FROM 1-KAN 10-BEN
1-Kan is the best time to celebrate social networking and current social tools, the eternal Facebook included. It’s a time to celebrate each and every way of connecting with another person, regardless of the tools I use. Naturally, not using any tool and just meeting face to face still seems the best choice. But even if we can’t physically meet there are many means of connecting and sharing.
The day of manifestation in this process is 10-Ben (23 March 2017). This is the day on which a clear line is drawn between what’s real and what’s just an opinion; between theory and reality.
Known in the east Indian Vedic tradition as the Web of Indra, the union that abides between you and me (Kan) is not something that needs to be achieved or put together slowly over time. It has to be acknowledged as a constant and indestructible reality. No level of technology can finally alienate nor divide us.
The ironies of the universal artistic mind (1-Chuen) led me out of the cave of the ego and back to real people and real challenges. These are the challenges that I face when I move from the abstract musings of the artist to the crafty handiwork of the artisan.
Manifestation’s promise of abundance begins to unfold today, 1-Kan, and continues for the next 12 days.
The Tzolkin abides
When I take the time to think about it, the Tzolkin can teach me something new every day. For example, while editing this post today, I noticed something new: Star War’s dark side emperor is played by actor Ian McDiarmid (born 8-Chuen). His arch-rival, Luke Skywalker, is played by actor Mark Hamill (born the following day: 9-Eb).
It makes watching the scenes with both of them all the more interesting. That is, if you’re as far gone as I am into this calendar…
1-Kan: Big Time Sensuality
1-Kan: Everything needed
Born on this day: Syd Barrett, Tim Lincecum, Ziggy Marley, Václav Havel (1st Czech Rep. president)
“All middle men are bad.” – Syd Barrett (1-Kan) Melody Maker 1967
If I had just one wish for the future it would materialize in the shape of a seed. A seed is a wish I bury below the surface. A wish is a promise for something better.
Philosophically, Kan is the essence of potential, of unknown and innumerable benefits that are collected to be shared, and then shared to be multiplied. At the same time, Kan is also a powerful grounding force which reminds me that planting a seed is just a beginning. If I don’t tend to my garden regularly, its death is probably the best result I’ll get. If I’m not so lucky, it’ll bear fruits of wrath – the wrath of broken promises.
Symbology
1-Kan means networking to the max and in every respect. It means integration on the most basic levels of survival and global communion.
Kan (Seed) is the first, and most basic form of abundance in the uinal. Without seed there is no food. Lack of “seed” is represented by one of the horsemen of the apocalypse – Famine (keeping in mind that the meaning of the scary word ‘apocalypse’ is simply “unveiling”).
The specter of famine is ever present on a very basic level of my perception, regardless of how secure I might actually be in that respect. Even in this post/ultra-modern era, and in what’s called the developed world – where I can go to the mega-market store and get everything I need – there’s always some doubt regarding how nutritious the groceries are, and how many toxins are hidden there. This is also a method of experiencing famine/lack of ‘Kan’.
“How you feel can make it real” – Peter Gabriel (5-Akbal)
2-Chicchan: Cure to cancer
Born on this day: Yasser Arafat, Noam Chomsky, Enid Blyton, Dutch Schultz, Richard Bach (Jonathan Seagull), Ben Carson (Pediatric surgeon)
“We’re supposed to worship Adam Smith but you’re not supposed to read him. That’s too dangerous. He’s a dangerous radical.” – Noam Chomsky (2-Chicchan) commenting on Smith (4-Chicchan)
Life as DUALITY
“Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suit on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth…
“Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life…
“But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?”
– Ewan McGregor (12-Cauac) as Mark Renton in “Trainspotting” 1996
The challenge of this generation is abundance. Choice has been multiplied over and above my physical and mental needs. Yet I want more. I feel I need more. I don’t feel a 100% secure, and my TV tells me I’m probably right.
My daily existence resembles a medical procedure:
I begin my day, waking up, already worried about chores and tasks I didn’t catch up with yesterday. That’s the malady.
I think about how to tackle this day, usually while getting cleaned up and having breakfast. That’s the meeting I have with the doctor, discussing the remedy.
I get to work and administer my favorite substances right to my vein. Usually it begins with coffee. That’s anesthetics.
I do what I do at work. I dive into and then yank myself out of distractions. I’m nice to people. I swallow little pains. I sympathize. This is the procedure.
I log off and get my sore lower spine back home to my family. That’s rehabilitation.
I fall asleep, eventually.
That’s the healthy break between maladies.
Symbology
Every MD in almost every hospital around the world wears 2-Chichan on his doctor’s robe. That symbol consists of two snakes coiled around the medicine staff of authority. It’s in the old testament, it’s the DNA in modern genetics. It is an ancient symbol of life, given and taken away.
If and when you find yourself in hospital staring at that symbol, remember that it signifies the doctor’s ability and skill to help you, as well as the well-established skills and knowledge of your own innate doctor (your Body) who’s been healing you since day one.
Hence – dual serpent.
3-Cimi: Change everything
Born on this day: Hugo Weaving (Matrix), Paul McCartney, Natalie Merchant, Faye Dunaway, Kurt Waldheim, Nick Swisher, Freeman Dyson (physicist)
“Tell me Mr. Anderson… what good is a phone call… if you’re unable to speak?” – Hugo Weaving (3-Cimi) addressing Keanu Reeves (3-Edznab) in The Martix
1-Kan is a very social trecena. It has 9-Eb in it, as well as 7-Oc, 10-Ben and other socially-related sun-sign/tone combinations. One of the prominent of these is today, 3-Cimi.
Cimi is a rudimentary sun-sign associated with the ancestors. Cimi natives are known for their psychic connection with remote grandfathers and grandmothers. Reflecting back to the seed (1-Kan) and its ancient journey through my agricultural heritage, 3-Cimi is the day I nurture my garden and give due attention to the seeds and young plants.
With my hands and legs, I use the same body movements my forefathers and mothers used to tend their plot of land. Although my technology is different, I use the same tools, same methods, and consider the same administrative options. I cannot escape these deep connections. I have no reason to.
This used to be called husbandry. Our home planet yearns for it; agriculturally, environmentally and in every other way. All talents and life pursuits are welcome and desperately required. This is where the 3rd stage come into place.
The roots of Pop and Drag
Very early in my Tzolkin research, when looking up the Beatles’ birthdays, I had a small laugh when I did McCartney. 3-Cimi (death) turned out to be the birthday of the Beatle that was declared dead, reducing the band down to 3 members. He wasn’t the one who eventually turned dead in reality, and that was lucky in a way. Luck is one of the benefits of being dead every once in a while, and it is part of the Cimi symbolism.
Here’s the magnificent Hugo Weaving (3-Cimi) in the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I dedicate this one to my friend Chris Duane, and to the smallest, subtlest truth, told time and time again. It really resonates with the didgeridoo:
“And so felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free, but now I’m saving all my loving to someone who’s loving me!”
4-Manik: End famine
Born on this day: Prince Charles, Malcolm X, Bugsy Siegel, Sharon Corr (The Corrs Irish Band), Vlade Divac
“I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.” – Malcolm X (4-Manik), The Ballot or the Bullet (1964)
The discussion moves now to a previous topic (see 1-Chicchan), which is stage 4 as an ending of sorts. Manik is a sun-sign associated with endless pilgrimage and continued perfection of skills. So how does Manik’s ongoing process sit next to the 4th stage of completion?
I began the journey 3 days ago, on 1-Kan, and today I complete my first full cycle around the four cardinal directions to arrive at 4-Manik. This means that the planted seed or sapling, after it has been properly nurtured, is going to yield a result which will ultimately lead me to conclusions.
After inspecting the plant my conclusions are going to be about the seed’s quality and the quality of my gardening skills. These have evidently led the plant to its current condition.
This is the endless learning process of nurturing good fruit and good spirit.
Symbology
4-Manik’s message and energy is the most balanced form of medicine known in the Mayan culture. So, if you’re praying for someone’s health – this is the day for focusing your thoughts, prayers, and intentions.
Manik is the Deer, also known as the Raam. It is the spirit of the forest, the one that doesn’t hesitate to claim his last stand, in a God-sent bush-fire, for example. The Raam shares symbolical grounds with the Father of Raam, a.k.a. Abraham (in Hebrew).
Raam is also known as the Zodiac sign Aries. It reflects an age in history, dated around 1800 BC till 325 AD. The Age of Aries was replaced by the Age of Pisces, which is the age most scholars agree to be still in effect today. The next (st)age in Light is Aquarius.
Are we there yet?
5-Lammat: Busy Bunny-Stud
Born on this day: Liam Neeson, Salma Hayek, Paul Dano, Bobcat Goldthwait, Brian Blessed, Earl Warren, Peggy Lee, John Holmes
“Impetuous boy! Ah, well… who wants to live forever? DIVE!” – Brian Blessed (5-Lamat) as Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon
5-Lamat (star) is a day set aside to consider multiplication and its relation to abundance. Multiplication is the empowering force behind community and prosperity.
In the Bible, God commands Adam and Abraham to go forth and multiply like the stars in the heavens. Procreation multiplies souls on earth.
God further decrees that bread is to be won by the sweat of thy brow. Husbandry and agriculture multiply fruits, seeds, and livestock. Industry and commerce multiply just about everything else.
All these empower me, my family, and my neighbors. They are the keystones of prosperity.
Lamat is Yucatec for “Rabbit”. ‘Nuff said.
Symbology
What’s called for right now is a precise star (5-Lamat).
When I’m out in the desert at night, looking for good shelter, all I need is 1 precise star. A single star from the multitude, which I’ll recognize immediately and navigate according to it to the nearest Oasis. It’s just a small star (5th stage star, not yet 6 or 7), but it pinpoints my location and maps the way to more abundance on this southern sunny trecena.
6-Muluc: Perpetual irrigation
Born on this day: Walter Cronkite, Sam Elliot, Burning Spear (Reggae artist), Shaggy, Hugo Chavez, Al Capone, Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.
“You should resign. It’s the least you can do: Resign, along with those other spies and delinquents working in the State Department.” – Hugo Chavez (6-Muluc) advising Hillary (9-Ik) on the way out.
The river flows on (6-Muluc), in appreciation and thanksgiving (offering). To imagine what this is like you can think about standing on a riverbank. When a strong river flows by you, it seems to be completely still and motionless.
Like the spokes on a wheel rotating in a certain RPM and appearing to be still, resonant with our frequency of vision.
To my understanding, this is the conservative nature of 6-Muluc. It is an essential link between the gathering (Heavens 1 through 5) and the Reflection (7th Heaven), along with being the forerunner to the balanced phase of the process.
Apropos being conservative and taking care of the family, please note that so far in this trecena we’ve already had birthdays of 3 distinguished “family” members: Dutch Schultz, Bugsy Siegel, and Al Capone.
These were the ones that were caught. There are other, legitimate government gangsters who have their birthdays during this period. Can the live ones be found and brought to justice yet?
Can the dead ones be forgiven?
7-Oc: Purpose = Love
Born on this day: Mariah Carey, Charles Lloyd (Jazz), Golda Meir, Anwar Sadat, Jennifer Connelly, Tony Danza, Bobby Fisher, Bireli lagrene
“It is true we have won all our wars, but we have paid for them. We don’t want victories anymore.” – Golda Meir (7-Oc), Life magazine 1969
Today is another riveting walk through the twists and turns of relationships with fellow travelers and gardeners. Oc is about the territory each of us marks around his/her personality. With my family I have intimate boundaries, with my neighbors I have social and personal boundaries. All these relationships require husbandry (even if you’re the wife) and what Americans call “maintenance” within their respective boundaries.
When balance is achieved in relationships, prosperity is maintained. When the purpose (7) of the process is Love (Oc) prosperity is guaranteed.
The unlikely bridge
One of my earliest memories, sitting in front of the TV with my parents and sister, is watching Anwar Sadat (7-Oc) exiting his plane and going down the stairs to greet Menachem Begin (13-Ben). We then continued following the coverage of his speech in the Knesset, and later his signing of the peace treaty with Israel.
To many of us living in Israel it was like living in a dream. To some this meant giving up an amazing piece of desert, and trusting those who should not be trusted.
To Sadat it meant the Nobel peace prize, a distinguished place in human history, and multiple 7.62 rounds to his aorta, intestines and neck.
Here’s a documentary by Al Jazeera about him:
8-Chuen: Happy new year!
Born on this day: Johnny Marr, John Keats, Jesse Owens, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Bruce Bochy, Ian McDiarmid
“Nation state as a fundamental unit of man’s organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state.” – Zbigniew Brzezinski (8-Chuen), Between Two Ages: The Technetronic Era, 1971
A thing of beauty is a joy forever Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. - John Keats (8-Chuen), taken from Endymion (1818)
Under the hood
8-Chuen means Harmony which is much more subtle and deep than other western 8’s (Like 8-Men or 8-Cauac), and even more so than all southern 8’s put together (8-Lamat, 8-Ahau, etc.)
As discussed above, the absolute midpoint of the trecena is stage 7. But it is not the center of evolution, nor its center of gravity. It is simply the dual divide-point of the current process. The midpoint of Nature and Evolution is “Left of center” in a manner of speech. It is Infinity (8), and the center of the universe – the heart. Therefore, in the standard uinal Oc is the 10th sign and Chuen is 11th i.e., center +1.
9-Eb: On the road again
Born on this day: Gary Peacock, Matisyahu, Speech (Arrested Development), Robert Downey Jr., Henry Goodman (British Theatre), Mark Hamill, Mickey Mantle
“Mr. Wendal, a man, a human in flesh, but not by law. I bid you dignity to stand with pride… Go ahead Mr. Wendal.” – Speech (9-Eb), Mr. Wendal
How nice it is to get a Road Map the day after the New Year has began!
10-Ben: Ripe corn
Born on this day: Plácido Domingo, Salman Rushdie, Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Joe Zawinul, Richie Havens, Kevin Spacey, Mel Gibson, VE day WWII, James K. Polk (11th US president), Louis Mountbatten, Lou Costello
“Remember those posters that said, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life”? Well, that’s true of every day but one – the day you die.” – Kevin Spacey (10-Ben) as Lester Burnham in American Beauty, 1999
How freakish is it that Freud and Jung are one and the same as far as the Tzolkin goes? And Salman Rushdie too? Boy, talk about some heavy-thinkers there. Just one glance at the list of distinguished gentlemen (couldn’t find famous ladies, sorry) who were born on 10-Ben, and you might begin to grasp what manifested destiny means.
Abundance has manifested today and I have a Reed, a conduit: to elevate all my work and action in this dimension into dreamland; to bring science fiction and fantasy from dreamland down to earth.
Destiny on the 10th stage means that the conduit between Heaven and Earth has become a reality (Jacob’s ladder). The leaders/Ladders born under the Ben sign (Like Obama, Ben-Gurion, Sarkozy, FDR, Menachem Begin) are well-known for their charisma, oratory skills, Dogma-with-impunity kind of preaching, authority, and amazing ability to sway the masses.
11-Ix: Beneficial magic
Born on this day: Chris Cornell, Bernard Sumner, Black Francis, Amelia Earhart disappeared, Moshe Sharett (2nd Israeli PM), Edward R. Murrow, Philip K. Dick
“And if the ground’s not cold everything is gonna burn, we’ll all take turns. I’ll get mine, too.” – Black Francis (11-Ix)
Here’s some of Bernard Sumner (11-Ix) and his band New Order.
When I was a very small boy very small boys talk to me Now that we've grown up together they're afraid of what they see That's the price that we all pay our valued destiny comes to nothing I can't tell you where we're going I guess there's just no way of knowing. - Bernard Sumner (11-Ix), True Faith by New Order
12-Men: Understand vision
Born on this day: Busta Rhymes, Michael Jordan, Ichiro Suzuki, Donald Rumsfeld, Adam Sandler, Peter Coyote, Susan Sarandon, Cary Grant, Leslie Nielsen
“It’s true what they say: Cops and women don’t mix. It’s like eating a spoonful of Drano. Sure, it’ll clean you out, but it’ll leave you hollow inside.” – Leslie Nielsen (12-Men) as Sergeant Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun, 1988
Stage 12 is associated with Depth of Understanding, and vision is bestowed by the eagle.
It is said that Men-types find fortune and luck in all their dealings. So, on the seed trecena of basic abundance, at the very last stage of the journey, the eagle hovers over the earth and understands how seeds become tree-trunks (Ben), and then with the magic of the jungle’s spirit (Ix) flowers blossom on the tree, and in turn get impregnated by vision (Men) and ripen to be fruits of wisdom (Cib), which bear a gazillion new seeds.
Here’s 25 great Sergeant Frank Drebin quotes, played to perfection by Leslie Nielsen (12-Men):
13-Cib: Transcending sanctity
Born on this day: Fergie (Black Eyed Peas), Rip Torn, Ty Cobb, Yair Lapid, Rupert Sheldrake
“You can look, but you can’t touch it, if you touch it I’m a-start some drama. You don’t want no drama.” – Fergie (13-Cib) My humps
Back to normalcy with the holiest and heaviest day of the abundance festival just concluded.
The fruit (stage 13) of the seed (1-Kan) is sacred as the legacy of all our mutual ancestors combined. On 13-Cib this ancient, undying energy is the essence that carries abundance into the future.
Here are my humps:
Another Time 