Tzolkin Trecena Notes – 1 Monkey (Chuen)

Artistic excellence was honored and held sacred by the Ancient Maya as evidenced by the inscriptions left on stone monuments, cave walls and pottery. Kenneth Johnson in Jaguar Wisdom writes: “The funerary inscriptions on ancient Mayan ceramics make it clear that the Classic Mayan scribes were painters as well as literary artists and keepers of sacred lore. These members of the Mayan royal houses who specialized in knowledge recognized the Monkey God as their patron deity. Given such an intimate connection between sacred knowledge and creative artistry, we should not be surprised to learn that Monkey is still regarded as the day of the ‘masters of all the arts’ as well as being one of the days dedicated to the Calendar keepers and their lore. Monkey is the day of the craftsman, the wisdom-keeper and the artist. It exemplifies both the spiritual and creative power as well as the over-reaching egotism of the artistic temperament.”

“The Maya depict time as a thread wound around a giant reed underneath the Earth. This thread is unraveled as time goes by. History is woven from time, just as clothing is made from woven threads. Before the Maya used thread, they wove with pop, or palm and thus the Popul Vuh was originally called the Pop Vuh. This sign indicates that time has unraveled, giving us life and existence. This is why we are happy and dance around the fire from right to left during a sacred ceremony, until we have circled it thirteen times. When the ceremony is about to end, we dance around the fire another thirteen times, from left to right, winding up the spool of time again. This symbolizes our love and desire for more life. Ajaw, the Great Father, is movement, and dance is movement. The Creators and Makes tossed a thread to the end of the universe, then folded it and threw it back.” 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 Cib (Vulture/Owl), 7 Caban (Earth), and 8 Etznab (Flint). Therefore, a creative intention that incorporates the aspects of cleansing and letting go, grounding ourselves with nature, and using our creativity to transform our reality could easily manifest during this Trecena. Remember that egotism is the dark side of this fortunate and lucky day sign, so don’t become so self-centered that you fail to think of others.