden. The key will be to pick a path and follow it.

The energy of 11 Q’anil should lead to an extremely potent day for garden work. It is rather like today being gifted with “the golden touch” when it comes to working with plants. The challenge will be channelling that energy into a cohesive direction, as the 11 may cause it to wander. This is a day when Q’anil‘s light might shine so brightly that it distracts from the original course of action towards maturity.

At the end of this highly constructive day you may feel a sense of completion, a gratitude and joy as you look over the golden abundance you have harvested. Whilst a celebration of sorts may be in order, be aware of Q’anil‘s attachment to intoxication. With the strength of the 11 behind it, things might get a little out of hand!

Today marks the astronomical cross quarter day of Samhain. This point of the year is exactly midway between the Equinox and the Solstice, and was considered the first day of winter in the Celtic calendar. It is seen as the death of the Sun god, the sun descending into the underworld, where it will remain until Imbolc (Feb 4th 2023). It is well known that the Maya were expert astronomers, and their much of their timekeeping was based on archeoastronomical alignments, so it would be unsurprising to find this day marked by their structures too.

Regardless of the hemisphere and whether it is seen as the beginning of winter or the beginning of summer, there is a particular alignment which is happening, which is said to be an opening of portals to the otherworld. Perhaps rather than just seeing it as where the sun shines on the Earth, we could think of it as how the sun interacts with our magnetosphere. This in turn could be the reason as to why the veil is seen as being so thin at this time. As a day of receiving our blessings from many different sources, this would be an excellent day to make ceremony to give thanks for the abundant harvests in our lives and give thanks for the abundance our ancestors have provided for us.

Nawal Q’anil represents the ripening of the seed, the crop coming to maturity. The K’iché word Q’an means yellow, and the -il suffix is rather like the English -ing. Q’anil represents the golden head of maize at its perfection of ripeness, ready to be picked. In the Mayan creation story, humans were fashioned from maize dough, we are Ixim Achi, the people of the corn. The maize in this part of the world has a 260 day growth season between planting (conception) and harvest (birth.) This connects maize with both the sacred calendar and with the period of human gestation.

It is in the fields and gardens that Q’anil’s light shines particularly brightly, it is the nawal of farmers, gardeners and herbalists. But just as it is at home around plants, Q’anil has the possibility to shine anywhere. Q’anil has talent, its beautiful golden light illuminates that which it comes into contact with, Q’anil people light up the room with their presence. Q’anil is about achieving full potential, and this relates to all of our activities. It does have an affinity to the arts, but in general is a day of bounty for all life projects.

However, when an energy is so fertile and prosperous, life can become too easy. Q’anil also appreciates the rewards of its talent – sometimes a little too much. Q’anil is prone to overindulge in the sensual, in particular with regards to intoxication.

The number 11 is a high and odd number. This gives it some rather challenging properties, although it can come good in the end. Imagine you visit Ireland and are transfixed by the green of the hills, then you go to Morocco and are awed by the red of the buildings, then you go to the Caribbean and are moved by the turquoise sea. You return home and paint a beautiful picture using those colours. When you were in Ireland you didn’t know you were going to paint that masterpiece, you may not have even known why you were there. This is how 11 works. You are sure you need to be doing something, but unsure why. You are collecting experience through many wanderings.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

7 K’at (3rd November 2022)

2nd November 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

The number of completion combines with the nawal of gathering and harvest. This could be an excellent day to gather the fruits of your labour, but also to finally release old burdens.

The energy of the nawal K’at brings us the ability to bring things together in one place. This may be indeed be your produce or harvest, but K’at also helps to bring together thoughts and people. K’at days are great days to create bundles, and from these bundles abundance naturally follows. Whether we see it as a day of merchants taking the produce to market, of social gatherings or brainstorming sessions, K’at has a tendency to multiply what it comes into contact with. This is how it creates abundance, just as planting one kernel of maize results in one or more cob of 600 kernels.

Additionally, the number 7 represents finality, the end of whatever it is associated with. Here we can see this as representing the final gathering, the end or outcome of something that was planted 260 days ago. This is the day to finalise deals and projects you have been working on for some time and reap the benefit. However, from the vantage point of the top of the pyramid, the question might be where to start the harvest. It will not matter, the possibility of gathering abundance on this fortuitous day is so high that you may find your net full before you have finished. Just ensure that you know how to move forward once you have collected your harvest, you might find it too easy to overfill your net and your abundance may become a burden.

With that in mind, the other side of K’at comes forward, the power to release yourself from that which ensnares you. The finality of the number 7 also suggests that this is a very appropriate day to release yourself from that which holds you back once and for all, as truly befits our journey through the Tijax trecena.

K’at signifies a net and represents gathering together or bundling. Here, in the Western Highlands of Guatemala, to this day many crops are harvested and carried in nets – oranges, lemons, avocados to name but a few. Through this we see one of the positive meanings of this nawal, that of abundance and harvest. K’at is a great day to draw things together, whether this means gathering in your crops, collecting ideas and opinions for your projects, or inviting people to a social event. It is a day of prosperity and the bounty which comes from the Earth, a day of gardeners, but also of merchants.

However, K’at also has its more challenging side. An abundant crop will fill the net, but it will also slow you down. K’at is also the nawal of prisons and burdens, as the net which gathers, can also ensnare us. When candles are purchased for the fire ceremonies, they come in bundles held together by little strings. When the nawal K’at is addressed during the fire ceremony, these strings are put in to the fire, with offerings, to ask K’at to help us release ourselves from our burdens, from the ties which bind us. These ties can also be seen as excessive attachment to material things.

Number Sequence.jpg — The sequence of numbers as they appear with each appearance of a nawal. Here we see that the sequence begins with 1 and ends with 7, giving 7 as a number of finality.

The number seven is the mid-point of the range of numbers. It is known as a number of death and endings, which would seem strange as it is only half way through. It is another representation of the change of state of the soul, showing half of the journey (1-6) in the mortal world and half (8-13) in the otherworld.

The numbers of the days set out as a pyramid. — The numbers of the days as they appear through the trecena. Here they can also be set out as a pyramid, reaching the peak is also the end of a journey.

If we imagine the numbers 1 through 13 as a pyramid, the number seven would be at the top. Seven is the number of balance, it gives the ability to weigh up situations and see all points of view. While this may be very noble, it may lead to indecision.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

4 Q’anil (18th October 2022)

17th October 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

A combination of elements today leads to an auspicious day to be working in your garden. The ripening talent of Q’anil is augmented by the number 4, bringing physical stability to what you plant.

Q’anil days are always good days to be working with the plant kingdom. Different numbers will give rise to different aspects of how to work, some days might be better for harvesting, some for planting. Whatever you “plant” today is infused with the energy to come to a stable fruition, to ripen beautifully into a stable source of abundance.

This day could be seen as a day of material wealth, of material abundance. Of course, this would mean that there is something missing. The stability of the four creates a good, solid foundation, and if we look at the glyph for Q’anil, we can see that the number four is well represented within it. But there is another aspect to Q’anil which would suggest waiting a little before full maturity. Perhaps what we harvest today might be enough to bring stability, but not yet enough to incorporate the full potential that could be achieved. The position of the number four within the cycle of the trecena shows that the energy is still growing, it is nowhere near its peak. As we journey through the Kan trecena, the day 4 Q’anil shines its light on developing wisdom, on knowing through experience when to wait in order to reap a more abundant harvest. This could be seen as a good day to plan the future harvest, to create a framework within which the abundance can be gathered, and possibly have a trial run.

If the needs really cannot wait, harvest what will sustain you for now, but waiting a little longer will bring a greater abundance from a more mature crop.

The number 4 is very important within Mayan mythology. Four represents the cardinal points, the four colours of maize, the four carriers of the year, the two equinoxes and two solstices, as well as midnight, sunrise, midday and sunset. The number four is representative of the four first men, who raised the sky from the sea to create the world we live on. In Mayan myth it is four pillars that support the sky from the Earth. As you can imagine, four is a number which represents stability, a solar number. Even though it is still low, it is thought of as a beneficial number.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

13 K’at (14th October 2022)

13th October 2022 Mark Elmy 1 Comment

K’at brings with it the suggestion of abundance, of reaping our harvest and today we have the assistance of the ancestors in this task. However, will it come at a price?

K’at is usually associated with physical abundance and quite rightly so. It is the nawal of the harvest which is physically gathered. The calendar is strongly linked to the life cycle of maize in Guatemala. If you plant on a K’at day, you will harvest on that same K’at day 260 days later. When we look at the sequence of numbers, we see the first appearance as being 1 and the final being 7, the start and the end. The penultimate number is 13. If 1 is planting and 7 is the final harvest, then perhaps the 13 day is where the ancestors add their input to the crop, give their blessing.

So, today is a day when we can ask for the spirit world to bless our future harvest, in whatever form that might take. It is a day when we might ask for the input of our ancestors to help us bring something to its conclusion. If you are wondering how to finish something, it is a day to ask for a divination on the final steps of a venture, how to bring it all together.

There is another aspect to it. K’at also represents the burden, the net in which we become entangled. Today it is linked with the spirit world and suggests something more than physical attachment which may slow down our progress. Our ancestors provided both our material and cultural foundations, we exist because of them and we are deeply grateful for both their wisdom and our worldly goods. However, sometimes patterns which they started are no longer relevant and sometimes we cling to those traditions too. For example, tribal rivalry may have been useful when we were hunter gatherers, but now it holds back our progress. The day 13 K’at could also represent the karmic burden passed on to us from our ancestors. Today is a day to recognise how we are held by those old patterns and break free of the ones which no longer serve us.

Many of our ancestral traditions also serve us well. There are certain ways that our ancestors knew to increase the yield of our harvest and keep us in abundant health. Today is the day to embrace ancestral traditions, and to remember to thank your ancestors for their blessings which bring your current abundance.

Main photo credit: Marybel Iriondo

Blood Moon, mother of the Hero Twins being sent away from Xibalba after becoming pregnant. She goes to see Ixmucane, Mother of Jun Junajpu and Wucub Junajpu and is set a challenge to fill a net with corn. which she achieves and is taken in as family. She is seen here holding the K’at glyph in her hands. From The Dresden Codex.

The number 13 is the final number on the pyramid. 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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

10 Q’anil (28th September 2022)

27th September 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

Getting some help from the people around you today may bring your plans to fruition, as Q’anil, the nawal of ripening combines with the number 10 representing cooperation and community.

The energy of 10 Q’anil is a beautifully powerful combination. Q’anil is strongly associated with abundance, it bestows a talent with the plant kingdom whether it is associated with food crops or with medicinal herbs. A way with plants is not the only benefit though, Q’anil has much more to offer. Outside of an agrarian society, our abundance comes from our ideas and plans and Q’anil brings these to maturity too.

Abundance brings a lightness to our lives, it helps us to relax as our day-to-day needs are satisfied. When we are relaxed our mood and spirit is lifted and this is certainly something we see with Q’anil, it is a day of joy and pleasure. Today that could be particularly enhanced through interaction with your community. It is possible that working together not only increases the speed your project comes to readiness, it may also enhance the yield you receive. When a community comes together to work, this also helps to ripen the community itself, it brings out the best in people and reminds us of what we are capable of when we cooperate. It reminds us of how much we all benefit from each others light.

With so much abundance available, and the community gathered around, you may find the desire to celebrate equally strong. Whilst celebrating achievements and bonding with your community is always a great idea, be aware of Q’anil‘s love of intoxication. It might be all to easy to get really carried away if alcohol is involved, the energy of the following day 11 Toj might see you paying for the consequences.

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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

6 K’at (24th September 2022)

23rd September 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

The energy of the nawal K’at helps us to gather what we require, leading to an abundant outcome. This is an inspired day to bring together that which creates stability in our lives and those of our families.

It is said that the nawal K’at has the ability to multiply all that it comes into contact with. This is probably a reference to its association with Ixkik (Lady Blood Moon) who magically filled her net (K’at) with corn from the rather bare milpa of Ixmucane, the grandmother of her unborn twins. Her ability to fill the net with corn planted by Jun Junajpu, the son of Ixmucane, proved Ixkik was carrying his children and she was accepted as part of the family. This day, 6 K’at, particularly emphasises that sort of experience, not just an abundance that appears from nowhere, but its ability to bring stability within your family.

All harvests take their time, we have to wait as the plants grow, flower and mature. Sometimes we forget about something we planted, or we thought it would come to nothing. Today is a day to check out for a possible harvest, you might find a surprise gift from the Heart of the Sky and Heart of the Earth manifested into your garden.

Of course, we don’t all plant food, but we do receive sustenance from the seeds of ideas or plans we plant. Today, check the progress of your plans. How are they coming along? Are they coming to fruition or do they need a stabilising influence? It is possible that if you are not actually taking the harvest today, energy put in today may bring stability to the abundance you gather at a later date. Will one of the properties of the four directions – strength, wisdom, spirit or healing – help to stabilise your plan, or will it take the inspiration from the Heart of the Sky or compassion from the Heart of the Earth? All are available to assist you and today you can gather all six qualities together and reap the benefits.

Today is the day to gather your abundance in a stable manner in preparation for the new journey ahead.

The number six is said to be the number of ultimate stability. It is the first of the three middle numbers of the cycle, the balance point neither too strong nor too weak. It is a day frequently used for ceremony thanks to its conducive energy. It represents the four directions with the Heart of the Sky and the Heart of the Earth. It also represents family, relating to the six qualities that nourish and hold families together – health, understanding, property, employment, friendship and actions.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

9 Q’anil (19th August 2022)

18th August 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

With both the fertile nature of Q’anil and the good fortune seen in the number 9 we can expect this day to be really rather pleasant. This is possibly a welcome relief after the strength of the last few days.

There are many phrases that we could associate with this day. “The light of life”, “seed of life” and “the light of the feminine” are just a few. It feels like a delicious golden energy we would all love to bask in, the reward after the hard work we have been carrying out recently. It is a day to enjoy the bounty that the fruition of your projects has brought to you.

However, there is also work to be done, and 9 Q’anil is a great day for working in the fields and garden, planting the seeds for your next harvest. Both 9 and Q’anil are linked to fertility. Q’anil is also strongly linked with the herbalist’s art and creates a very powerful day to plant or harvest medicinal herbs.

All in all, 9 Q’anil should be a happy and prosperous day, a celebration of life itself, and a celebration of the women in our lives. However, be careful not to overdo it, or Q’anil‘s other side of intoxication may make its presence known.

The number nine is very special indeed. It is the number of lunations in the human gestation period and in the sacred calendar. The sacred calendar is known as a calendar of life, and it is women that give life. As such the number nine is seen as the number of life and the number of the divine feminine. It gives all that it is attached to a strong feminine presence and is a day on which women may wish to give thanks for their gifts.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

5 K’at (15th August 2022)

14th August 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

With the nawal K’at representing the gathering of abundance and the number 5 representing work, we could understand that today would be a good day for bringing in your harvest, but the task might turn out to more challenging than it seemed.

However, that does not mean that the final outcome will be negative. There is a suggestion here that your hard work will be paid off, it’s just that on another day the abundance you receive might come to you more easily. This is a day to work on bring together all the threads, the ideas and plans into one place.

K’at also gives us the opportunity to work on what will be useful to keep in our net for our onwards journey, and what no longer is required. It may be that an emotional attachment to something that you once held dear may be actually preventing you from progressing. K’at may highlight what it is time to let go of, to help you sort through what you carry with you, ensuring that you pack correctly for your journey. Sometimes we can cut our ties in one go and release ourselves, other times it needs more effort. You might not release all of your burdens today, but putting your energy in to the process of releasing yourself from attachments will certainly help your progress.

The Sacred Mayan calendar is often said to be a calendar of human life, and parts of it can be seen as a microcosm of the human body. The number five is one of these parts. It is representative of the hand with it’s five digits. It is with our hands that we work, and with what we earn for that work that we pay our debts. Five is also a number that relates to the sacred fire where we pay our debts with offerings and prayers. Five might be so busy working that it fails to remember what it is working for. It can also signify that what it is attached to becomes work, or is “hard work”.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

8 Q’anil (10th July 2022)

9th July 2022 Mark Elmy Leave a comment

The nawal of ripening combines with the number of wholeness today to bring the possibility of a day of true brilliance. This is a day of celebration of the abundant harvest, both from our fields and our projects.

Today is a balanced day, a great day to work with plants. The energy is neither too strong, nor too weak and it is particularly conducive for most horticultural and agricultural activities. If you have the opportunity to get your hands into the Earth today, take it. You should find that your effort will be abundantly rewarded.

On 7 Q’anil, the ripening process of last season’s crop completed, on 1 Q’anil, the new crop was sown. Today brings both of these together in wholeness, the cycle of life and death together in one place. It is a day of celebration, a day when we give thanks for the ripening of our harvests, and make our offerings to invite blessings for abundance from the crop we have just planted. Of course we don’t all grow our abundance in fields anymore, we gain our abundance from our projects and from our work. Today is a day to pour your brilliance into that which sustains you, and to give thanks for the abundance you receive.

Q’anil days are also rather renowned for their carefree and fun feeling, after all, such blessings of abundance should give rise to feelings of contentment and happiness. However, sometimes this urge for merriment might get taken too far and may lead to intoxication. Possibly the energy of the 8 brings balance to this, suggesting a celebration which should be thoroughly enjoyable, whilst staying within reasonable limits.

It is in the fields and gardens that Q’anil’s light shines particularly brightly, it is the nawal of farmers, gardeners and herbalists. But just as it is at home around plants, Q’anil has the possibility to shine anywhere. Q’anil has talent, its beautiful golden light illuminates that which it comes into contact with, Q’anil people light up the room with their presence. Q’anil is about achieving full potential, and this relates to all of our activities. It does have an affinity to the arts, but in general is a day of bounty for all life projects.

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.

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

1 Q’anil (20th June 2022)

19th June 2022 Mark Elmy 1 Comment

The nawal of ripening combines with the number of novelty to begin a new trecena today. This brings a window of opportunity to ripen your crops and projects, to bring them to abundant brilliance.

It could be said that both the number 1 and the nawal Q’anil have some very strong links to seeds. The glyph for the nawal Q’anil is often drawn in sugar on the ceremonial fireplace, regardless of the day, as the foundation for the sacred fire. It is the seed that we put onto the Earth. The seed represents both the beginning and the end, it is from which the plant grows, and what the plant ultimately leaves behind. It represents the whole cycle of life, from birth to death, and what happens in between, day by day, is maturing. The seed is the ultimate goal of the ripening process, passing on the spark of life to the next generation. Of course, days carrying the number 1 are often the beginning of a process, and here that process is the payback for the hard work, the maturing process bringing with it the abundance reaped from the harvest. This is the beginning of the multiplication of the seed, where one planted seed becomes many offspring.

This is the day to begin to bring things to their final state. If there are projects that just need a little more input to finish, this is certainly a day to make them, although the following 12 days may also carry a similar energy. It can also be seen as planting the new seed to be harvested in the future, or even preparing the ground for a future project.

Another way to look at this cycle is through the cycle of ceremonies. Ceremonies are often performed on the “1” day, the first day of the trecena. They are also often performed 20 days later on the “8” day of the same nawal. The day 1 Q’anil sets up a 20 day path to the day 8 Q’anil, the day where we give thanks for our ripening, for our crops and our abundant harvest. During ceremonies, I am often calling on the energy of each of the other 19 nawales to bring its properties to the process which is associated with the nawal of the “1” day. For example, the 20 day period which begins 1 Q’anil will end on the day 7 Kej. So I might ask that nawal Toj blesses the maturing crop with good health in return for an offering, or that the nawal B’atz brings its creative genius to the ripening process, and so on until I have invoked all 19 of the other nawales, and reached the nawal Kej. This is like energetically weaving a path, and asking for the support of each of the nawales along that path. Of course, during this time another path will start, the trecena of 1 Imox will start during the 20 day period between 1 Q’anil and 8 Q’anil. There is always more than one path occurring at any time. The 20 days from 8 Q’anil (celebration of ripening) will take us to 1 Kej (new connection to the natural world), again laying an energetic path to take us to next line of the weaving we are creating.

Therefore, the day 1 Q’anil can be seen as the beginning of the finalisation of our projects, a time when that which we have been patiently tending is getting close to the point where we can reap our abundance from it. It can also be seen as the day on which we plant the new seeds that we wish to bring to maturity, as a time when you may introduce a new brilliance into your life, the seed of an idea that allows you to truly shine.

The beginning of the ripening, the true beauty is coming - by Mark Elmy — The beginning of the ripening, the true beauty is coming – by Mark Elmy

Nawal Q’anil represents the ripening of the seed, the crop coming to maturity. The K’iché word Q’an means yellow, and the -il suffix is rather like the English -ing. Q’anil represents the golden head of maize at its perfection of ripeness, ready to be picked. In the Mayan creation story, humans were fashioned from maize dough, we are Ixim Achi, the people of the corn. The maize in this part of the world has a 260 day growth season between planting (conception) and harvest (birth.) This connects maize with both the sacred calendar and with the period of human gestation.

It is in the fields and gardens that Q’anil’s light shines particularly brightly, it is the nawal of farmers, gardeners and herbalists. But just as it is at home around plants, Q’anil has the possibility to shine anywhere. Q’anil has talent, its beautiful golden light illuminates that which it comes into contact with, Q’anil people light up the room with their presence. Q’anil is about achieving full potential, and this relates to all of our activities. It does have an affinity to the arts, but in general is a day of bounty for all life projects.

However, when an energy is so fertile and prosperous, life can become too easy. Q’anil also appreciates the rewards of its talent – sometimes a little too much. Q’anil is prone to overindulge in the sensual, in particular with regards to intoxication.

The number 1 is representative of the seed, of unity. It represents birth and beginnings. It is a low and odd number, which usually represents something challenging. However, the seed can grow into a mighty tree, it is full of potential. It just needs the correct nutrients and conditions to germinate and develop, just as sometimes we need encouragement to develop our ideas.

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