Something I have come to understand about this calendar, the Chol Q’ij, is that the wisdom of it is equally powerful when looking backwards as looking forwards. It’s a wheel. There is no ending or beginning. Just another cycle.
The Trecena of Tz’ikin began thirteen days ago on April 12th. I had intended to write on the 12th, but work beckoned and I felt energized to keep my nose down all the way through to the 15th. It was a tax season finish like none that I had experienced since opening my practice twenty years ago. Every client that brought their paperwork in before the 15th got their returns prepared on time! A new vision emerged. The seeds of a partnership were planted.
Tz’ikin, the bird or eagle, is the visionary of the calendar. It is also associated with prosperity and rules business and money. An ideal trecena to complete my busy season and then take time to REST and REFLECT. Rest began with a profoundly sublime and restorative day at the Spa in Pebble Beach. A Walk in the Forest is what I offered myself and it was absolutely delightful. Reflection followed with a session with my friend and an Elder of the Esselen tribe, Cari Herthel. The theme of RENEWAL emerged and was explored. Celebrations followed for family birthdays and Easter Sunday. Lots of time spent outdoors, followed by two days of deep cleaning my home. I am now ready to emerge back into the world.
Sometimes the energy of a Trecena is best experienced first and contemplated afterwards. Tz’ikin views the vision from above, offering us all possibilities. My son is the first employee that I have ever had. He is teaching me as much as I am teaching him. So much so that I can already see a partnership in another few years. A new possibility for my retirement. He enjoys the work and is really good at it. Imagine that.
Tomorrow brings us the theme of planting. Ideas delivered from the Sky Messenger Tz’ikin, can be sowed during the Trecena of Q’anil. It will be an opportunity to ripen your projects. My slower season brings a different type of work and more time to teach my future partner the business side of my business. I am delighted that I will have the generous and favorable energy of 1 Q’anil supporting me tomorrow when I return to the office. Both 1 and Q’anil are associated with the seed. The new beginning for the next harvest.
I woke this morning to the howling sounds of the wind. Iq was making itself known. The glyph or symbol for Iq signifies a window. It is thought of as the breath of life and rules communication. The energy of Iq encourages adaptability. It can change in an instant just like the wind.
After this second Eclipse, I could use a breath of fresh air. Before I short circuit. Iq beckoned me outdoors today and I am feeling refreshed and revitalized. Another strong nawal, Iq clears the way for change. It invites us to remember the profound impact of our words in shaping our reality. The energy of Iq demonstrates why prayer is so powerful, especially in unison.
Prayer is what I had when I didn’t want to live anymore. When music, cannabis and even making love brought no peace, prayer is what I turned to. I was gifted a mantra that anchored me when sleep alluded me for days at a time. Speaking some uncomfortable truths to clients, my family and most importantly myself, was what ultimately banished my demons. Saq Iq’ means soul in the K’iche’ Mayan language. Iq is the nawal of divine inspiration. For the Maya to express yourself eloquently is to share your soul and is a gift.
Enjoy the renewal and revitalizing nature of the next thirteen days. Share your thoughts and your ideas freely but not aggressively. Iq can have a destructive energy when our words are anger filled. Like a hurricane, it can destroy everything in it’s path. With active solar weather and geomagnetic storms, thinking before you speak would be prudent.
Breathwork and movement of any kind will serve and support you. Prayer may be particularly powerful. Create with intention.
I am still feeling the energies of last weeks powerful eclipse. How about you?
The Aqmaq trecena can be intense. It’s hard to look at our warts and then find forgiveness for ourselves. A total lunar eclipse definitely didn’t make it any easier. By mid-March, my business has the frenetic energy of a really busy restaurant. A restaurant with people lined up outside, waiting to come in. I hadn’t had a whole lot of time for myself. Not until yesterday.
The day 13 Q’anil is a day to celebrate ancestral abundance. Ideal energy for the healing circle I was invited to. I had driven by Rana Creek Ranch many times so I knew just where to go. I had also read about the partnership between the non-profit organization who purchased the ranch and the Esselen tribe. The partnership was an opportunity for reconciliation and healing. It also came with many challenges. The circle was gathering with the intention to join as a community to share the burden of those challenges so that the reconciliation and healing could occur. It was a privilege to have been invited and it was an immensely healing experience.
At the center of the circle was a fire. Toj is part of the name Tojil, a Mayan god who gave fire to humans. The fire was not a gift. Offerings and sacrifices were expected in exchange for the fire. Toj is associated with debts, both material and spiritual. By paying our debts we balance our energies. This is another trecena with a heavier quality. It asks us to do the work, to walk the talk and do so selflessly. This is how we stay in balance with the universe and our planet. In order to receive, we must also give. The energy of Toj blends well with the energy of tax season. It is all about work, sacrifice and service. It also allows me to work quite a bit less during the summer months. This is the balancing aspect of the Toj trecena.
Our offerings are powerful forces in the creation of our lives. The next thirteen days will bring an opportunity to invest in our future and also acknowledge what we have received in the past. Lighting candles and making fires are both great ways to make offerings and connect to the Toj energy.
In a divine wink from the Universe, I am a little late in getting this blog published. I am feeling my humanness. I had a particularly frustrating day yesterday. I had no capacity to write. This Trecena celebrates and offers us the opportunity to reflect upon what it means to be human. It invites us to find forgiveness for ourselves and for others when we embody those less than desirable qualities that all humans possess. The Trecena of Aq’ab’al brought the new concept of JOY in for me. I discovered my inner girl while sliding down waterfalls, zip lining, dancing and just FROLICKING. Returning home to confront my business was sobering, but not unmanageable. Not until yesterday. Yesterday found me impatient, exhausted and frustrated. What happened to my joyful girl? SHE WAS HAVING A TEMPER TANTRUM!
Today as I contemplated the theme of the next thirteen days, I had to giggle. To be human is not to be perfect or to feel good all of the time. The Mayan word Maq represents the veil that obscures our perception of Ajaw (God). This veil is what makes us human. According to the Mayan creation story described in the Popul Vuh, when the Gods fashioned the first humans, they created them without the ability to see the consequences of their actions. In doing so, humans must make mistakes to learn and expand their consciousness. Through reconciliation and forgiveness, we can achieve enlightenment. When we recognize that each of us is on our own journey, we can have compassion for the actions of others. We learn to respect the process of life as a human being on planet earth.
Since I lost my twin sister, I have struggled to forgive myself for not reaching out more and checking in on her during her last days. I knew she was struggling with her mental health. I had struggled with my own mental health the previous year. I had learned that I had to find the answers within to find my joy again. I expected her to do the same. Her suicide was a complete shock to me. She was taking steps to make changes and then SHE WAS JUST GONE. In the space of three months, she completely lost her center and felt unable to go on. I will always wonder if there was any action or words from me that would have kept her here with us. But, on this timeline she is gone and it serves no one for me to withhold forgiveness from myself. To be honest, her despair overwhelmed me. I was protecting my one inner peace which was quite fragile and I was serving the clients in my business. My tank was empty.
I will be taking as much time as I can for introspection in the coming days. Our birthday is later this month and it will be my first year celebrating without her. I want to arrive at the day in a place of wholeness that honors myself as a human, as a twin and now as a woman who is still a twin, but is now walking alone.
May you find forgiveness and compassion for yourself and others this Trecena.
Our faith has been renewed during the Trecena of T’zi and now we are ready to see the glimmer of a new dawn. In the Kiche language, the word aq’ab’ means night. When combined with the suffix- Al, it suggests change and the beginning of a new concept. The new concept may not be completely visible yet, but it has been conceived. It begins its gestation period today.
The T’zi Trecena has genuinely restored my faith. So much so that I accepted an invitation to go on holiday this week, just as my busiest season has begun. After so much grief, celebrating with family in a tropical destination felt like the perfect medicine. Knowing that I have such a capable assistant to help me catch up when I return, sealed the deal. My son has already found new ways to make my business run more efficiently and, perhaps more importantly, he is really ENJOYING it!
Traveling always gives me a new perspective. Although it is not necessarily recommended to travel during the closing days of the solar year, it has allowed for an even deeper introspection for me. I have met new parts of myself and expanded my view of what is possible for me.
Yesterday we met the new Year Lord, or Mam, 13 Iq. This is a powerful combination that will be influencing the energies of the day for the next solar year. Iq is the breath of life, the hurricane and our words. Combined with the tone of thirteen, we may be able to hear the voices of our ancestors more clearly. We can also expect change to come in unexpected ways. Like the wind, the energy of Iq can change rapidly and if we are not grounded, we could lose our footing.
For a hint as to what may arise, it may be helpful to review what occurred the last time 13 Iq sat in the Year Lord seat. This would have been the time between March 1973 and March 1974. The Watergate hearings happened during this period as well as a major oil embargo. I remember quite vividly waiting in line for gas during this time, sometimes for hours. I was only a girl, but the memory is etched into my brain. Given the current political climate in the United States, it seems quite likely that we will experience dramatic and sometimes uncomfortable change in the coming months. Breath work may be your best ally to weather the upcoming storms. Iq rules the breath and breath work has become a part of my daily practice. It’s transformative and I highly recommend it.
While journeying through the No’j Trecena we have gained wisdom and discovered new solutions for the challenges that we face in this new calendar cycle. The Trecena of No’j was gentle with me this time. Last time around the calendar wheel, No’j was guiding me to a daily practice to navigate the storm of shock and grief that I found myself in after my twin sister took her own life. The rhythm of the Cholq’ij was my anchor. This time around I’m sailing in smoother waters and I’m seeking to deepen my knowledge of the calendar and expand my ritual practices. Hiring my son so I have the time to do this was the solution that No’j delivered to me last Trecena.
In this new cycle we also get a new guide. Today we meet that guide as the Trecena of Tz’i begins. The energy of Tz’i asks us to have faith and loyalty as we move forward on our new journey. I’ve owned my business for twenty years and this will be the first time I have an employee. I could definitely use some guidance and A LOT of faith. Lucky for me, my business partner has employed her son for nearly ten years. A perfect guide for me, and she’s also a dog lover. The animal totem for the Nawal Tz’i is the dog.
Tz’i offers us unconditional love as it guides us and it invites us to love each other unconditionally. It is also the Nawal of spiritual and emotional justice. It possesses the qualities of the five human senses and has an instinctual quality. I have come to associate it with the archetype of the Judge or the Policeman. Those that are just and fair and those that are corrupt. Having such keen senses, this energy can get distracted, especially by vices. During this Trecena you may receive guidance from many sources. Use your instincts to discern what will most serve you on your path.
As we enter day eight of the Tz’i Trecena, we also enter the five closing days of the Mayan solar year, Tz’apin Q’ij or Wayeb. The Maya solar calendar is known as the Macewal Q’ij. It has been called a civil or agricultural calendar and it is 365 days. The days of Wayeb are meant to be days of introspection. For the most traditional followers of the calendar system, these days are spent in isolation and many abstain from gathering in public or making ceremonies because the energy is thought to lack direction. The new solar year will welcome a new year lord or Mam. The year lords mark the intersection of the sacred calendar with the solar year. If you have the opportunity to take time to be on your own and receive your own inner guidance, February 13-17th would be excellent days for that.
Today begins the first full Trecena of the new calendar cycle. One could think of the beginning, 8 B’atz, as the conception day. The new life or creation has been gestating for the past six days and is about to be born. No’j is the nawal of the mind and logical thought. Our reality is created by the pattern of the thoughts that our mind creates. No’j is the intellectual energy of the mind that finds the solutions and innovations necessary to bring ideas into form. I have come to know the archetypal energy of this nawal as the Engineer, but it also embodies the traits of its animal totem, the woodpecker. Woodpeckers are considered highly intelligent birds because of their ability to plan for the future (acorn woodpeckers have been known to store as many as 50,000 acorns in a single tree!), use tools and recognize social relationships. As we enter the energy of today, our new creation gains consciousness. It will emerge into form in three days time on 4 Ajpu.
My Fire Ceremony on 8 B’atz. Planting seeds for my new Creation.
The Maya long count calendar begins on the 4 Ajpu day of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ajpu 8 Cumku. This date corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE and is said to be the creation day for our era. It is recorded at Quirigua, Izabel, Guatemala on Stella C along with the account of how the “First Three Stone Place” was created. As above, so below. The three stones are representative of the stars Alnitak, Saiph, and Rigel in the Orion constellation, the “three hearth stars”. The great Orion Nebula (M42) in the center of them is the “smokey fire”. Not surprisingly, typical Maya kitchens have three hearthstones arranged in a triangle around the fire or on the fire supporting the tortilla griddle. This is done intentionally to establish the cooking fire as the center of the home.
As many know, the long count calendar most recently began a new cycle on December 21, 2012 which was also a 4 Ajpu day. Ajpu can be seen as the divinity in the physical world and the number 4 is very important within Mayan mythology. It represents the stability of the four cardinal points, the two equinoxes and two solstices and the four pillars that support the sky from the Earth. An ideal day for the theme of this new era to reveal itself to you in the physical world and for your ideas to stabilize.
In lovely synchronistic fashion, we also have the Chinese new year during this Trecena on January 29th. It will mark the beginning of the Year of the Wood Snake. It will also be a new moon and in the Chol Q’ij it will be the day of 6 Iq’. A day of stable communication possibly from divine sources. Another good day to receive communication and insight for your new creation. I’m planning on beginning the Year of the Wood Snake with a Womb Steam. More on that to come.
The world had just entered lockdown when I was first introduced to the Maya ceremonial calendar. Seeking connection and community while I sheltered in place, I joined an online Telegram group for women called Align Your Life with Magic. Each morning a story would be waiting for me. A story that described the energy of the upcoming day through the lens of the Maya sacred calendar. The Maya sacred calendar is Chol Q’ij in K’iche’ Mayan. It’s a 260 day calendar comprised of twenty thirteen day cycles called Trecenas. Each of the twenty Trecenas begins with a different Nawal and has a different theme. The numbers each carry their own vibration and influence how the Nawal that they are paired with expresses in the energy of the day.
Listening to the stories each day, I came to understand each Nawal as an archetype of sorts. Each archetype had a personality and an energy that influenced the day. That energy could make it more or less conducive for engaging in certain activities. I quickly found it to be immensely useful. I also really liked the pace of the calendar. A new cycle every thirteen days. I felt a rhythm within it that resonated with my own internal rhythm.
The Chol Q’ij is a cyclical calendar. One could say that it could begin on any of the 260 days, but among the Maya people still living in the Guatemalan highlands, the new year begins on Wajxaquib B’atz. Wajxaquib is eight in K’ichean. An unusual number to begin a calendar on. But when you understand that eight embodies wholeness and that B’atz is the weaver, the creative genius and represents the thread of time you start to see the wisdom of the choice. The sacred calendar is a representation of how that thread is woven to create reality. It is a tool for living and creating a reality that is in harmony with the energies.
On 8 B’atz large fire ceremonies are made to welcome another cycle and to initiate new calendar daykeepers. Fire has always been a part of my spiritual practice, lighting candles, ceremonial burnings and smudging being my favorties. Still, the Mayan fire ceremony was unknown to me before I started learning about the calendar. I had the opportunity to experience one virtually and it was quite powerful. It also inspired me to start making my own micro fire ceremonies as part of my practice. It offers me a container in which to create, play and pray. Tomorrow a new cycle begins and I’ve been called to make a traditional Mayan fire ceremony in celebration of the new year. I have gathered almost all of my supplies. I can’t wait to share my experience with you next time.
The earth has taken another couple of turns around the sun since I last showed up in this space. I thought my grief was on its way out, but it was just the beginning. I had just regained my center last Spring when my identical twin sister committed suicide. Losing her has impacted me profoundly. Healing is feeling and I have felt it all. In memory of her I wanted to share my words from her Celebration of Life this past Summer.
When we lose someone so suddenly, it is hard to accept the loss. It feels like you are going to wake up and it all will have just been a terrible nightmare. Days turn into weeks and weeks become months and the reality becomes starkly visible. She is gone. She won’t be at work on Monday. We aren’t taking the trip to Spain with Linda and all the cousins that we intended to. She won’t be at Sarah’s graduation. She’s not going to move in with her friend Michelle to start a new life. The girls weekend to Avila beach with Suzanne and Jennifer is now just an idea that will never manifest. So many more memories we had to create. So many more memories she had to create.
This is not how our love story was meant to end. Not so soon. Not in this way! I know that Michaela’s departure has been very shocking and painful. But Michaela is at peace. This I know for certain. It helps me to imagine that she has embarked on a journey. Though unseen, she hasn’t departed forever. Her presence lingers in our hearts, and her laughter echoes in the whispers of the breeze.
I asked Spirit for one word that would best describe Michaela and I was given, “Hostess”. I laughed out loud because one of her and my favorite games to play together as children was “Hotel”. We also did hostess duty for our dads restaurant when we were in grade school. Later, as teenagers, we worked together as housekeepers at the Green Gables Inn in Pacific Grove where we went to High School. Not surprisingly, at our senior Awards dinner, she received the Achievement Award for Home Economics. She was an excellent chef and a talented seamstress. She also had a magic touch when it came to gardening. Plants flourished under her care.
Cara & Michaela, Baja California
It was not surprising that she became a stay-at-home Mom when her son Matthew was born. When her children arrived, I saw her come alive like never before. Matthew and Sarah were her greatest treasure. She devoted herself to attachment style parenting. She educated herself about the benefits of breast feeding and a family bed and she embraced it all. When my daughter Caroline was born, she was there for me with so much encouragement and support. We were living in the same housing development in Foxboro, Massachusetts at that time. We could actually walk to each other’s homes. Those were magical times.
A few years and one relocation later and she and I were both back in California. Sarah had arrived and just a few months behind her, my son Spencer was born. So many beautiful memories of those days when we were both just Moms. We were able to spend as much time together as we liked. After I went back to work, Summer was when got to see each other the most. We always enrolled our kids in the summer reading program at the Carmel Library where our mom had worked when we were growing up.
Little did we know that the library would become the next chapter in her life when Matthew and Sarah were no longer children. My sister adored working for the library. She was an avid reader, often reading more than one book at a time. She was also a talented and prolific writer. She graduated with a degree in Journalism from Fresno State and she used the skills she learned to write a novel and many short stories. The library, where she was known as Ms. Michaela, was her Happy Place. She had a number of different part-time jobs at Harrison Memorial before getting her full-time job in the children’s department. I remember clearly when she found out that she got hired. She told me it was her dream job and it was. She got to create her own summer reading events for a whole new generation of children. My son has fond memories of volunteering at these events. The Star Wars themed one is a favorite. She loved her co-workers and the young patrons and she loved being in Carmel.
But she also loved being a Hostess. Most of you probably know that she also owned a business, Valley Eden. She and her partner created their very own little Inn, just like the one she and I pretended to own when we were girls. If you ever had the opportunity to stay at Valley Eden, you have been blessed. She was an excellent Hostess and she had over 250 rave reviews to prove it. She loved sharing her hospitality and our magical Valley with guests from all over.
Michaela was also a Hostess and a mom to many fur babies of the feline persuasion. She started out fostering kittens. She had never considered herself to be a cat person, but once she fostered her first set of kittens, she was smitten. Roxy became her first cat baby. Many more would follow. She would promise herself that she wasn’t going to adopt the foster kittens but, invariably, she could not help herself. She became a “Cat Lady” and she fully embraced it. The cats, like her plants, flourished under her care.
Michaela was curious about the universe and was a deeply spiritual person. Nature was her church. She was kind and compassionate and held a deep affection for Mother Earth and all her creatures. She loved live music and attended shows any opportunity she got. She was also a dancer and a Yogi. One of her offerings at Valley Eden was sacred dance and movement. Both were part of her daily practice. I will remember the golden hues in her hair and those sparkling, naughty eyes. With each rising sun, I will hear her laughter. I will call out to her, seek her counsel, and connect with her just like before. She is not gone, she has just slipped into the other room.
I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks and months. My healing journey continues to be guided by magic, plant medicine and the cycles of the Universe. May 2025 bring you blessings of all kinds.
Astrologers have been warning that March 2023 was the beginning of major shifts for our collective consciousness. I’ve had this in the back of my mind as I’ve battled fatigue, chronic pain and old wounds coming to the surface for air. It’s been very tough.
Two things that have really helped me to move through the dense energy have been psilocybin mushrooms and calling on the Dragons for their help.
The shroom journey was intense! All the grief, anger and anxiety that has been plaguing me over the last couple of months moved through my body. I had the feeling that my heart needed to implode in order to begin to repair and ultimately to upgrade.
The Dragons were easy to connect with and their presence was soothing. They are high vibrational, multi-dimensional beings of light and they came through with the assurance that they want to help us remove trauma and lower frequencies from this lifetime and past lifetimes.
According to Diana Cooper, world-renowned angel and ascension expert, “Dragons are wise, open-hearted beings. They are part of the angelic kingdom, though many of them operate at a lower frequency than angels. Because of this they can delve into deep dense energy to clear it in a way that angels cannot.”
I am feeling more grounded again and just as well because the rest of March is pretty eventful too, with:
The Full Moon in Virgo on March 7th
Saturn moving into Pisces for the better part of three years, also on March 7th
The Equinox and the New Moon in Aries March 21st
Pluto moving into Aquarius on March 23rd
I hope you’re doing whatever you need to stay grounded. It’s shaky but we’re going in the right direction,
Cara
Disclaimer: Please seek professional advice if you are considering using psilocybin mushrooms. Intention and Integration are key.
Cara Carozza 