#ritual – Cara Carozza

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 Imox

Imox is the Nawal of water and the collective consciousness. It’s where we plant the seeds of our next creative dream. I’m not sure I’m ready for a new creative dream. I may have overeaten at the banquet that Q’anil offered me over the last thirteen days. I’m still feeling a bit energetically hung over from it all, or maybe it’s the intense solar activity we’ve been experiencing. Either way I feel spun and in need of grounding.

Imox is not a grounding energy. It’s an energy of pure potential and all those possibilities can feel overwhelming. Quiet presence is what Imox asks for and what I intend to cultivate as I enter the busiest time of my professional year. It won’t be easy. I still have a lot of crops in my garden from last season to tend to. Maybe this is why I don’t feel ready for any new dreams quite yet. I’m still digesting last season’s bounty. It was very delicious. The seeds of community and creativity that I planted during the last Imox trecena nine months ago flourished magnificently and I couldn’t resist tasting the fruit of each and every one of them.

My Q’anil banquet began with a Mayan personal ritual workshop which inspired me to harvest water from a natural source for my altar. That inspiration led to an invitation to visit my friend Kim. Kim lives near a seasonal lake and I hadn’t seen her in over a year. Our friendship was definitely in need of watering. My thirst quenched from our visit, I was then offered payment for tax services rendered from a new client in the form of an in-home massage. My main course followed. A retreat that included a sound bath and a cacao ceremony. It was hosted by another new client that I’ve added to my garden. My dessert was served at the edge of the pacific, in the baths of the Esalen Institute by my new friend Elena.

It was certainly a bountiful feast, but I’m ready to get back to my routine now. I’ve lost touch with my daily practices in the frenzy of my harvest celebrations. Without them, I risk drowning in the pool of Imox’s fertile waters. Staying present is what will keep me afloat. Presence arrives for me through my breath. If I can just remember to breathe deeply, then I will be okay.

In Peace,

Cara

Equinox Gateway 2022

The Equinox gateway is open, my friends! It started on 22 of September 2022. All those 2s give me chills!…in a good way.

This Equinox date marks the start of fall in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Equinox is a spiritually potent time, as the veil between realms is thinner than usual. Maybe that’s why you have been feeling an overwhelming urge to travel to the home you grew up in and connect with old memories? Or perhaps you need to spend some time with family, talking about loved ones who have passed, creating a family tree or scrapbook. Strengthening family roots will make you feel grounded and aligned to life beyond what we can see. It’s a great time to ask your ancestors to support you and to petition on behalf of other family members too.

During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator” — an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line.

Just a word of caution: the information, downloads, flashbacks, DNA upgrades, dreams, new codes and experiences at this time can be very overwhelming. You need to find ways to TRANSMUTE, ANCHOR, GROUND & CHANNEL it all. Use the four elements of nature (earth, water, air & fire) to assist you as far as possible.

I plan to harvest some lovely cannabis (earth), spend time soaking in the bathtub with my man (water), hike in the fresh mountain (air) and also write a few release letters which I plan to burn in a ritual (fire). I also plan to cook something warm and delicious and I will definitely be using an onion or two. I don’t know if you know this superstition about the Autumn equinox but legend has it that the onion’s skin has a lot to tell about the kind of Winter that you’re going to have. Thin skin= fairly easy one. Thick skin = …well, let’s just say ….get the Kleenex ready. Ha ha ha!

Let me know how it shapes up for you.

Sending you Libra season love and wishes of balance,

Cara

P.S. Please remember that Mercury is still retrograde until October 3rd. Watch your words! There is a big cautionary about gossip/hearsay/miscommunication/arguments/judgement.