Blog – Cara Carozza

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Kawoq

Kame answered my prayers for a wedding at home with a decisive and very clear NO last week. It caught me off guard. It wasn’t what I expected and it wasn’t what I’d hoped for. Yet, the clarity has prepared the soil for a new idea to be born. Today we welcome the trecena of Kawoq. She is the midwife, the rain and the storm. After death comes rebirth. Into the darkness, a light is shined and new plans begin to emerge. It’s been really uncomfortable. For me and my entire family. Through our discomfort we’ve discovered a deeper level of intimacy and an opportunity for profound transformation. This is the gift that walking through the valley of death offers.

I’ve never worked so hard in my entire career as I have this year. In retrospect, one might conclude that I took on too much. Perhaps it was ill advised to try and write a book, mentor my son and take on all of my business partners clients. And let’s not forget the cabin project that I decided to add to my plate. Just for good measure. In fact, I’ve managed it all quite well and the only casualty has been people pleasing clients that don’t appreciated me or respect my time. With so much new work and so many moving parts to my life, something else had to die to make space in my garden for what really serves me and my own personal transformation.

A few of nights ago I dreamt of two turtles. One was larger than the other and they were both moving through a flame. It was an aqua blue flame like you might see from a gas lit fire. In their effort to escape the flames, they catapulted themselves over a mountain that was at the edge of the fire. The dream was incredibly vivid, but offered me no clear message until the evening that followed. My son had also had a powerful dream that night. So powerful that he slept walk outside and jumped off his deck. The entire left side of his face is bruised. The following day, my mom also took a fall, bruising the entire right side of her face. Her cat had brought her a lizard that was still alive and it startled her, causing her to jump over the threshold of her door and fall onto her face. I’m not sure what to make of it all, but I can’t help but feel like my mom and my son were the two turtles in my dream and that they walked through the fire of Kame together and then jumped into a new reality where we can all find common ground.

Kawoq’s spirit animal is the turtle. Many Meso American indigenous people call earth Turtle Island. The pattern on a turtle’s back mirrors the lunar calendar. The turtle is very much a symbol of new life and our sweet mother earth. The next thirteen days are fertile days to birth a new reality for ourselves. We are ready. We have walked through the fire and we have taken the leap of faith. The rainstorm has come to wash our wounds clean and support us through the labor of birthing a new dream for ourselves. Mine includes a weekend wedding retreat for my son and his beloved in the redwoods. Date and location to be determined. It’s going to be magical. May your dreams be equally sweet.

Love,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Kame

I’m arriving a day late again this trecena. In all my years working as a tax accountant, I’ve never been busier. I’ve taken on all of my partners tax clients this season and a massive new tax bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed last year. I’m experiencing growing pains and it’s a little uncomfortable. My spine is as straight as it can be. I stood up tall for my clients and for my family over the past couple of weeks while Aj was our guide. I was able to resolve a lot of issues and abate a lot of penalties. It was satisfying, but also exhausting. Kame arrived yesterday asking even more of us. Kame literally translates to death, but it embodies much more than that. It is the Nawal of the ancestors and it offers us the elixir of transformation if we’re willing and able to face our fears.

I’ve had an idea gestating for a number of weeks, but I’d been afraid to share it with my mother. My youngest son got engaged and he and his lovely fiancée would like to get married on the property that they, my husband and I and my parents all live on together. My parents own the land, but they’ve graciously invited us to be here with them. It’s mutually beneficial, but not without its challenges. We’ve brought our youthful energy, but also all the noise and business that comes with it. It’s been an adjustment for my mom who likes her peace and quiet and grew up an only child. Still, the land and the ancestors keep nudging me to bring more life and celebration to this property that we all share.

Yesterday, I planted the seeds for the ceremony that I keep being shown. Everything can be done outside so that if it’s too much, my mother can retreat to her own space. Friends and family that haven’t met or who haven’t communed in years will join together. A single day has the potential to ignite transformation within many. This is what I expressed to my mother. My desire to alchemize healing for those that I love and for the land that holds and loves me. It wasn’t nearly as frightening as I thought it would be. She hasn’t said no and she was able to express how she feels. Transformation has already begun for us and it is my prayer that it will happen for you over the coming twelve days. Remember to be grateful for every experience. Sometimes the most difficult ones offer the greatest reward.

Until we rise again,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Aj

Today we welcome the stabilizing energy of Aj and boy am I ready for it. Ajpu led me on quite a quest over the past thirteen days. Yesterday I was rewarded and my new path was revealed. For seventeen years I have been a member of a mutual benefit corporation. The corporation has 100 members and collectively we own 2600 acres. Yesterday the ancestors and Nawal E’ conspired to grant me permission to build a cabin on this land. I’d abandoned this dream long ago, but Ajpu asked me to consider it again. From an elevated perspective. With the wisdom that my latest hero’s journey has gifted to me.

Aj is the connection between heaven and earth. It stands tall to hear the whispers of spirit and channels it into it’s roots which are firmly planted in the soil of mother earth. Aj represents the spinal column and it asks us to lead with our heart and for the good of our communities. Aj is most often symbolized by the cornstalk or the staff of life, but I’ve come to associate it with the mountains also. It’s quiet and noble strength are unwavering. Aj holds the container for our ceremonies. An Aj Q’ij is a spiritual guide and calendar priest who interprets the Cholq’ij and offers guidance.

The law of man may say that I own a piece of the mountain that my cabin will sit on, but I know that it cannot be owned. I am merely an invited guest and I do not take the hospitality that this sacred land has offered me for granted. I asked the land for permission to build on seven Aj. As I made my offering of cornmeal and tobacco, I asked for absolute clarity. I promised not to proceed unless the answer was crystal clear. Ajpu shined it’s light brightly over the past thirteen days. My application to build was approved unanimously and one of the other members has even offered to do all the ground work, at a discounted rate. When he told me that his birthday was March 22^nd, the same day as mine, I knew with absolute certainty that the land had also given her approval. She had just one condition. She asked for more ceremony.

The land that I have the privilege of building a cabin on is the land of the Esselen. The tribe that lived in reciprocity on these lands for hundreds if not thousands of years before colonization. For at least the past one hundred years our 2600 acres has been a gun and hunting club. No ceremonies have been made on these lands for a very long time. She is starving for communion with the humans that she hosts and provides for. This is what I heard on the mountain. A cry for connection and reverence. This is what Aj is asking of us over the next thirteen days. For the good of our families, our communities and the land herself we must stand up tall and witness what needs to be witnessed and then do better. A simple prayer is all it takes to begin.

In Strength,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Ajpu

Yesterday was my Nima Q’ij, or Great Day. I spent the morning in ceremony and the afternoon working. As much as I wanted to spend the entire day in prayer and celebration, my day job didn’t allow for that this cycle. It’s tax season and the flow of paperwork is relentless. If I don’t keep it moving, I will drown in it. Still, I couldn’t help but infuse the magic of my birth Nawal into all that I did to serve my clients. Ajpu asks us to see the divinity in the mundane and to find the hero that lives within us.

The hero’s journey is not an easy path to walk. Meeting our shadow is uncomfortable, at best. Ajpu is the promise of light at the end of the dark tunnel. It’s the elixir that is waiting on the other side of our greatest challenges. It’s the return of spring after a long dark winter. Kej has created the container for our blossoming. As the Nawal of the Maya religion, Kej is a spiritual teacher. I was an excellent student while under Kej’s tutelage. I was prepared for my Great Day. Some of the most important people in my life were born during the Kej trecena and I celebrated each of them with a personalized ritual.

Now I’m ready to integrate my ritual making skills into my business. Personalized ceremonies to initiate and close financial cycles. A divination card deck that I’ve designed from the messages spoken to me through my dreams and the symbols of the Cholq’ij. My second memoir which explores the themes of money, magic and menopause and my own hero twin journey. I can’t wait to share these offerings once they are fully gestated. They’ve alchemized my healing and illuminated my path forward.

Yesterday we also had a total lunar eclipse, also known as a blood moon. In the Popol Vuh, the K’iche’ Maya creation story, the mother of Jun Ajpu is named Ixquic which means blood moon or blood maiden. Perhaps this eclipse is inviting us to rebirth ourselves as the divine beings that we are. The world could certainly use more light right now and that’s what I intend to channel for the remainder of this trecena.

May you be the hero of your own life,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Ix

My dream drought ended with the arrival of the Imox trecena. It had been nearly a month since I’d logged any images in my bedside journal. On 12 E I was suddenly gifted with three vivid dreams in a row right before dawn broke. Bathed in the energies of the collective consciousness and cumulative wisdom, I was shown a new path. A path of ease.

In the first dream I am holding a small, soft and silky black dog. I’m petting his tiny head as he nuzzles into my chest. He makes me feel safe. My next memory is of standing in front an enormous oak tree. It’s boughs are heavy with bouquets of white and yellow flowers. Dozens of hydrangeas, daffodils, lilies and sunflowers smile down at me. They make me feel happy. In the final scene I’m in a house. It’s small and cozy and it reminds me of the cabin on the river that my husband and I raised our four children in. I open the door to a room. My sister is in it and she’s sleeping. In the next room I find my niece and nephew also sleeping. They are in a bed together with the little black dog. Seeing them makes me feel peaceful.

The dreamy otherworldly quality of Imox continues as we enter the trecena of Ix today. Ix is magic. To understand her, you must slow down and feel her. I struggled to stay grounded over these past thirteen days. My busy season is in full swing and I’ve taken on my partners tax clients this year. She’s slowing down and my son is ready for more work. I’m also writing a book. It’s a lot being wife, mother, daughter, friend, business advisor, mentor and writer. Disciplined scheduling has always served me when I’m overwhelmed, but it stifles creative flow. Imox showed me that over the past thirteen days. Now I’m feeling in need of a miracle to get through it all. Lucky for me, the medicine of the jaguar has arrived just in time.

Ix is the nawal of the jaguar and mother gaia. She rules mother earths natural altars and the cacao plant. She whispers through intuition and the fire. She nurtures and she protects. Don’t mistake her tender touch for weakness. Like her totem animal the jaguar she is a powerful and fierce. She also walks quietly. Ix asks us to continue to listen. If we’ve attuned ourselves while under Imox’s tutelage, we will be better able to see the magic that weaves our world. The magic of Ix is best appreciated outdoors. Ideally with a cup of cacao. If you arrive with presence and gratitude in your heart, Ix will bless you with more magic than you can possibly imagine.

Peacefully,

Cara xoxo

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Q’anil

I traded my usual flute of sparkling champagne for a sponge filled with bubbly soap to welcome the Gregorian new year of 2026. Last trecena, Tz’ikin offered an expanded vision of the path to prosperity and I wanted to view that path with a clear lens. This opportunity to see with the clarity of the eagle inspired me to clean and clear every corner of my physical life. My house, my car and even my office. On the ceremonial day of the trecena, 8 Iq, I performed a purification ritual. I washed all of my window sills and door thresholds with a salt water wash infused with lavender and cypress oil and fresh eucalyptus leaves. As I opened each window, I invited the fresh and recalibrating energy of the new solar year to clear away any stale or dense energy that no longer served.

Today we welcome the energy of Q’anil. Q’an means yellow and combined with the suffix il it means yellowing or ripening. The glyph for the nawal of Q’anil represents a perforation upon the earth separating four seeds that represent the four colors of corn: red, black, white and yellow. It is the planting of the seed, but also the harvesting of the crop. It is the continuum from germination to maturity. It’s the path from the vision offered by Tz’ikin to the manifestation into physical form through our careful tending. In the brilliant lucidity of my purified reality, two seeds were offered. The first was an educational path that will enable my son to take over my business when I’m ready to retire and the second was a traditional publishing contract for my second book which I’m currently in the middle of writing.

These are the seeds that I’m planting today in my garden under the benevolent and sunny energies of Q’anil. My seeds are hearty and from a known lineage. This next cycle will be about refinement for me. Refinement and dissemination of all the wisdom I’ve gained over the past three decades of traversing the landscapes of money and energy. I’ve come to understand how they intersect and how to make both work for you in a balanced and aligned way. I was also shown the vision for the cover of my new book. It’s a Mayan T shaped window overlooking a garden of spring flowers. The title of the book will be, A Second Spring: Money, Menopause and Magic. I can’t wait to share it with you once it’s finally born.

In the meantime, I invite you to choose your own couple of seeds to germinate today. What ideas presented themselves in the space between Christmas and New Year’s? Maybe today is the day your wishes can begin to come true. Your intentions will be in alignment with a calendar that is as old and as wise as time itself.

Happy New You,

Cara xoxo

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Tz’ikin

Iq blew threw California with tremendous force. Many on the west coast celebrated the Christmas holidays by candlelight, but not necessarily by choice. The hurricane force winds disabled much of our local power grid and most businesses in Carmel-by-the-Sea had to shutter their doors for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and even the day after Christmas. My family celebrates the Winter Solstice so we had plenty of leftovers and a generator to ride out the storm.

Iq is a strong nawal. It’s best faced with courage. My son mustered all his courage and the inspiring energies of Iq to propose to his girlfriend on Jun Iq which fell on December 15^th. Her acceptance initiated thirteen days of happy news, lively celebrations and lots and lots of conversation. Iq hummed, hovered and buzzed through my holiday season just like it’s animal totem the hummingbird. Iq has cleared the skies for todays nawal Tz’ikin. I’m grateful for the lighter energy this nawal offers.

Tz’ikin is the nawal of vision and it’s animal totem is the bird. Today’s energy gifts us with a panoramic view that may illuminate possibilities that have evaded our awareness. The expanded sight of the bird will be available to us over the next thirteen days. Most of us are reflecting on the past Gregorian calendar year whether we celebrate it or not. This new year, my outer and inner calendars are aligning and it feels quite magical. Especially while I’m still glowing from all our holiday fun.

Tz’ikin is the intermediary between humans and the creator and as such, it is the nawal of prosperity. Prayers made today are likely to manifest tangible and observable results. I’m going to channel my high vibes into a fire ceremony today. I’ve got three specific prayers to make.

One for a friend who’s having surgery tomorrow. My prayer for her will be for wellness. I will hold the vision of her completely healed and experiencing relief after years of suffering. My next prayer will be for another friend who is seeking a consistent flow of clients who value her services and happily pay her fee. I will offer seeds to the fire to keep Tz’ikin well fed so it can deliver her prosperity. My final prayer will be for my amazing daughter Caroline. She’s one of just a handful of women at her software company and she’s been recommended for a promotion. Ahead of many of her co-workers that have been working at the company longer than she has. The prayer that I offer for my daughter will be for expanded career opportunities and a healthy compensation for her new responsibilities.

Tz’ikin is the wisdom of a prosperous and healthy community. My prayer for our entire world this trecena will be for harmonious coexistence. Through the higher vision that Tz’ikin offers we can all imagine a brighter world into existence. One prayer at a time.

Many Blessings,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Ajmaq

Today we welcome not only a new trecena, but also a new moon in Scorpio. Before I discovered the Maya’s sacred count of days, the Cholq’ij, I was a life-long student of western astrology. Planetary cycles still interest me, but I don’t keep track of them like I used to. I’ve turned my attention inward to observe and understand my own personal landscape and cycles. But, it’s still good to know what the weather is going to be like before we head out the door.

Mercury went retrograde on the 9^th and won’t go direct until the 29^th. You may have noticed that there’s a lot of static out there right now. Static in communication, electronics and plans you’ve tried to make. Everything slows down to allow time for integration during Mercury retrograde. Whether we like it or not. I found the sluggish pace of Mercury retrograde to be in perfect alignment with my intentions to find as much stillness as I could during the last trecena of Aq’ab’al. Through this stillness, I’ve been accessing more of my own wisdom through dreams.

Last night I had a really lovely and vivid dream to welcome the redemptive energy of Ajmaq and the introspective quality of the Scorpio new moon. Thank You had been tattooed in rainbow letters across the length of my arm and I was asking for it to be removed. Once I made my request, the tattoo transformed into blue and green stars. I was offered the phrase, “Gratitude creates transformation” as I watched the images on my arm alchemize.

I’ve come to know Ajmaq as the nawal of human nature. To be human is to make mistakes. Mistakes teach us and invite even more wisdom through forgiveness. Ajmaq’s medicine is intense like the sting it’s spirit guardian the bee delivers when it feels threatened. Pain is a compelling teacher. It has a powerful energy signature that gets stored deep in the human body and psyche. Ajmaq invites us to transmute our pain through forgiveness. Forgiveness of ourselves and forgiveness of others. One of my favorite rituals to initiate self-forgiveness is the practice of repeating the Hawaiian Ho’oponopono mantra. It’s used to heal negative memories and situations by taking personal responsibility for what appears in your reality and seeking forgiveness and love for yourself and others.

I am sorry

Please forgive me

Thank you

I love you

I’ve got a beautiful new beeswax candle for my Ho’oponopono practice this trecena. I’ve also got another mantra that my own dreams have gifted me with, “Gratitude creates transformation.”

May you find love and forgiveness in your own heart as this new moon and the energy of Aqmaq illuminates the shadow within us.

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Aq’ab’al

We’ve been blessed with some early rains this year in California. Always something to celebrate. Both for the earth and the sky. The parched soil cherishes every drop and the rain clouds paint the horizon in a most spectacular way. Especially at dawn and dusk. This transition time is the energy of Aq’ab’al. It is the moment when the light changes. New concepts and ideas are revealed. Supported by the wisdom of N’oj the scribe and the unconditional love of Tz’i the dog, it’s time to start imagining our new creation for this calendar cycle.

This Spring I bought a journal just for dreams when I took a Rest and Digest workshop. I’ve always recorded the lucid dreams that come through with vivid clarity, but never kept a journal specifically for dreams. Remembering all my dreams has been more challenging than I expected. The images dissolve quickly in the first light of morning. Stillness is how I’ve learned to capture them. My mornings have become a quiet prayer to my soul. A totally new concept for me.

I am a morning person. I always awake before the dawn. When we had our four kids all living at home with us, my morning energy was channeled into making lunches and wrangling paperwork into backpacks while my husband made breakfast for everyone. I relied upon him to tell me what the weather was going to be like because I rarely looked outside until it was time to take the kids to school. It was exhausting and left me feeling disconnected from myself.

These days, I allow myself more time to rest and be still in the morning. When I do, I can remember my dreams much more easily. Rest, renewal and stillness are symbols I’ve come to understand as embodying the energy of Aq’ab’al. If we’re busy all the time and darting around from here to there, we might miss out on hearing what spirit is trying to speak. Or we might not even see the beautiful sunrise that is right outside our window. It will be gone in an instant, just like the images in our dreams.

Over the next thirteen days, I invite you to rest more and find time for stillness. If you do, new ideas and important messages may arrive. Mother nature may also gift you with a beautiful sunrise or sunset. This is wisdom of Aq’ab’al for me. Be still and all will be revealed in its’ own time.

Happy Listening,

Cara

Living Maya Time – Symbols of Tz’i

I’ve recently become a dog lover. Or at least a lover of one particular dog. For the next thirteen days, the Nawal of the dog will be our guide and companion. Our faith may be tested, but Tz’i is here to support us with unconditional love. An energy that I have become very familiar with since my little grand puppy Beso moved onto the homestead.

I could use some faith and some unconditional love today. I’ve been embodying the archetype of the scribe. I was at my computer writing nearly every morning of the N’oj trecena. I am already half way into chapter three of my new book. It’s been flowing. So much so that I got behind on some of my personal business.

I’ve been hearing from a number of my clients that their health insurance premiums were increasing dramatically for the next calendar year. My enrollment forms arrived early this month, but they remained unopened until this morning. My heart sank and then began to beat rapidly when I saw my new premium. It’s increased by $3,200. I logged onto my account, certain that there must be an error. There was not. The premium subsidies that had been in effect since COVID have expired and the current administration has not extended them. In fact, I think that the government is shut down because they are still arguing about the budget.

I don’t pay much attention to political news. I am required to take three days of continuing education each year and that keeps me informed about what’s actually going on. Follow the spending and you will see who is in charge and what their agenda is. It’s not very difficult to understand the laws of man.

Tz’i is here to help us understand natural law. It is the Nawal of justice and also our five senses. Tz’i also represents sovereignty. I’m being asked to be sovereign. To have faith in my own ability to stay well and heal myself. Without the assistance of the healthcare system. My new premium is unaffordable. I’ll be cancelling it later this afternoon. We only have it because California penalizes taxpayers without health insurance. The energy of Tz’i will not abandon me and if I get scared, Beso is here to offer me his unconditional love.

May you also walk and feel supported by the energy of the dog. It’s here for all of us over the next thirteen days. Whether we are dog parents or not.

With Unconditional Love,

Cara