What are some of the key events that link this trecena specifically to the fate of the United States? And how do Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy factor into these events? The answer is that pivotal events associated with both of these US presidents, as well as “almost” president Hillary Clinton, have all taken place within this fire oriented, renewal aligned Ok trecena.

The last time this trecena was in place, last February, it was the first full trecena after Trump’s impeachment acquittal in a sham non-trial by the US Senate. It seems that Mother Earth herself was not at all happy about that acquittal as this trecena began with over a dozen reports of volcanic or seismic activity in various parts of the world, including a spectacular early morning eruption of the Popocatépetl volcano in Central Mexico.

Click here for the Podcast to accompany this trecena

Along with that acquittal came the question: “what amount of harm will he do between now (as in last February) and the November election”? The question was terrifying at the time, partly since dire warnings were being given regarding the potential spread of the coronavirus. But could anyone have possibly imagined the off-the-charts kind of havoc that has been wreaked since then through his gross ineptitude and vile callousness? How could anyone have possibly anticipated that the US would far outstrip the rest of the world in terms of the sheer number of cases of Covid-19 that would develop – or that over 235,000 (and counting) people in that country would die because of that ineptitude? How could anyone have projected that so many people would believe the lies that have been perpetuated on a daily basis through his administration even though people are dying by the hundreds in that country on a daily basis? It would be absolutely surreal if it wasn’t so tragic!

There were many times last February when it looked like this trecena might go off the rails completely as Trump made a number of “revenge” moves, but pushback was also significantly gearing up. Anti-Trump ads began appearing in key battleground states, to highlight how much harm the orange menace was doing to people across the country. Priorities USA Executive Director Patrick McHugh noted that their ads, for example, sought to show “the real negative impact that Trump’s policies, chaos, impulsiveness, and arrogance [were] having on people’s lives.” During that time 70 former U.S. senators begged Republicans “to do their jobs” and uphold the Constitution. On the very first day of the trecena more than 100,000 people published a petition calling for an investigation into what was going on in the Department of Justice, since Attorney General Barr was showing more interest in supporting the destructor-in-chief than working on behalf of the people. So battle lines were quickly drawn as this trecena got underway at that time.

And now, 260 days later, here we are, with this trecena bringing forth the long awaited US presidential election. So what are we working with here?

Traditionally the first day of this energy period was celebrated as an ancient Mesoamerican Feast Day of Renewal, oriented around the idea of guidance, justice, and the restoration of life. Indeed, there have been many times in the past when this is exactly what has happened. Thought of as being under the influence of Xipe Tótec, the Lord of Renewal, and Quetzalcóatl, Lord of Life, this trecena was seen as a time when a new sense of direction in conjunction with the energies of renewal come into play. It was symbolized specifically by Xipe Tótec who was generally depicted wearing a flayed skin, symbolic of the “sloughing off” of the old and the bursting forth of the new. One of the key symbols associated with this time frame is a dog holding a torch, bringing light into the darkness and showing the way.

What seemed to happen last February when this was in place was that the darkness was SO heavy and the injustices so pronounced that people came to the realization that it was essential for them to pick up their own torches and begin to work earnestly towards creating the changes that are so desperately needed. It was seen that light (and sanity), along with intense engagement and action, was greatly needed. And since this is a fire-oriented time frame that can often trigger such action, particularly with regard to injustices, the call-to-arms was heeded and the work began in earnest. . . . .  Shades of what happened during this trecena in 1973 when the US War Powers Resolution was passed to check the president’s power to commit the US to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress.

Fast forward to the early 1970’s and the darkness surrounding the Nixon era, which culminated in the Watergate scandal. It took two years to work through the mess, but ultimately during the summer of 1974 the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that President Nixon had to turn over the tape recordings of 64 White House conversations. It was the Ok trecena that accompanied the review of those tapes, including the discovery of “The Smoking Gun” tape that contained evidence of obstruction of justice. Articles of impeachment were then approved by the House Judiciary Committee, which brought forth Nixon’s resignation at the beginning of the trecena that followed.

And then came the summer of 2016 when Hillary Clinton made history during this time period by becoming the first female to be officially nominated as a presidential candidate by a major US political party. Four cycles ago, in early 2017, this same Ok trecena brought a huge alert from British, European and even Australian spy agencies to their counterparts in Washington about contacts between members of Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives. Evidence that incriminated Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort began to surface at that time. (He, of course, is now in prison.)

In terms of politics, one of the most hopeful touchpoints came during this trecena in 1961 at the time of John F. Kennedy’s inauguration as the 35th president, when he delivered his famous “Ask not what your country can do …..” address. But just four cycles after that this same trecena precipitated Kennedy’s horrific assassination. So overall this seems to be a trecena that has been known to bring very high points as well as very low points in terms of the US presidency. And now we come to the all-important 2020 election, on the fifth day of this energy frame.

At this time it might be helpful to keep in mind something extraordinary that took place just over eighty years ago during this trecena at a very, very dark point in world history. After Germany’s invasion of Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg during the first stage in the Battle of France British and allied forces were knocked back to the beaches of Dunkirk where they became trapped by the German army. For some “still debated” reason the Germans halted their advance on Dunkirk for several days near the beginning of the trecena, which allowed the Allies to organize an evacuation. As the call for assistance went out over 800 vessels, both large and small, raced to the rescue of over 338,000 Allied troops. It was a seemingly impossible situation that was turned around by the unselfish involvement of ordinary citizens who leapt into the breach to save the lives of all those men who were cornered in a hellish situation. The bravery and force of intent that went into this operation of rescuing those troops from the Dunkirk beaches became known as the “Dunkirk Spirit”.

This seems to be a perfect metaphor for what is both needed, and for what is happening at this present time – as ordinary citizens roll up their sleeves, stand in long lineups, and Vote, Vote, Vote! This is not only a battle for the soul of America, but also a huge call for the restoration of justice and sanity, compassion, and integrity. Lives are at stake – LITERALLY!

Keep in mind that the energies in place at this time are vigorously oriented towards the unshackling of the old, so this is a prime time to work with Xipe Tótec, the ancient Mesoamerican Lord of Renewal, and Quetzalcóatl, Lord of Life, Knowledge, and Culture who are the patrons of this time frame. These are the kinds of forces that can be called upon to push through the darkness towards new possibilities. With the energy of the first day of this time trame being specifically aligned with Love, Loyalty, Warmth, and Guidance, this is a great time to light those torches and do everything possible to eradicate the darkness that has been rampaging for far too long. Here are the energies that will be in play:

1 Ok (Oct. 30^th) “One Dog” – the “initiation of love, warmth, guidance” – an energy that was  thought to be associated with the idea of shining light on things previously unseen; an ancient Maya Feast Day of Renewal. This was the calendrical energy associated with an Aztec deity known as Xiuhtecuhtli, associated with the renewal of time and the creation of life itself. He was  sometimes depicted as Huehueteotl – the Old, Old [Fire] God. At this time the almost Full Moon can be seen in the early evening close to Mars. This is the day when France begins a nationwide lockdown as the Covid-19 cases in that country are now the 5^th highest in the world (albeit 8 million short of what is happening in the US).

As of this day it has been two cycles precisely since Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced that he was formally closing the Special Counsel’s office in the US and resigning from the DoJ to return to private life. As his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US election wrapped up, he confirmed that Russia did indeed launch a concerted attack to interfere with the election by hacking into computers and networks used by the Clinton campaign, stealing private information, and then releasing that information through fake online identities and through WikiLeaks. Although there were policies in place to prevent his department from charging a sitting president with a crime, he emphasized that his department did NOT exonerate Trump with regard to his connections to that attack.

As noted above, this is the energy that was in place during the summer of 1974 when the US Supreme Court ruled that Nixon had to turn over the recordings that included “The Smoking Gun” tape which contained evidence of obstruction of justice. Three days later the first of three articles of impeachment against him were passed, and he resigned shortly thereafter.

2 Chuwen (Oct. 31^st) – a dynamic type of energy traditionally aligned with creativity, and often involving some kind of “intense heat”, correlating at this time with Hallowe’en, and with the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, marking the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. In place at this time is a rare Hallowe’en apogee Blue Moon/Full Hunter’s Moon, the smallest and dimmest Full Moon of the year, with a Hallowe’en Full Moon only occurring once every 18-19 years. (The last one was in 2001.) This is also the day for the traditional Loy Krathong and Yi Peng celebrations across Thailand. At this time purification rituals involve floating small containers containing candles, incense sticks, and flowers on bodies of water to symbolize the letting go of past mistakes and negative thoughts. Loy = “to float” and krathong = “container”. The purpose of Loy Krathong is to enlighten the mind and bring good fortune.

This is also the 7^th global celebration of UN’s World Cities Day, with this year’s theme being “Valuing Our Communities and Cities”.

This is the 20^th anniversary of the launch in the year 2000 of veteran NASA astronaut William “Shep” Shephard, along with two Russian cosmonauts, on a journey to the International Space Station where they became its first crew, with Shepard serving as its first commander, beginning almost two decades of continuous human presence in low-Earth orbit.

In 1970 this was the energy in place when the Apollo 13 spacecraft landed safely, after a lunar landing was aborted after an equipment failure that made for an extremely hazardous trip. (The 1995 movie Apollo 13 tells this story of how the mission’s crew had to improvise in order to return home safely.)

At this point it has been two years since the release of the factual “Road Map”, the report of the indictment evidence that laid the foundation for President Nixon’s impeachment. In 1973 this was the energy in place when the US War Powers Resolution was passed to check Nixon’s power to commit the US to an armed conflict without the consent of Congress – overriding Nixon’s veto.  This Resolution was essentially an attempt by Congress to wrest back its warmaking powers that had, in Cold War conflicts from Korea to Vietnam, effectively been ceded to presidents acting as commanders in chief of the armed forces.

Note that as this is a solar force within a fire-oriented time frame, this energy can often trigger intense engagement and action, and at this point things are “red hot” with the US election just 3 days away.

3 Eb’ (Nov. 1^st) – the activation of “animating vitality”, a pathfinding/stream-of-consciousness type of force, coinciding with the beginning of Native-American heritage month and the start of the 25^th RNCI Red Nation International Film Festival (The Authentic Voice of American Indian and Indigenous Cinema), running Virtual Globally from Nov. 1-30.

This is All Saints’ Day and Dia de los Inocentes – the part of Mexico’s Day of the Dead festival that focuses on remembrances for the young who have died. The final day of the  celebration is the next day. Marigolds are prominent at this time in Mexico.

This day also marks one Calendar Round (52 years less 13 days) exactly since Yale university announced (in 1968) that it would admit women students. Currently this is when Daylight Savings Time ends.

4 B’en (Nov. 2^nd) – a “defining” energy associated with personal authority, at the time of a significant Jupiter-Saturn synod, on the 100^th Gregorian anniversary of the day when women voted for the first time in the U.S., at the time when the US Supreme Court (including the newly confirmed Amy Coney Barrett) resumes oral arguments.

As of this day it will be it one cycle exactly since more than 1,110 former Justice Department officials who served in Republican as well as Democratic administrations posted a statement calling on Attorney-General Barr to resign. The statement (issued last February) claimed that Barr’s witness tampering (and other) interferences had ‘deeply damaged the rule of law,’, as the officials noted that Barr’s actions, “and the damage they have done to the DoJ’s reputation for integrity and the rule of law”, in doing the President’s personal bidding required him to resign. [He didn’t, but his fate will be determined by this election.]

This 4 B’en energy has often been highly consequential in world history and US history, as seen at the time of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. And now, on the eve of this hugely important US election, it has been precisely 80 Tzolk’in cycles since that horrific day. This was also the energy in place when the first article of impeachment was approved against Richard Nixon in 1974, and this was in place when Hillary Clinton made history in 2016 by becoming the first female to be officially nominated as a presidential candidate.

Currently this is the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico and in many other areas, particularly throughout Latin American communities, although likely to be greatly scaled down this year due to the pandemic.  It is also All Soul’s Day, the third component of the Christian observances of Allhollowtide (the “time to remember the dead”), that includes All Saints’ Eve (Hallowe’en), All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day. Feliz Día de los Muertos!

And, as if there isn’t enough going on at this time already, this is the day when the asteroid known as 2018VP1 (aka the “Election Day asteroid”) is projected to come close to Earth, although NASA’s Center for Near Earth Objects says that this small asteroid is unlikely to hit our planet.

5 Ix (Nov. 3^rd) – a “precision” type of energy associated with mystery and transformation, and even rulership, coinciding at this time with the US presidential election. As everyone is aware, this is the  “battle for the soul of America”. As journalist David Smith wrote last year (in The Guardian) “The president’s attempt to win re-election through divide and rule tactics in 2020 is set to offer an unflinching look into America’s soul.” He made reference to a comment by Kurt Bardella, a former Republican congressional aide, who said that “Since the moment Trump entered on the political scene questioning the first black president’s birthplace, his only tool is racism . . . The American people have a simple choice: either you support racism or you don’t. We’re about to find out how racist America really is.”

This is happening with the number of Covid-19 cases in the US projected to be over 9.5 million by this time, with over 235,000 deaths. The global number of cases by this time will be over 47 million.

In 1919 this was the energy in place at the opening of the Paris Peace Conference for negotiation of treaty settlements after World War I, and then again in 1939 when Canada declared war on Germany. One cycle after that, in May of 1940, just over 80 years ago, this energy was in place at the start of the huge efforts to undertake evacuations from Dunkirk beaches.

6 Men (Nov. 4^th) – a “stabilizing” type of energy associated with the high vision of the eagle; six Tzolk’in cycles exactly since Hillary Clinton delivered her acceptance speech as the Democratic nominee for President at the DNC, with every expectation that she would actually be elected president. This is also the 40^th anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory in the U.S. presidential election of 1980, and the deciding point for the decision as to whether the US is staying in (or exiting from) the Paris Climate Agreement. A Democrat win means the exit will be stopped and the US will remain committed to the agreement. This is the fourth Gregorian anniversary of the historic day in 2016 when the Paris Climate Change Agreement officially came into effect as an international law, and the signing was deemed to be “irreversibile”. The US Climate Alliance has vowed to keep fighting the climate emergency.

7 Kib’ (Nov. 5^th) – a self-generating type of energy, often associated with engendering the kind of thought that can lead towards the restoration of order, coinciding at this time with the UN’s World Tsunami Awareness Day, part of a campaign to invest in resilient infrastructures, early warning systems, and education to help alleviate tsunami risks. This is also Guy Fawkes day (and Bonfire Night) in the UK, in remembrance of the “Gunpowder Plot” of 1605 when Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Palace of Westminster during England’s state opening of Parliament.

8 Kab’an (Nov. 6^th) – a “resurrection” type of energy associated with “evolutionary” movement, coinciding with the UN’s International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.

In 1961 this was the energy in place at the time of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, when he called for “high standards of strength and sacrifice”, and for “invoking the wonders of science”, as he called for unification to “undo the heavy burdens”. Near the end of his speech were the immortal words: “ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”.

9 Etz’nab’ (Nov. 7^th) – representative of “outwardly-projecting” flint, a “spark-oriented” (and even knife-edged) type of energy that can be quite dramatic and consequential – sometimes bringing something to a definite conclusion.   It has been one cycle exactly since William H. McRaven, a retired Navy admiral, former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014, who oversaw the 2011 Navy SEAL raid in Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden, published an article in WAPO in which he stated, with regard to the “improprieties” without consequence associated with the Trump administration that “As Americans, we should be frightened — deeply afraid for the future of the nation. When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil”. And that, of course, speaks to what this presidential election is all about. It is possible that the results of the election, including the mail-in votes, will be coming out around this time, if that hasn’t happened over the previous few days.

It has been four cycles since the launch of the Time’s Up Movement to fight systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood and beyond, and one Calendar Round (52 years less 13 days) exactly since the dreadful Farmington Mine disaster in West Virginia in 1968 that took the lives of dozens of miners and became the catalyst for a number of new laws that were subsequently instituted to protect miners.

10 Kawak (Nov. 8^th) – “foundational storm” – an energy associated with intense catalyzation as often can be seen and felt in major energy pushes or strong weather systems, exactly once cycle since a dozen towns in northern Italy went into lockdown due to the coronavirus last February, including Milan, where shops, museums, theatres, restaurants, schools, and universities were closed, conferences cancelled, and transportation systems reduced, after the number of cases rose to 300. Although such measures helped, the numbers in Italy by this time (currently) will likely be close to 700,000.

11 Ajaw (Nov. 9^th) – an “inspirational sun” or “inspirational enlightenment” Burner Day, coinciding with what is known as a Tun Shift in the Maya Calendar, as the Long Count date clicks over to 13.0.8.0.0.   This is Albert Einstein’s Maya birth energy.

12 Imix (Nov. 10^th) – a “gathering together” type of force oriented around new beginnings (often “cosmic”), coinciding with UNESCO’s World Science Day for Peace and Development, with this year’s theme being: “Science for and with Society”. On this day an online roundtable will be held on the theme of “Science for and with Society in dealing with COVID-19”.

At this point it has been one cycle since Trump claimed the Covid -19 situation in the US was “very much under control” (last February). Hmmm – will he studiously tune in to that roundtable? Don’t hold your breath!

This is the day scheduled for the Supreme Court hearing in the US related to the Affordable Care Act, where it is possible that 20 million people could lose their Health Care, if things were to go sideways.

13 Ik’ (Nov. 11^th) – transformational wind, breath, and spirit, this time coinciding with Remembrance Day (the 101^st after WWI) in Canada, and Veterans’ Day in the U.S. In parts of Germany this day is celebrated as St. Martin’s Day, and in China this is Singles’ Day (or Double 11), a celebration for singles, generally celebrated through games, entertainment, and ecommerce shopping – now seen as the world’s biggest shopping celebration, “the number one shopping day in the world”.

One cycle since the day last February when Nancy Messonnier, the CDC’s top official on respiratory diseases, warned the American people that “disruption to everyday life might be severe” due to the coronavirus, as she advised Americans to prepare for the inevitability of community spread. Trump was reportedly so angered by the comment and its impact on share prices that he angrily rebuked her department. Nevertheless, many took her advice and many large corporations and stock markets issued warnings. At that time San Francisco declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus, which enabled city officials to assemble resources and personnel to expedite emergency planning measures and boost the ability to deploy a rapid response to potential coronavirus cases in the city.

This is the Maya calendar energy that was in place 80 years ago during the final day (June 4^th, 1940) of the enormous Dunkirk rescue operation during World War II.

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[Please note that the brief descriptions of the days provided above are only “thumbnail sketches”. Much greater detail can be found in Manual for the Soul: A Guide to the Energies of Life.]