Tag: #alchemy

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.

My Great Day Celebration

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 – The Trecena of Kame

In my zeal to stand up tall and do what is right for the community, I’ve managed to pinch a nerve. It feels like there is a knife lodged alongside my left shoulder blade. The benevolent and hard-working energies of the Aj trecena had me sorting a life time of memories in my parents’ attic last week. Most of it had not been touched in nearly twenty-five years. Feeling strong and healthy, with a desire to better use the spaces that three generations are now occupying, I dove in eagerly. Perhaps I over did it? It felt so good to be moving all day, to spend time with my mother and to create at least the possibility that some of it can be let go of.

Kame is the energy of death, rebirth and transformation. The Maya view time as circular, not linear. Time is a cycle and death is part of that cycle. As the saying goes, “Out with the old and in with the new.” Kame is also the Nawal of the ancestors. An ideal day to honor your deceased loved ones or ask for their guidance.

While physically challenging, sorting all the stuff in the attic was the easy part. The hard part will be confronting the past. The unrealized plans and dreams. Your own unlined face and the faces of others that are no longer with you. Kame will bring the ideal energy to support this process if one chooses to engage with it.

My Nana and my Mother

Some prayers to the ancestors wouldn’t hurt either. I’ve already created a special spot on my alter for my Nana for this trecena. My Nana was a minimalist and an immaculate housekeeper. She was also a bookkeeper. My Mother’s Mother holds a very special place in my heart. I inherited a lot of her habits and skills and they serve me every day. She’s my perfect ally for the potential this trecena offers our homestead.

The roses we planted two seasons ago are finally flourishing. My Nana loved yellow roses. Every year on her birthday my grandfather would buy her a dozen yellow roses. The glory of summer flowers is a powerful reminder of how life is constantly renewing itself. Growth and renewal are the natural outcome of death and destruction. It’s the alchemy of life and it’s the energy of Kame. May you find comfort in the cycles of your life and in the wisdom of your lineage.

Eternally yours,

Cara