We will be holding a ceremonial retreat at the Deer Mountain Sanctuary (north of Mt Shasta, CA) from July 30th - August 11, 2021 for participants and supporters, where we will move through the experience of all 9 fires, along with sweatlodges and other ceremonies to support this process. Participants will be camping for this time.

This thirteen-day week in the Mayan Calendar goes from 1 Akabal to 13 Tz’ikin:

1 Akabal – 13 Tz’ikin (Friday July 30th - Wednesday August 11th, 2021)
In the week of 1 Akabal (Fri July 30th), we have the spiritual force from 13 I’q, and now we want to birth it -  we have been given spiritual approval. So in 1 Akabal, we watch the new dawn through this week. We watch the process to go from that which was not known into 13 Tz’ikin (Wed Aug 11th)- a full beauty of visions, the richness that comes from enlightenment. This is not just the knowledge or wisdom now, this is the joy of the vision in activation. Like we see now, the beauty of our efforts through so many years that we have sanctuaries. We have the beauty, so we live it now. So 1 Akabal takes us through the dawning through the web of life (2 Kat- Sat Jul 31st). We still must come through the transformation (4 Keme- Mon Aug 2nd) and into the place of the medicine, the shamans (5 Kiej- Wed Aug 3rd). 

In the middle of this week, on 7 Toj (Thurs Aug 5th), there is a balance now with all the offerings that have been given: the efforts that have been given to Life, to ourselves, to our family, to Creator, and the gifts that are being received. Now you can see that everything you have done is coming to be fruitful. It is there for you- the gifts are there, and this is a place of balance. The karma is being given (payment), we are getting rid of that, and now we see this jewel, this potential, because it is taking us to the completion of the community on 8 T’zi (Fri Aug 6th). 20 days ago we started the 1 T’zi- the initiations through all this story with our relationships. Now, on 8 T’zi- the community is complete. Now we know our placement. Now we know the Original Instructions. Now we know how our relationships are. Now we know what we must give and what we must take. Between 7 Toj and 8 T’zi, we understand that now. We understand our placement, we understand our gifts, and we understand the reciprocity for our efforts, for our community now. 

And so the community prepares to say thank you to those ones who are going to be giving birth on the 9 B’atz (Sat Aug 7th): the 9 strands/threads. This is the day to honor the women as 1 Akabal: the house of creation, the house of the crystals, the womb of the mother Nan Imuxcane, Nan Ixchel, and the physical place in which birth can happen. Now, in 9 B’atz, the birth is being witnessed. This is when the Maya celebrate and honor the women through ceremonies. We know now that the DNA, the matrix, the Cholqi’j we call it, the counting of these days are now witnessing the birth of all of these thought forms, of the birthing that we are trying to do. So it starts to know itself, on the path, on the road, on 10 E (Sun Aug 8th).  This whole journey this week is so that we can get to the beauty and the completion of 13 Tz’ikin (Wed Aug 11th): the beauty, the gifting, the incredible abundance and harvest in life. 

--------------------------------------------------

Through this 13-day retreat process of the Nine Fires, we will learn how to lay the fire, to call in the powers of the Daylords and their vibrations to create the matrix through which our prayers are manifested, and begin to develop a mirror relationship with the fire to gain a better understanding of ourselves, the natural forces, and our healing processes. This process is part of the Medicine Wheel of the Sacred Teachings.

When we meet in person at Deer Mountain for this retreat, you will need to bring a number of items to be prepared for the ceremonies. This begins with your personal cacao ceremonial request to do the Nine Fires, as one of the Seven Gifts, and you will entrust your bundle to Tat Erick, on the first day of the ceremonies. 

For the fires themselves you will need to have a comal, personal pipe, a fire starting kit, a mesa, and enough ceremonial fire materials ready for all nine fires.  

A description of each is given below:

The Seven Gifts
The number seven works from the Mayan Creation Story written in the Popol Vuh, and is the energy of all things in balance. In most mystic traditions around the world, the number seven carries great importance, and this is why we work with this number when relating to the gifts.

The gifts represent your ideas or views of what this work will be for you; they reflect a mirror image of what you want to gain from the ceremonies. These gifts are also to honor the request to go through these sacred ceremonial experiences and receive the teachings and shamanic practices of the Maya. The gifts are for the altar, the medicines, and the Sacred work, to maintain a good relationship with them, and are presented to Tat Erick. One of the gifts is the financial offering.

Another one of the gifts is a cacao drink ceremony- it is up to each person to choose their own ingredients and create their own expression. Each individual will bring all the ingredients to prepare this drink and share why they were chosen, then make and serve the cacao drink. The cacao has been a ceremonial sacred drink of the Maya that brings sustenance, strength, endurance, and beauty. The cacao ceremony is similar in nature to the Japanese Tea Ceremony, in which we can savor the elegance and beauty of life. All aspects of this ceremony - the choice of ingredients, preparation, and presentation - are to express our gratitude and to share the joy of savoring life.

Comals
Her name is Nan Ixok, and she is the ceramic “Comal” or dish, which will hold the ceremonial fire. She represents the sacred foundation in which your healing will occur. Choose wisely, due to the incredible heat and power of the fires. The Comal should be a shallow ceramic dish about 14” round and thick, fire ready. In this Ixok you will have a spiritual relationship with a great amount of emotions, visions, and understandings, so choose her well. You want to ask her to carry your burdens of your past, and to lighten your path in the future. You will be doing all nine fires on top of the ashes of the previous one, in this dish. When the ninth fire is completed, we will break the Comal and you will need to make nine pilgrimages to take the pieces and leave them at sacred sites. We will share more about the pilgrimages later in the spring.

The Bundle 
At the time of giving the seven gifts, a sacred medicine Bundle will be presented to Tat Erick as a symbol of your commitment to this sacred process. The small bundle should consist of items that represent the tools that you would like to use in your ceremonial life/practice. The medicine bundles of each person will be bundled together and placed upon our main altar, as a representation of all of you and your intentions, being held together throughout this journey by Tat Erick. The bundles will will remain with us like this until the nine ceremonies are complete, when they will be returned to you in ceremony. They will be holding the frequency of intention that you put into this as you go through your process of the nine fires, and will be infused with the energies of the ceremonies.

The Personal Pipe
The personal pipe is for each person to offer prayers using the sacred tobacco. This pipe should be only for your personal use, and not to be smoked or touched by any other person. We smoke our pipes as we call in the directions of each fire. Pipes are best to be received as gifts or make your own, they are not intended to be purchased. If you do not have a pipe, you can use a corn husk to roll the tobacco to make prayers.

The Mesa
We will lay a personal mesa/altar on the earth next to each fire to support your intention and anchor your prayers. To learn about the mesa and the items to include, the online course Anchoring a Secure Space in a Changing World- Empowerment & Transformation Through the Use of Altars is one of the required teachings in preparation.

Fire Starting Kit
Together we will strike our 9 fires ablaze. We will practice fire starting prior to meeting in person on Deer Mountain Summer 2021. We will share recommendations for good strikers and materials to make nests to catch the spark as part of our preparations. 

Fire Materials
The Mayan fire ceremonies do not use any wood. With prayers, a mandala is created out of natural materials. The offerings that we put into the fire carry our prayers to the Creator.  Some herbs are grown or collected by the traditional Maya in Guatemala and are prepared in a sacred way for these fire ceremonies. We will provide some of the fire materials from Guatemala. You will also need to procure, through harvest or purchase, additional fire materials enough for nine ceremonial fires.

Each offering carries a different energy and intention, a different prayer, and the combination is a rich banquet of energies offered to the Creator. The offerings used to create this fire mandala bring blessings to ourselves, our families, the earth, and all our relations. All the nine ceremonial fires are made inside of the same comal on top of the ashes from the previous fire, so the amount of materials that can fit are limited. Detailed information about the materials needed will be provided in the near future. Some materials include: natural taper candles, chocolate, honey, sugar, lots of dried herbs (the main part of the fire), cornmeal and more. 

The bulk of the materials for the Mayan Fires are dried herbs and dried flowers - each carries its own medicine, fragrance, and form. We often use cedar, sage, dried flowers, rosemary, lavender, calendula, etc… If you have plants that you work with, they make especially nice offerings for your fire. We suggest that you start gathering and drying plants every time you are able, and build up a nice supply to have ready for the ceremonies.