Tag: maya

Living Maya Time – The Trecena of Kan

We’ve returned from the journey and we are ready to integrate our experience. Kan represents power and innate wisdom. It is the feathered serpent Q’uq’umatz or Quetzalcoaltl. It is coyopa, the lightning in the blood. Today Kan empowers us to follow the new direction that E’ has offered.  Whether your travels took you away from home or deep into your inner landscape, the seed of a new path has germinated. Now the real work of growth begins.

This gorgeous rattle snake showed up on my hike yesterday to welcome in the energy of Kan.

San Diego was both magical and illuminating. An alchemy of past, present and future. We let the navigation plot our course and ended up at my Dad’s favorite pit stop. It looked just as he had always described it. They still made their own fudge. Fudge he sometimes brought to my sister and me when he drove up to visit us. Fudge was a special treat. “Rocky Road and Chocolate, please.” I filled my mouth with it, immediately tasting the past. I let the tears stream down my face. My Dad was with me. I could feel him everywhere.

Andrew’s birthday wish was a trip to the Zoo. It had been twenty years since any of us had been. That had been on our first road trip together as a family. Two weeks driving up and down the West Coast in a mini-van. Absolutely exhausting. Infinitely expanding. This was our first vacation trip to San Diego as a couple. One week in a sweet little cottage. Lots of decadent food and leisurely sightseeing. Completely restorative. Totally satisfying. The trip went so well we are planning an annual pilgrimage. Andrew and Caroline have the same stars in their eyes that my Dad and my Grandparents had when they were living in San Diego. They are in love and likely to stay a while.

I initiated my Ixcacao immersion journey on the last day of our trip. Planting the seeds of this heart opening medicine in San Diego. The intersection of my past, present and future. An energetic portal to my healing. My first dose of cacao offered me an image of my grandparents house and then the name of the street. “Can we take a short detour to Rancho Bernardo?” Richard had already typed the street name into the navigation. “I can’t remember the number, but I will remember the house when I see it.”

Every part of my being remembered. It was almost startling. The house had only existed in my mind. Way back in the fuzzy part of my mind. Now it stood right in front of me. Nearly unchanged. My grandfathers citrus trees were immense. One of his roses even remained. It was all still here. The life force of my ancestors is still alive. It lives within me and my children. Kan is this force and it is the wisdom that comes from understanding the power of this force. Investing the power of Kan into your family and your relationships is a wise investment. I highly recommend it.

Happy Investing,

Cara

Living Maya Time – The Trecena of Tz’ikin

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.

Happy Planting,

Cara

Living Maya Time – The Trecena of Toj

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.

Happy Equinox!

Cara

Living Maya Time – The Trecena of Tz’i

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.

Until next Trecena…

Cara

Living Maya Time – The Trecena of No’j

Welcome to the New Era!

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.

Happy Creating!

Cara

Living Maya Time

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.

Wishing you a Blessed New Year!

Cara xoxo

Solstice & Last New Moon of 2022. Time to Set New Intentions

Aloha my lovely friends

This is a very active time of the year: Christmas, Chanukah, the Solstice, Yule, New Year and the powerful last New Moon of 2022 (in Capricorn).

But I want you to know one thing: everything is working exactly as it should, according to nature’s divine plan.

This year, the Winter/Summer Solstice of December 21st falls on the day 3 E’ within Chol Q’ij according to the Mayan calendar. The nawal E’ rules over travel and exploration – both physical journeys and those within. When paired with the number 3, challenges on these journeys could arise and it is generally advised to expect delays, disruptions, cancellations, etc. We are better off spending the day going INWARD for some exploration on these days. Solstice is also an excellent time for ceremony to ask our guides to light up our path ahead.

Access to all that is magical and divine with ease and grace!

Ritual and ceremony have become a big part of my life and by performing & refining my practice, many ordinary moments have become sacred experiences. Looking back, that is exactly what I dreamed-in last Solstice:

Phew! I didn’t realize until this very moment how powerful that intention was.

If you are planning to do a SOLSTICE RITUAL (and I sure hope you do because the new moon 2 days later will help to amplify those new intentions) remember to also reflect on what you are grateful for. When we acknowledge our gifts, we cultivate a greater capacity to receive.

I am very grateful for our journey together!

Abundant blessings to you and yours and happy holidays. I would love to hear about your traditions at this time of year.

Love,

Cara – Seeker of Magic, Spreader of Light

Final Full Moon of 2022 & More Mayan Astrology to Come

Hi Friends 

Wow, that last full moon of the year was HUGE right? Full moons are indeed a time of completion and illumination.

My BIG illumination was that this year, I’ve become much more in tune with our cyclical nature. Just as the moon goes through its phases, so do we. Reminds me of the song by The Byrds, Turn! Turn! Turn!  

To everything (turn, turn, turn)

There is a season (turn, turn, turn)

And a time to every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die

A time to plant, a time to reap

A time to kill, a time to heal

A time to laugh, a time to weep

The Mayans understood this so well.  

Mayan Fire Ceremony

They knew when to plant and when to harvest, when to give back and when to openly and unashamedly receive. I have loved learning and studying this knowledge and so many people have been telling me they are interested in knowing more, too. Some of my favorite questions are:

How accurate is the Mayan calendar?

Is Mayan astrology even a thing? 

How many days did the Maya calendar have?

What is the 260 day count (Chol Q’ij), the 365 day count (Macewal Q’ij)? 

How about the 52 year count and The Long count ?

Did the ancient Maya predict that the world would end on December 21, 2012?

What is the significance of the Number 13 to the Maya? I thought it was an UNLUCKY number (Friday the 13th?)?

Mayan Symbols?

What is Ceremonial Cacao? Is it the same as Nestlé Hot Chocolate?

I am happy to share what I know in the coming days. Is there anything else you’d like me to cover? Please let me know.

Very soon it will be Solstice time, and you and I will be dreaming-in magical things for 2023 with a cup of real Cacao in hand. Until then here are some lovely full moon dates for your 2023 diary:

https://phasesmoon.com/united-states/los-angeles-california/fullmooncalendar2023.html

With Love

Cara