In the week of 1 Ajpu (Fri May 4th), here is where some of the creation story of the Maya comes alive in the Popul Vuh, the sacred Mayan book of the Quiche. Here, Ajpu is the birth of the sun, the crystallization of the spiritual being. And it starts its journey through the calendar and it starts seeing what it is going to be challenged by, and what it has to manifest through. And so if you are looking straight at 1 Apju, its opponent is the 7 Keme (Thurs May 10th), the Lords of the Underworld. So 1 Ajpu, the enlightened being, must now take the journey, take the pilgrimage, and then face the opponent of its being, the 7 Keme. Whatever the outcome is of the 7 Keme is that the true shaman has received its power in 8 Kiej (Fri May 11th). The energy of 8 Kiej creates the manifestation of the medicine person, or not- it just continues to be a regular human being.

This shaman, this medicine person, this spiritual being on 8 Kiej now has the ability and the knowledge and the visions to manifest and birth the 9 Q’anil (Sat May 12th), the 9 seeds, that which will create this beautiful garden so that it will have a harvest. So now it carries that sacred gift all the way to the 13 E (Wed May 16th), to show the way, become the spiritual teacher, become the great leader holding the spiritual and what is sacred. But the challenges here are also very powerful, and one of the great stories is of the hero twins of the Maya in which they start their initiation, they begin to acknowledge their gift, and they take the journey when they are invited by the underworld. They do survive by outsmarting and outwitting the Lords of the Underworld, and calling upon being in nature as allies, and they show us the way to continue on.