Things are on the move again, but the contrast is stark – millions being evacuated under dire conditions in Ukraine, and millions on the move in the U.S. in anticipation of Thanksgiving feasts. It is a portrait of extremes and excesses, which is not unusual for this time frame. The fact that the controversial World Cup, taking place in the extremely wealthy emirate of Qatar throughout this period, ties right in with this, as opulence is often on display during this period. Indeed, this particular tournament has been termed “The World Cup of Excess”. It has also been termed “the World Cup of Woe” over human rights issues associated with it.

It has now been one 260-day cycle since Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy gave a video address to British MPs in the UK’s House of Commons, at which time he evoked Winston Churchill’s most famous speech of defiance, in which he promised to “fight in the forests, on the shores, in the streets.” He even quoted Shakespeare’s: “To be or not to be?”  Ukraine, he said, had decided “to be free”. Throughout the trecena he gave many similar addresses to many other world bodies, and as a result a great deal of equipment and financial aid has been directed to Ukraine from various countries. Nevertheless, Ukraine still stands alone in its efforts to repel the brutal assaults from Russia. As this trecena opens, millions of civilians will be on the move through voluntary evacuations as they seek shelter elsewhere rather than remain in the recently liberated Kherson and Mykolaiv regions, since the damage done to those regions is so severe that survival could be jeopardized if they remained during the winter. But regardless of their destinations, millions still face the challenge of winter survival in a country whose energy infrastructure is under constant bombardment, with an estimated 40-50% of the energy grid either damaged or destroyed.

This stands as a stark contrast to the millions of Americans currently on the move and preparing for the warmth of Thanksgiving get-togethers. In the U.S. the good news is that Covid death tolls have dropped significantly and many are now travelling for the first time in three years.

As we go through this sequence of 13 days we are working with a time frame that is still part of the mythological “creation” sequence, tied in with the previous trecena, but with an emphasis that leans more towards Germination – the early stages of sprouting new possibilities. This trecena opens with One K’an, an energy tied in with the young Maya corn god who represents exuberance for life and the bounties of the earth (as does the lizard, the namesake for this trecena). Although this opens up all sorts of possibilities, the trecena overall can often manifest as a time of “testing”, as new ideas or ventures begin to take shape and the process of nurturing new endeavors begins.

In ancient Mesoamerica this trecena was seen as being under the patronage of a formidable deity known as the Itztlacoliuhqui, the God of Frost, often associated with coldness, punishment, and even blindness, sometimes seen as representing “blindness to the implications” of what others might have to suffer through harsh treatment.

There is a potential here for great bounty (in one form or another) to unfold. But there is also the potential for things to be jeopardized by “frost” or “blindness to realities” (metaphorical or “real”). In the U.S., we could see that very clearly four cycles ago (January, 2020) at the start of the dumpster’s first impeachment trial for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. We could see it three cycles ago (October of 2020) when the “super-spreader-in-chief” was either denying that there was a problem (even though over a million people had already died globally from Covid-19, and other countries were shutting down), or making extremely dangerous claims as he shut down all negotiations for a Covid relief stimulus package in the U.S. In each of those scenarios, and so many others, the dumpster’s Republican colleagues stood by and did nothing, “blindfolds intact and earplugs in place”, or actively worked to support the lies. The situation was perhaps best summed up by Carol Anderson, professor of African American studies at Emory University, who referred to Republicans as “suicide bombers aimed at our ship of state.” And now they are actively plotting ways to cause enormous chaos when they take over the House of Representatives in the new year, albeit by a narrow majority.

In some images relating to this trecena this “the God of Frost” patron deity is shown holding a broom, generally symbolic of the idea of “sweeping clean” whatever might endanger Germination, in order for new life to emerge. The general idea with regard to this patron deity is to carefully nurture, but not endanger, new opportunities, because if caution is not exercised, there could be disasterous results, as when this former Lord of the Dawn was turned into the God of Frost when the Sun shot an arrow back at him when he tried to engage in a shooting match with the sun.

The second patron aligned with this time frame (shown in the trecena image above), was known as Black Smoking Mirror, representative of the mysteries of the cosmos and “the fate of the earth”. And it is not difficult to see how key events that have happened during this period have set trajectories for “the fate of the earth”. In the past this trecena was in place when Napoléon Bonaparte proclaimed himself as Emperor of France in 1804, and when Hitler acquired dictatorial powers in 1933, and then became Führer of Germany the following year. But for both of these oppressors this trecena later brought a turn of the tide, as Napoléon was exiled to Elba during this trecena in 1814, and Hitler died at his own hands during this trecena in 1945. At that time the unconditional surrender of the German forces in Italy took place near the end of the trecena, along with the surrender of German forces in Berlin. Other key events during this time frame have included the “Saturday Night Massacre” related to Watergate in 1973, Mikhail Gorbachev’s election as Secretary General of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985, and Barack Obama’s acceptance as the Democratic candidate for the U.S. presidency in 2008.

So it seems that many leaders in the past have intuitively aligned themselves with that key idea of Germination that is characteristic of this period – jumping in and opening up all sorts of new possibilities. And given that a new Special Counsel has been appointed by the DoJ to oversee two major criminal investigations relating to the disgraced, twice-impeached, defeated former illegal occupant of the White House, it could well be that the highly qualified Special Counsel Jack Smith will become extremely influential in setting the trajectory for “the fate of the earth” over the coming months.

Keep in mind that this is a period where “big”, VERY BIG, things can happen – sometimes so big that they are almost incomprehensible. When this trecena was in place two cycles ago, during the summer of 2021, major discoveries were revealed about gross atrocities inflicted on indigenous children at Catholic-run residential school in Canada; US troops began their withdrawal from Afghanistan, with disastrous consequences; and BC was under an historic heat dome that was so intense that the entire town of Lytton was destroyed by fire. The last time this trecena was in place, last spring, the brutality of Russia was on full display as Russia reduced the city of Mariupol in Ukraine to rubble through a horrific bombing attack. During that same period South Korea suffered through an astonishingly high spike in Covid-19 cases, with hundreds of thousands of new cases every day. Over 342,000 new cases were registerd on the second day and then the count zoomed up to over 600,000 cases on the tenth day of this time frame, with South Korea surpassing 5 million cases at that time. But since then that figure has ballooned up to over 26 million cases over the past 260-day cycle. The day before this current trecena began over 72,000 new cases were recorded in that country, and dire reports were coming out of China regarding rapidly increasing numbers.

As we move through this period, energies of particular importance include 2 Chikchan (Nov. 24th), a dynamic “Lifeforce” oriented day that is coinciding with Thanksgiving in the US – which should trigger some lively discussions during get-togethers, and 8 Chuwen on Nov. 30th, the most auspicious festival day for K’iche’ Maya daykeepers. This is a sacred day oriented around the renewal of calendar traditions and the initiation of new daykeepers, but is also a special kind of force aligned with “weaving together” past and future to help the “new entity” (associated with the fate of the world) gain a foothold on the road of life, with that “road” being represented by the 9 Eb’ energies that come in the following day.

As we journey through this energy sequence keep in mind that whatever happens will be “planting the seeds”, and providing the groundwork for what is to follow. This is a period when sacrifices will have to be made to make room for new growth and new life. This may well require the abandonment of old ideas in favour of something new, fresh, and life-enhancing. As this trecena holds the potential to bring forth surprises it would be a good idea to exercise caution, care, and prudence with regard to anything that one might want to “germinate” at this time. Certainly, with vigilance, anything “planted” and carefully tended at this time could easily “sprout” into something strong and robust. Coldness and recklessness, on the other hand, could be problematic. Here are the energies that will come into play:

1 K’an (Nov. 23rd, 2022) – an “initiating” energy associated with germination (or even the creation of new abundance), coinciding at this time with the New Moon, with millions of people on the move on the eve of Thanksgiving in the U.S.

The connection between this energy and the idea of the “initiation of opulence” can also be seen in the national holiday which will be celebrated in Saudi Arabia on this day in recognition of the Saudi win over Argentina the day before in the World Cup playoff in Qatar.

It has now been one cycle since President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s impassioned address to British MPs in the House of Commons, the first of several such addresses to world parliaments during this time period this past spring, as he called for assistance to help defend Ukraine from Russia’s attacks. He has just announced that Ukraine’s government will begin creating special “invincibility centers” around the country to provide heat, electricity, water, internet, and pharmacy services free of charge and around the clock, to help people conserve energy during the winter whenever Russian strikes knock out power.

It has been three cycles since One K’an in early October of 2020 when a group called Covid Survivors for Change (a network of coronavirus survivors and victims’ families) set up 20,000 empty chairs on the lawn facing the White House to represent the more than 200,000 people who had died by then from coronavirus in the US. That was marked as a national day of remembrance. Now, 780 days later, the number of registered deaths from Covid in the U.S. alone is over 1.1 million, with over 6.6 million deaths globally. France, Germany Japan, and South Korea are still recording tens of thousands of new cases daily.

2 Chikchan (Nov. 24th) – “dynamic lifeforce”, coinciding with Thanksgiving Day in the US.  This marks three years since Italy’s first nationwide covid-related lockdown began, which lasted for over 2 months.

3 Kimi (Nov. 25th) – the “activation of death/absolute foundations”, seen in Maya creation mythology as the day when “the first death” was “invented”. This marks four cycles exactly since January 2020 when a 35-year old man in Washington state, who had recently returned home after visiting family in Wuhan in China, became the first person in the US to be diagnosed with Covid-19. At that time the first confirmed case was reported in South Korea and China began warning the world about the coronavirus. But despite China’s recent “easing” of some restrictions, severe restrictions are still taking place in some areas, as cases in China have been increasing rapidly (253,000 over the past 3 weeks, according to Bejing). Just 4 days ago Guangzhou imposed a strict lockdown on 3.7 million people.

Three Kimi was also in place in 1918 when a U.S. public health report was released about severe cases of influenza (Spanish Flu) that had broken out at an army base in Kansas several days earlier. This became the trigger for the deadliest pandemic in human history.

Currently this is National Philanthropy Day, Native American Heritage Day (part of NA Heritage month), the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and Saint Catherine feast day, with Saint Catherine seen as the patron saint of students, philosophers, and unmarried women.

It is also Black Friday, which used to be the biggest shopping day of the year in the US, but much of this is now done on-line instead. Increasingly, this has become known as Buy Nothing Day, an international day of protest against consumerism.

4 Manik’ (Nov. 26th) – a “defining” energy associated with reciprocity and the energy of deer – a kind of harmonizing energy connected with the natural world, but there is also a strong “sacrificial” aspect to it. In combination with the solar energy of the number four this is a “double sun” type of force, as the deer was seen as an embodiment of the sun.

This is the 100th anniversary of Howard Carter’s first look at the interior of the tomb of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen in Egypt. It is also rock superstar Tina Turner’s 83rd Gregorian birthday.

This is the Maya birth energy of George Floyd, whose death sparked the widespread Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

5 Lamat (Nov. 27th) – a “blessing” type of energy associated with Venus, which can serve as a beacon or herald, although Venus is hidden by the Sun’s glare at the moment. Ths is the First Sunday of Advent.

This marks three years since environmental scientists warned (on 1 Eb’) that the world may already have crossed a series of climate tipping points, posing a risk that is “an existential threat to civilization”, putting us into “a state of planetary emergency”. That was when they called for urgent international action – and yet, even though COP27 had now ended, there are still huge obstacles to be overcome to reach the targets that are needed to phase out fossil fuels and deal with the other requirements needed to reduce this threat. That warning 3 years ago came in just a few weeks before the coronavirus was identified.

Five Lamat was the energy in place in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his prophetic speech about being a “drum major for peace”. This is also the Maya birth energy of the intrepid Brian Wilson, musician, record producer, and co-founder of the Beach Boys, who celebrated his 80th birthday five months ago, and is still going strong!

6 Muluk (Nov. 28th) – the energy of the six directions in conjunction with the purifying or shape-shifting energy of water, coinciding at this time with Cyber Monday, as millions of Americans are on the move again, after Thanksgiving weekend.

This marks precisely four Tzolk’in cycles since the city of Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, was put under quarantine lockdown (in the biggest lockdown in world history at that point) in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus. It was put under lockdown again one month ago after a third straight day of more than 1,000 new covid cases nationwide.

7 Ok (Nov. 29th) – translating as “self-generating” love, guidance, and/or loyalty, coinciding at this time with Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving that “unleashes the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world”.

On this day the “power of people and organizations” can be seen in the opening of the “In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930’s” exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid, supported by Museums for Ukraine, to protect and celebrate Ukrainian cultural objects and collections, highlighting one of the efforts being made to save Ukrainian artworks from the carnage being inflicted on that country by Russia. (As of Nov. 21st UNESCO has verified damage to 218 sites, including religious sites, museums, monuments, libraries, and 78 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest in Ukraine, by Russian attacks.)

This is the UN’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This includes events that aim to educate the public on the question of support for a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is also International Jaguar Day, highlighting conservation efforts to preserve and protect this amazing species. Note that there is also a World Jaguar Day, celebrated in April.

It has now been eight cycles since the dramatic hearing before the US House Intelligence Committee in early 2017 when former FBI Director James Comey told that committee for the first time that the FBI was investigating the possible collusion between the dumpster’s campaign and Moscow – the first time a seated president had been under FBI investigation. Five cycles ago (in early 2019) a petition was delivered to Congress on behalf of a number of activist groups such as MoveOn, Democracy for America, and the Courage Campaign, that contained 10 million signatures that called upon lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against him.

8 Chuwen, aka 8 Batz’ (Nov. 30th) a “resurrection” type of energy associated with play, creativity, and “time weaving” – a highly auspicious day for the Maya, as this is the time when K’iche’ Maya daykeepers celebrate the renewal of their sacred calendar traditions and initiate new daykeepers. Today marks 14 Tzolk’in cycles since 12:12:12 (Dec. 12, 2012), just before the completion of the last Great Cycle of 5,125 Gregorian years on Dec. 21, 2012.

This is the day for the Aurora flight launch from Spaceport America, part of the Celestis Memorial Space Flight program, at which time cremated remains of selected people who have been dedicated to space exploration will be launched into space. This also marks the end of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

This is the Maya birth energy of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Let’s hope he had something to celebrate on this day. Happy Maya birthday President Zelenskyy.

9 Eb’ (Dec. 1st) – “outward projecting stream of consciousness”, or “outward projecting road”, an energy that could also translate as “immortal healing”, coinciding with World AIDS Day, which provides “an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, to show support for people living with HIV, and to commemorate those who have died from an AIDS-related illness”, with this year’s theme being “Equalize”.

This is the day when French President Emmanuel Macron will attend Joe Biden’s first White House state dinner, highlighting ties between the U.S. and France.

10 B’en (Dec. 2nd) – “foundational personal authority”; symbolic of the full authority of maize, this is a strong “pillar” type of energy representative of strength, inner power, and self determination, coinciding at this time with the UN’s International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, which (according to the UN’s website) is still a major worldwide issue, with over 40 million people worldwide still existing in slavery. It is also World Computer Literacy Day, and World Pollution Prevention Day.

This is the Maya birth energy of celebrity chef and humanitarian José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, whose organization is currently serving thousands of fresh meals to Ukrainian families in need, both within Ukraine and in neighbouring countries that are working to help refugees, as well as in other areas that have been hit by disasters.

This is also the Maya birth energy of Nostradamus, the 16th century seer whose predictions helped to fuel speculations about the “end times”.

11 Ix (Dec. 3rd) – “inspirational magic” in conjunction with the jaguar and the mysteries of the earth, coinciding at this time with is the UN’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The UN indicates that there are some one billion people with disabilities worldwide, 80% of whom live in developing countries.

Two cycles ago (last year) this was in place when 15 tax related criminal indictments, including federal fraud, conspiracy, and grand larceny, against the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg were unsealed in a New York court. It is likely that the related trial will come to an end around this time, as Weisselberg attempts to assume the burden of guilt. However, note that just before this current trecena began a New York judge scheduled an October 2023 trial for Trump, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James accusing them of fraudulently overvaluing the real estate company’s assets and Trump’s net worth. James called the extent of the fraud “staggering.”

This is the Maya birth energy of New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author of 27 books, including “The Great Republican Abdication –A party that no longer believes in American values”.

12 Men (Dec. 4th) – a “gathering together” type of energy associated with the high vision of the Eagle – four cycles exactly since that day in January of 2020 when the head of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme said that the “whole world needs to be on alert”. At that point entire cities in China were under shutdown (as they are at this current time).

Currently this is the World Wildlife Fund’s Wildlife Conservation Day

13 Kib’ (Dec. 5th) – a transformation-oriented energy aligned with the ability to “fly high”, survey, and ultimately restore order, coinciding at this time with International Volunteer Day.

Note that Kib’ is an energy that can often force people to think differently, with 13 Kib’ often pushing particularly hard, often compelling people to take some kind of direct action. That was certainly the case four cycles ago, at the end of January 2020, when the WHO declared a global health emergency with regard to the coronavirus outbreak. By that time, from the epicentre of the outbreak in Wuhan, the virus had spread across China to at least 16 countries globally, including Thailand, France, the US and Australia. It was the beginning of a global catastrophe that has since taken the lives of over 6.6 million people, one-sixth of whom lived in the U.S. By this time the total number of registered cases will have reached close to 650 million globally.

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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.]