8 B'atz: Weaving a New Tapestry, Beginning a Sacred Cycle

Energy of the Day for January 18, 2025

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Today is one of the most important days in the sacred calendar. It is the beginning of the new ceremonial cycle, the day of initiation of new day keepers, the day where the baton is passed from the old to the new. It is the day of celebration of the Chol Q’ij, the sacred calendar, which brings our ability to navigate through life using the cycles of sacred time. –Mark Elmy

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B’atz: Time, Thread, Spirituality, The Arts, Development, Couple, Partnership, Marriage, Connection, Unity, Love, Healing, Joy, New Beginnings
Pronunciation: “Bahts”
Sacred Animal: Monkey
Energy Places: Forests, Lakes, Clear Night Sky
Colors: Red, Orange
Body Parts: Blood Vessels

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8 (Wajxaqib’): Wholeness • Spirit & Matter • Infinity • Time • Man • Solar • Executive Force of Action • Ceremony, Arts, Rituals • Masculine Potency & Expression • Joy • Honor • Will • Vigor • Morality

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B’atz Glyph: The top part of the glyph is a cone that has time rolled up in it. The cone descends to a triangle, which represents our dimension, and then to the sphere of the Earth, passing through the angles, which are the two polarities; masculine and feminine. –Carlos Barrios

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B’atz is the start of life, infinite time, and unity. Spiritual connections are history interwoven with time. This sign symbolizes cosmic phenomena and original wisdom. B’atz is the deity that created Earth and Sky, the Creator of life and wisdom. B’atz signifies the time it takes for a child to develop in the womb.

The tz’ite that represents the Ajq’ijab’ (Mayan priests) contains 260 seeds, representing the nine moons or nine months of pregnancy. B’atz presides over the future.

This sign symbolizes time unraveled, evolution, and human life. 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.

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Diana’s Observations:

Joyous new beginnings! Today’s Waqxakib’ B’atz is celebrated as the most significant day in the Mayan Sacred Calendar, honoring the wisdom and restart of the 260-day count of the Cholq’ij itself.

Waqxakib’ means 8, and B’atz represents the thread of time, the beginning of time, and the umbilical cord of life.

In Guatemala, a vibrant and fragrant collective ceremony is present today as part of the Sacred Mayan New Year festival. Waqxakib’ B’atz symbolizes the infinite thread of sacred time, a new spiritual beginning, and all the colorful cyclical threads of the Cholq’ij. It is considered the ‘head of the year’, reflecting the connection between the head and other organs of the human body.

“Our Mayan Sages have taught for generations
that in WAQXAKIB' B'ATZ,
ri Uk'ux Kaj, Uk'ux Ulew
(Heart of Heaven, Heart of the Earth)
asks man saying:

"Accept me as King over you; let me be your head.
And it is there where the recognition of the sovereignty
of the great Alom y Qajolom (The Begetter and Conceiver)
as our king and government in WAQXAKIB' B'ATZ was born.”
–Mayatecum

The Mayan sages highlight three dimensions in the relationship between the head and the body:

• The brain governs the body's organs and functions.

• The vital energy of all organs converge in the brain.

• The brain is the seat for the power of thought, revered as the highest human faculty.

This day influences all other days in the 260-day count, as the mind governs the body's organs, and 8 B’atz influences the Cholq’ij and other calendars. The festival invokes and honors Ajaw (God) as the ‘head’, establishing a link between the Creator and human essence, emphasizing that calendar energies flow from humans.

This dance of living time energies teaches us how to harmonize their combined forces, allowing us to experience the grand spiraling and ascending evolution of humanity through the sacred chord of time. This knowledge guides us toward realizing our highest potential, inspiring a daily ceremonial way of living that aligns with our natural gifts, natural cycles, and natural law.

Every day is sacred, offering opportunities for intentional living, learning, growth, and evolution. May this day fill your journey with love, creativity, knowledge, joy, and grace as we begin a new 260-day ritual count!

“Every shaman is a prayer-maker, and every prayer-maker a poet. To address the days through poetic utterance is to approach them in the spirit that the Popul Vuh intended. To sing the magic of the days is to enter the myth, the eternal dream which is the rhythm of sacred time. To sing the beauty and the magic of the 260 days is to use our human voices for their intended purpose–the praise of the world.

Set aside your ponderous notions of ancient science. Let yourself fly and dream with these words. Enter into their spirit, the spirit of sacred time. And by all means, enjoy it. –Kenneth Johnson

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Observations by Mayan Spiritual Guides:

8 B’atz
The nawal B’atz represents the thread of time, and the sacred calendar is a representation of how that thread is woven to create reality. It is the nawal B’atz that brings the creativity to our world, re-creating and renewing all around us.

Both the number 8 and the nawal B’atz have a connection with gestation. It is said that the umbilical cord has 8 strands to it, and of course this brings the nourishment to the new life being brought into being.

Here, within the Maya cross, we see 8 B’atz sitting between 13 Aq’ab’al (the conception from the ancestors) and 3 Kawoq (the day of the midwife/birth process) preceding the day 4 Ajpu (the first day of the new world).

It is on 8 B’atz that the new world receives its nourishment within the womb of creation, and this comes from the prayers and offerings made in the ceremonies.

From the dawn of this day, the shrines and altars within the Maya lands will be packed with Aj Q’ijab making offerings and prayers on behalf of not just their communities, but the world as a whole.

They are imparting the love and wisdom of the old world into the new world which is being woven.

This is the day where the seam is created joining the previous weaving of creation, completed on 7 B’atz (40 days ago), with the new weaving started in 1 B’atz (20 days ago). Here, the past and the future are joined.

We all have some talent to create, through words, music, food or images. We also have the ability to shape the world around us, our homes, our families, our communities.

This is the day that we give thanks for our creative abilities, the day to gather inspiration from what you have created before and combine it with a new concept or method.

Today we put all our love and energy into nurturing the new world soon to be birthed into being. It is the day where we embrace, and are empowered by, the wholeness of creation. –Mark Elmy

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8 B’atz
It is said that B’atz’ is the time that weaves our history, it is the skein of thread that is wound with the passing of the days, and on this day we celebrate that this thread of time begins a new turn.

We celebrate the beginning of a new cycle in the Sacred Cholq’ij Calendar under the energy of Wajxaqib’ -8- B’atz’, day in which the physical/material plane manifests.

On this day, let us light our Sacred Fire and invoke the power of the twenty Ch’umilal in their thirteen manifestations, giving thanks for their cosmic and telluric energy that guides with its strength and wisdom each one of the days of the cycle that begins today.

Happy Wajxaqib’ -8- B’atz’! May the 260 days to come be filled with new knowledge, may new roads emerge that lead to our realization, harmony and freedom, to the sacred paths that bring us abundance and balance in each one of the planes of existence. –Denise Barrios

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Monkey Spirit Animal:
”Ingenuity” “Playful”, “Curious” “Adaptable”, “Intelligent”

The monkey spirit animal encourages us to remain curious and open-minded in our daily lives. In addition to curiosity, the monkey spirit animal symbolizes playfulness, reminding us of the importance of laughter and joy in our lives.

As a spirit animal, the monkey also serves as a reminder that we have the ability to find solutions to our problems by using our intellect and ingenuity.
By thinking outside the box and embracing new approaches, we can find more efficient and effective ways to reach our goals and overcome adversity.

Monkeys are highly social animals that rely on strong bonds and communication within their groups. The monkey spirit animal emphasizes the value of community, highlighting the importance of surrounding ourselves with supportive, like-minded individuals who can help us grow and achieve our goals.

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How can I honor past lessons by weaving them into a vibrant tapestry of creative new beginnings? How can I infuse my life with greater joy and presence by embracing the harmony between natural cycles and my personal rhythms?

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