At the beginning of learning the Maya calendar, it is easy to get lost in the counting of overlapping cycles. Remember, this is a shamanic calendar; the numeric cycles are not mere quantitative assignments, they have discernable qualities about them as well.
Time is a Holy place. At low frequencies, intricate threads of light sew the universe we see, with the universe unseen by our normal senses.
Cycles from eras gone by hold the foundation of where we are now and where we will be in the future. Like strings of a sitar, the various time cycles create overtones; they can create harmony or dissonance.
Each of the different cycles is referred to as a “bundle”, or burden, of time.
Complex Mayan glyphs often portray figures with bundles carried by straps around their heads holding various birds, or other glyphs that designate the particular omens to be expected during each cycle.
The burden of a trecena is seeded on day 1 and comes to fruition on the thirteenth day. Although there are known Aztec gods associated with each number, you can remember to count your major joints like so:
1 right ankle, 2 left ankle
3 right knee, 4 left knee
5 right hip, 6 left hip
7 right wrist, 8 left wrist
9 right elbow, 10 left elbow
11 right shoulder, 12 left shoulder
13 neck.
Odd numbers are masculine, even numbers feminine, and 13 is the unification of the yin and yang.
The four colors, red-east, white-north, blue-west and yellow-south, rotate along with the 13 cycle, so days 1, 5, 9 and 13 are always the same color. The four-direction pattern also flows east, west, north, south from one trecena to the next.
Just as the glyphs of the 20 day uinal have layers upon layers of metaphors, so the numbers have recognizable vibrational properties. There are 20 trecenas in one tzolkin round, one for each of the uinal glyphs. There are five glyphs for each of the four directions.
It takes four trecenas before a number and color align again creating another sub-cycle of 52 days. This took on great significance in 2013. Larger than life news stories happened this year in 52-day increments, indicating the truth about who we are and how we came to be on this Earth, and who is really in control.
If you divide 260 by four, you get 65. The four directions are honored at each corner of the tzolkin. This creates “burner” days every 52 years.
Wednesday December 11, 2013, is 8 Eagle, a strong visionary day, go ahead and ask for all you need! We are currently at the last uinal and the last trecena of the tzolkin. December 16, 2013, is 13 Ahau, which fell on Easter Sunday, 2013, ending the previous tzolkin.
December 21, 2012, was the end of all the old “bundles” of Time; now we are in completely new psychic territory. Much has changed, but those with preconceived notions of what should have happened are missing the point entirely. We have changed from the inside. It will take a few more bundles of Time before the new Earth takes full form, but no politics, religions, or society, primitive or modern, will survive without transforming to fit who we have become.
For private Maya tzolkin readings, contact Carlos at cosmicjaguar@yahoo.com
I too, thank you, Carlos! Your offering gives me new clarity on many aspects of, well, of everything. It’s like gaining ability to see through yet another facet of a multi-sided gem where once was only a two-sided lens.
Thank you, Carlos! I learned tarot with the Mayan Tarot deck, and I feel some obscured but deep affinity with its symbolism. This affinity isn’t as immediate as some of the other symbolic relationships I have, but it is absolutely there. I am grateful to you for reminding me of this connection again through your article today.