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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The earth has taken another couple of turns around the sun since I last showed up in this space. I thought my grief was on its way out, but it was just the beginning. I had just regained my center last Spring when my identical twin sister committed suicide. Losing her has impacted me profoundly. Healing is feeling and I have felt it all. In memory of her I wanted to share my words from her Celebration of Life this past Summer.
When we lose someone so suddenly, it is hard to accept the loss. It feels like you are going to wake up and it all will have just been a terrible nightmare. Days turn into weeks and weeks become months and the reality becomes starkly visible. She is gone. She won’t be at work on Monday. We aren’t taking the trip to Spain with Linda and all the cousins that we intended to. She won’t be at Sarah’s graduation. She’s not going to move in with her friend Michelle to start a new life. The girls weekend to Avila beach with Suzanne and Jennifer is now just an idea that will never manifest. So many more memories we had to create. So many more memories she had to create.
This is not how our love story was meant to end. Not so soon. Not in this way! I know that Michaela’s departure has been very shocking and painful. But Michaela is at peace. This I know for certain. It helps me to imagine that she has embarked on a journey. Though unseen, she hasn’t departed forever. Her presence lingers in our hearts, and her laughter echoes in the whispers of the breeze.
I asked Spirit for one word that would best describe Michaela and I was given, “Hostess”. I laughed out loud because one of her and my favorite games to play together as children was “Hotel”. We also did hostess duty for our dads restaurant when we were in grade school. Later, as teenagers, we worked together as housekeepers at the Green Gables Inn in Pacific Grove where we went to High School. Not surprisingly, at our senior Awards dinner, she received the Achievement Award for Home Economics. She was an excellent chef and a talented seamstress. She also had a magic touch when it came to gardening. Plants flourished under her care.
Cara & Michaela, Baja California
It was not surprising that she became a stay-at-home Mom when her son Matthew was born. When her children arrived, I saw her come alive like never before. Matthew and Sarah were her greatest treasure. She devoted herself to attachment style parenting. She educated herself about the benefits of breast feeding and a family bed and she embraced it all. When my daughter Caroline was born, she was there for me with so much encouragement and support. We were living in the same housing development in Foxboro, Massachusetts at that time. We could actually walk to each other’s homes. Those were magical times.
A few years and one relocation later and she and I were both back in California. Sarah had arrived and just a few months behind her, my son Spencer was born. So many beautiful memories of those days when we were both just Moms. We were able to spend as much time together as we liked. After I went back to work, Summer was when got to see each other the most. We always enrolled our kids in the summer reading program at the Carmel Library where our mom had worked when we were growing up.
Little did we know that the library would become the next chapter in her life when Matthew and Sarah were no longer children. My sister adored working for the library. She was an avid reader, often reading more than one book at a time. She was also a talented and prolific writer. She graduated with a degree in Journalism from Fresno State and she used the skills she learned to write a novel and many short stories. The library, where she was known as Ms. Michaela, was her Happy Place. She had a number of different part-time jobs at Harrison Memorial before getting her full-time job in the children’s department. I remember clearly when she found out that she got hired. She told me it was her dream job and it was. She got to create her own summer reading events for a whole new generation of children. My son has fond memories of volunteering at these events. The Star Wars themed one is a favorite. She loved her co-workers and the young patrons and she loved being in Carmel.
But she also loved being a Hostess. Most of you probably know that she also owned a business, Valley Eden. She and her partner created their very own little Inn, just like the one she and I pretended to own when we were girls. If you ever had the opportunity to stay at Valley Eden, you have been blessed. She was an excellent Hostess and she had over 250 rave reviews to prove it. She loved sharing her hospitality and our magical Valley with guests from all over.
Michaela was also a Hostess and a mom to many fur babies of the feline persuasion. She started out fostering kittens. She had never considered herself to be a cat person, but once she fostered her first set of kittens, she was smitten. Roxy became her first cat baby. Many more would follow. She would promise herself that she wasn’t going to adopt the foster kittens but, invariably, she could not help herself. She became a “Cat Lady” and she fully embraced it. The cats, like her plants, flourished under her care.
Michaela was curious about the universe and was a deeply spiritual person. Nature was her church. She was kind and compassionate and held a deep affection for Mother Earth and all her creatures. She loved live music and attended shows any opportunity she got. She was also a dancer and a Yogi. One of her offerings at Valley Eden was sacred dance and movement. Both were part of her daily practice. I will remember the golden hues in her hair and those sparkling, naughty eyes. With each rising sun, I will hear her laughter. I will call out to her, seek her counsel, and connect with her just like before. She is not gone, she has just slipped into the other room.
I look forward to sharing more with you in the coming weeks and months. My healing journey continues to be guided by magic, plant medicine and the cycles of the Universe. May 2025 bring you blessings of all kinds.
I have been thinking about rabbits a lot lately. My home has been without a pet for almost two years now and I miss having a fuzzy creature around to pet and nurture. I have been contemplating adopting a rabbit and becoming a “Bunny Mom”. How synchronistic that this year is the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese astrological calendar.
Traditionally, after the first new moon of the Lunar calendar each year, Asian communities around the world gather with loved ones to usher in the new year. This holiday also marks the beginning of SPRING. People spend time celebrating with family, food, fireworks and dancing.
The year 2023 marks the Year of the Rabbit and more specifically, the Water Rabbit. The rabbit is believed to be the luckiest of the 12 animals in the Zodiac. The Rabbit represents peaceful and patient energy while the water element is all about tapping into our intuition and trusting our instincts in order to bring about blessings in our lives. If you are born in 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011 and 2023 you can expect good fortune, calm energy and prosperity this year. Einstein, Michael Jordan, Novak Djokovic, David Beckham and Tiger Woods were all born in the Year of the Rabbit. Let me know if you are too:-)
I also love that in Chinese culture, rabbits represent the MOON. We had a lovely new moon in Aquarius this past weekend. I made my wish for a sweet little baby rabbit to join my family.
Lunar new year festivities will continue for the next two weeks and will culminate on February 5th with the Lantern Festival. This is also the day of the SUPER FULL MOON IN LEO, which I will tell you more about in the coming days. It is going to be intense!
Sending you all love and praying for your safety, prosperity, and peace. Let’s continue to support our Asian communities by joining in their celebrations and spreading the peaceful, light-hearted energy,
Happy 2023. How is everyone feeling on this wonderful Friday the 13th?
I bet you are finally feeling like you are ready to kick into gear and get the show on the road after a slow start to January? RIGHT!!!
Don’t worry. It’s not just you. This probably has a lot to do with Mars finally completing its life changing retrograde and going direct (on January 12th). Talk to me again around January 18th/19th when our friend Mercury – ruler of Gemini and all things communication – also goes direct. Then we can finally get this UNIVERSAL YEAR NUMBER 7 going.
According to Numerology, every calendar year is associated with a single digit number known as the Universal Year Number. There are 9 Universal Year Numbers, and each one carries its own vibration and energy. 2023 carries the energy of Number 7. The number seven is considered very lucky in many traditions and is quite a popular number in general. Things that come to mind, include:
7 Days in a week
7 Chakras
7 Continents
7 Natural Wonders of the World
….even the Harry Potter series makes reference to this magical number.
But in Numerology, 7 years are all about diving inward. They are about radical personal growth, spiritual development and evolution. During this year, we will all have a deep personal and collective need to:
Research, Reflect, Re-evaluate
Analyze Data
Ask questions
Interrogate information
If we do this properly, when Universal Year Number 8 comes around in 2024 with its focus on money & power we will be ready to rock and roll.
So how do we make the most of this Year Number 7? Well, think of it as a RETREAT, a time to go solo in order to go within.
I am also planning to use my Mayan calendar as a guide this year and to share more with you as promised. It is filled with wonderful guidance. Today for example is 13 TZ’IKIN and the advice for today is that it is a good day to talk to the ancestors and ask for their guidance about how to MANIFEST ABUNDANCE. We can receive very clear “answers” and visions on this day (and are encouraged to buy a lottery ticket or two).
I wish you a wonderful 2023! Enjoy your own company and remember these lovely words from Desiderata, “Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence”.
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.
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:
Cara Carozza 