Tag Archives: Mam

Chol Q'ij - The Energies of the Days

5 Iq’ 0 Nab’e Mam – The Seating of the New Mam

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The Seating of the New Mam is the moment that the Wayeb has ended, when the period of retreat has finished and we can emerge from our “cave” back into the real world. In some communities, this would be celebrated with feasting and drinking, welcoming in the new grandfather who will guide us through the next revolution of the sun.

This year is governed by the Mam 5 Iq’. In addition to 5 Iq’ carrying the energy of the day, it is also carrying the energy of this new year. The properties and benefits brought by the nawal 5 Iq’ are discussed in my post for the day of 5 Iq’ here. The energy of this day is a representative of the energy which we will be living with for the whole year. The general advice for the energy of this year may be to strap in and prepare for turbulence.

The new Mam may take a little while to settle in. This is usually the first 20 days. Whilst it is obvious that the “administration” has changed, it takes a little time for all the promises made in the campaign to be adhered to. Nothing in nature moves in a square wave, it is always a gentle transition more akin to a sine wave. This is the first light of dawn, the day is just beginning, but we are still experiencing a little of the cold of the night. It will not be until midday, the height of the cycle that we will experience the fullest expression of the energy of this year lord. We can expect that in around 182 days or so, 5 K’at (21st August 2017).


The last time we experienced a Iq’ year was 2013, which was the year 1 Iq’. Iq’ years tend to have the reputation of being blustery, unpredictable years, years of change and harsh words. Change is what drives life; without it, stagnancy and true death occur. However, sometimes change is difficult to resolve, we have to learn to adapt, which when we were in a space we had grown attached to may bring up fear and possibly anger. This may be a year where we will need to learn to adapt quickly. The influence of the number 5 suggests work, which usually brings results, but when you are labouring you may find it difficult to understand what you are working towards. It may be that adapting will be harder work than anticipated.

The energy of the number 5 also has a reputation for rushing into things. In combination with the nawal Iq’ this could cause many problems, possibly with harsh words spoken in haste. Communication issues could come to the fore this year, both personally and in society. There is room, of course, for the inspirational words to be delivered by nawal Iq’, although these may seem more elusive than usual; Once again the 5 bringing the idea that they may be hard work to come by.

On a grander scheme of things, the cycle of the year bearers repeats every 52 years. Of course, we do not relive exactly the same experiences, but we may see similarities with the last time this year bearer was in office. That was the year 1965, when Mam would have taken his seat on the Gregorian day 5th March. This gives us the opportunity to understand how to engage with the benefits of, and avoid the errors committed during, the previous incarnation of the Mam 5 Iq’. For some ideas on major events of 1965, please click here.

Old Man Possum drew 4 streaks on the sky and is seen here delivering the new Mam, representing the new solar year. The first column of glyphs on the left hand side of the page, from the top to the representation of possum are all Iq’. He is accompanied by K’inich Ahau in the two frames below, the benevolent solar deity. From the Dresden Codex.

 

Maya Calendar Information

The Chol Q’ij and the Macewal Q’ij

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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.

Macewal Q'ij 2

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.

Maya Calendar Information

2015 – What Happened…..And When Will It Stop?

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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.