July 4 - 4 Tz’ikin (Men) Tz’ikin (Eagle) is the prosperity day. Today is the day to seek your abundance. Those who have been deeply influenced by the monastic ideals of Christianity or by Eastern religions that regard the world as “evil” and who believe that retreat from the world is “good” sometimes have a problem accepting prosperity as a positive value. In Mayan culture, there are no such difficulties. Abundance is something to be cherished and actively sought after. Maybe Grandfather is getting too weary to farm his own cornfield. If you have money, you can hire someone to help him. Maybe you have a talented daughter who deserves more from life than trudging down the village streets bent beneath a load of firewood. If you have money, you can send her to a nice school in the city. Money is a good thing. Just as in our own culture, money is a “green” thing too. The shops that sold magical supplies always used to stock lots of sugar that had been dyed green. On the day before a Tz’ikin day (an I’x day), we would go to the magic shop and purchase green sugar. Then, on the following Tz’ikin day, an altar would be built using copal shaped into little patties (pom ensarte) which we called “cakes for the gods.” When the sacred ceremonial fires were lit, we would toss the green sugar into the flames along with the usual offerings of copal. First a handful of copal, then some green sugar. Then more copal, then more green sugar. And we gave thanks. Abundance comes to you when you are thankful for the abundance you already have. You may think you’re so far down on your luck that you have nothing to be thankful for. Dona Victoria always taught me differently. Sometimes the public shrines were so crowded on Tz’ikin days (because everyone in town wants prosperity) that we would walk through the woods, beneath the tz’ite trees, to a quiet little altar just outside of the town. As Dona Victoria cast the copal and green sugar into the fire, she would call out upon each of the twenty day signs in turn. And I would have to give thanks to the spirit of each day sign for all the good things it had brought me. Sometimes – especially with the more challenging signs – I would have to think deeply about it before I could offer my thanks – sitting by the sacred fire in the half-light before dawn, contemplating each day and its gifts. Sometimes, when the day sign Tz’ikin itself is invoked, some of the Maya used to call out like a bird – the eagle’s cry. The best shamans could turn this call into a warbling noise that resonated in the throat – it was similar to the some of the sounds made by Near Eastern women. Usually, we were crying out for prosperity. But if you have enough prosperity in your life, you can always cry out for a vision. Remember the eagle – he soars high above the earth, so close to the sky that he is partly in the heavenly realms and can access the world of visions. He looks down to the earth, sees what he wants, then cries out and swoops down. In much the same way, the vision of the eagle allows us to look down upon our lives from a great height, identify the vision we wish to bring to earth, and then soar down to achieve it, to bring the heavenly vision into manifestation here in the world.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 15:10:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015