Tzolkin Trecena Notes – 1 Vulture (Cib)

Day 196 of the 260 Day Tzolkin

December 8, 2010

Year Bearer:  11 Manik

 

Trecenas are thirteen-day periods in the Tzolkin. Each Trecena starts with the Number 1, but with
a different Day Glyph. As a wave of the Thirteen Heavens, the underlying energy is governed by
the First Day Glyph of the Trecena and influences all thirteen successive Day Glyphs. Being aware
of the predominant energy of the First Day of the Trecena, we can align our intentions with that
energy and allow our goals to manifest.

 

This Trecena starts with 1 Cib – Vulture/Owl – Ancient Warrior, Keeper of Wisdom, Defender of
Universal Consciousness, Silent Inner Strength of Convictions.

 

This day sign is associated with Vulture because the Vulture not only feeds on the remains of the
dead, but also clears away the past. Vulture symbolically represents the purging of karmic patterns
and the emergence of new thought. Vultures and Owls were also revered as great teachers and
Keepers of Ancient Wisdom.

 

In Mayan cosmology, there were four divine figures called the Bacabs (Bah KAHBS) who personified
the four directions and were responsible for holding up the sky in each of the four corners. They
were depicted as beekeepers or sometimes even gigantic bees and wore conch shells on their heads.
The Classic Maya associated this day sign with the conch shell as its spiral shape symbolizes
emergence and rebirth. In many ancient cultures, the spiral represents death and rebirth as
an ongoing process taking place within the human soul.

 

Carlos Barrios suggests this is “a favorable day to ask for and receive forgiveness, to manage
harmony and discord, and to focus on the word, the message, ancestral lines, and the energy
that emanates from living bodies, called an aura… In antiquity, it was a day to stay home and
reflect on one’s acts and their consequences whether intentional or unintentional. On that day,
one would go out only to make an offering, to ask forgiveness from those who had been
wronged, or to go to the ceremonies and listen to the traditions…was a way for Classic Mayans
to maintain balance. They asked Mother Earth to forgive their abuses and gave thanks for the
benefits they had received. This was the day when the great sages would share their teachings
with the whole community and the community would speak with the Elders.”

 

“The glyph itself signifies the mind in a state of forgiveness and illumination. It is a brain with
rays, lines of expansion, reaching out in all directions.” Carlos Barrios, The Book of Destiny.

 

Another representation of the Trecena is that of a creative wave beginning at 1 and ending at 13,
with the numbers 6, 7 and 8 representing the crest of the wave. The crest could be interpreted
as a strong influential energy, although the underlying influence on the Trecena would still rest
in the beginning. In this Trecena, the crest falls on 6 Imix (Crocodile/Waterlily), 7 Ik (Wind)
and 8 Akbal (Night/Hearth). Crocodile represents ancient primal forces and new beginnings.
Wind is the spirit or chi energy that gives life to primal energy. Night represents the temple
which houses the soul. The Vulture trecena encourages us to clear out old habits and patterns.
The energies available at the crest (new beginnings flowing in the wind influencing our spiritual
house) help us to attain a new level of awareness and new patterns of existence. The energies
of Cib allow us to connect to a universal vision as well as to our own reality.

 

As we journey through each day of this Trecena:

Utilize the energy of Cib with its ancestral wisdom to release old patterns which no longer
serve in order to make way for new ideas and opportunities to emerge.  Something has to
be surrendered NOW in order for transformation to take place.

 

 

In Lak’ech (I am another you),

William and Viola

 

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©2007 William and Viola Welsch