Tag: #reverence

Living Maya Time – Reflections on Iq

Iq gave me more opportunities to listen than to express myself over the past thirteen days. As a daughter, as a mother and as a friend. Iq is not subtle. It is breath, wind, voice and the hurricane. For me, Iq arrived as the hurricane. I expected a pleasant breeze and ended up with howling winds. I’m feeling a bit breathless from it all. Still, I’m grateful to have heard with clarity what was spoken to me. Iq seeks to liberate our voice so that we can experience the freedom of expressing our authentic self. Sometimes that process is less than graceful and sometimes it triggers those we care about most.

I’ve gotten really good at speaking my truth since I started writing and it’s become one my most powerful tools for regulating my nervous system. What I hadn’t realized was that it has also made me a great sounding board for others. Through witnessing my own feelings, I have developed more compassion for the feelings of others. I have cultivated the ability to hear what used to illicit anxiety and panic. I’ve developed perspective. I understand that until certain feelings, ideas and memories are expressed that they will divide and alienate. If they are given space and allowed to exist, they often dissolve. Once dissolved, they are easily carried away by the wind.

My Wajxaqib’ Toj ceremony

I focused on my heart each time words were delivered to me that made me want to act or respond instead of listen. I breathed deep into my diaphragm and imagined that I was drawing blue light from the heart of the sky into my own heart. I then exhaled deeply through my root chakra sending the light deep into the earth. Pacha Mama sent me her own soothing green light all the way up into my heart and I found myself softening. I was able to have empathy and remember times when I had felt similarly.

Even within a storm we can find a still point. Within my still point I was able to see the way forward. My way forward was a cup of cacao and a micro fire ceremony on Wajxaqib’ Toj. The fire always listens and always grounds me. Tomorrow we are joined by Tz’ikin, the eagle or the hawk. We’ll want to stay grounded while we’re taking in the scenes below. Tz’ikin offers vision and is the intermediary between heaven and earth, but can also get distracted by all there is to see. May you soar above it all and find exactly what you are looking for over the next thirteen days.

In quiet reverence,

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 22nd, 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