It was star energy that brought him into this world, superstar power that rocketed him to fame and made him a legend, enduring stardom that ensconced him indelibly within the hearts of millions, and a blackened star that accompanied his demise. He came from the stars, wrote songs and sang about the stars, painted stars, and ended his sojourn on this planet with a star-based gift to the world in the form of his final artistic production. Last year an asteroid was named in his honour and last week a seven-star asterism in the vicinity of Mars was registered in his name. This, of course, was David Bowie.

As described in a separate post, Bowie was born on a day known as Four Chuwen, the fourth day in this trecena. As we look at this energy in the context of this trecena we can see the significance of the trecena in terms of its influence on an individual’s life, as it is the trecena that propels the individual through life in a given direction.

In essence the birth trecena is the energy that acts as the “wind” under one’s sails. For David Bowie, this was Lamat. So Venus, the “star”, was his carrier – his “vehicle” for creativity and play.

As Four Chuwen born in the Lamat trecena, David Bowie was the “definitive artist”, expressing his “monkey creator” birth energy in endlessly inventive ways. He even played the role of Andy Warhol in the 1996 biographical film called Basquiat, the story of the rise to fame of a graffiti artist who became celebrated as a neo-expressionist.

As described on a BCTV newscast, Bowie was a “mad genius” who “pushed boundaries on multiple levels – music, fashion, art, social politics”; he was a musician, songwriter, actor, visual artist, and performance artist who had “an insatiable, never-dying curiosity about everything”. (Click here to read more )

A “signaller” kind of energy that can shed light on new possibilities, Lamat is a great attention-getter. The Lamat trecena opens with the Moon Goddess working in conjunction with the “divine” energy of Venus to usher in a time frame that can bring forth the kind of leadership that can shed light on new possibilities; a time frame traditionally seen as being associated with heralding change.

One of the major patrons of this trecena was a deity known as Xipe Totec, the ancient Lord of Renewal and Liberation. The other was Xiuhtecuhtli, the Lord of Fire and Time – a deity connected with time related change, as in cycle endings. Both of these deities have stripes painted on their faces. Both of these entities are oriented around the idea of setting the stage for new beginnings. So the end of this trecena will bring us to 13 Ajaw (“transformational sun”), the conclusion of the 260 day cycle that began last May.

In many Mesoamerican cultures Lamat was also seen as a Rabbit that can signal “warnings”, with the warning at this time being “let’s get ready for the new cycle that will begin immediately after this trecena concludes”.

Perhaps we should also keep the current Maya month energies in mind, as we have been aligned for over two weeks with the month known as Muwan, an owl-oriented month that was seen traditionally as being a propitious time for displays of strength, but also associated with the Underworld. This energy was “seated” (or initiated) three days before the death of Bowie, with its greatest strength coming in on Jan. 26th, which is 4 Chuwen, David Bowie’s Maya birthday.

The following day (5 Eb’) will be the “seating” of the month known as Pax, a “drum” oriented energy sometimes connected with jaguars and deep mysteries. Like Lamat, there is a “heralding” dimension to this energy, and this energy will continue into the next month and accompany the opening of the next 260 day cycle in early Feb.

At this time we also find that there is a rare planetary alignment in the predawn sky, with that alignment beginning last week and continuing through much of February. So as stargazers look for the Bowie asterism they will also see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn lining up in salute, for the first time since 2005.

A good telescope would also help stargazers to locate Comet Catalina as it races away. Its flypass of Earth at 68 million miles occurred on the same day as Bowie’s Blackstar album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making this his first No. 1 album. It brings to mind a recent comment by Dana Gillespie, a former girlfriend of Bowie, who told BBC Radio 5 Live that “he always wanted to be a kind of blaze of glory and stardust – this he has become.”

Overall it seems that this is a time to really pay attention, as changes can happen quickly under such influences, as occurred four cycles ago the start of this trecena with the inauguration of Pope Francis. Three cycles ago this trecena coincided with the last gasps of the 4.5 billion year old Comet ISON shortly after its dramatic rendezvous with our sun. Nelson Mandela also made his departure at that time, with his funeral held just before the trecena’s end. Two cycles ago One Lamat saw the staging of thousands of Russian troops on the border of Ukraine as they prepared for the invasion of that country at the mid point of the trecena, while the last appearance of this trecena coincided with a severe tornado outbreak in the U.S.

Other momentous “game-changing” events that have occurred under this influence include the discovery of gold in California in 1848; the assassination of Czar Nicholas of Russia and his family in 1918; the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, followed by the unconditional surrender of Japan at the end of World War II; the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953; the passage of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. in 1957; the first major Greenpeace event, in 1975; the completion of the deconstruction of the Berlin Wall in 1990; and the storming of Baghdad by U.S. forces in 2003. This is also the trecena within which dramatic changes in leadership have occurred.

At the present time the opening of this trecena coincides with the onslaught of a severe winter storm on the Eastern Seaboard, with states of emergency declared for many regions that anticipate freezing rain or blizzard conditions. Likely under sunnier skies will be the opening of the wonderful festival in Venice known as Carnevale, which carries on for over two weeks. Lucky are those who get to dress up and sparkle at this time. We may well ask if there will be any Ziggy Stardusts in attendance. Other special events that occur during this time frame include Robbie Burns’ Day and Quebec’s Winter Carnival.

Here are the energies that are coming into being:

1 Lamat (Jan. 23rd) – the “initiation of leadership”, a heralding type of energy that can point to new directions, this time coinciding with what is being termed an “historic” blizzard on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard and the opening of Carnevale in Venice

2 Muluk (Jan. 24th) – the “dynamic shape-shifting” energy of water, this in conjunction with the Full Moon (this one is sometimes called the Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, or Hunger Moon); three Tzolk’in cycles since the death of Nelson Mandela

3 Ok (Jan. 25th) – a Burner Day representative of the “activation of fire or (heart-fire), this time in conjunction with Robbie Burns’ Day, Nelson Mandela’s Maya birthday, the re-opening of Parliament in Ottawa, and the fifth anniversary of the start of the Egyptian Revolution. This is also the New Fire anniversary of the energy in place when the Beatles first arrived in the U.S. in 1964.  Five cycles since the announcement that CERN had discovered the Higgs-Boson particle; seven cycles since the start of the massive Groundhog Day Blizzard that severely impacted several U.S. states in 2011.

4 Chuwen (Jan. 26th) – a “defining” day associated with play (and sometimes mischief); a “time- weaver” type of energy that can be quite eventful, as it was 97 cycles ago when it ushered David Jones (later known as David Bowie) into this realm

5 Eb’ (Jan. 27th) – the “blessing” of restorative vitality; New Fire anniversary of the day when the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, an event that topped a list of “the 100 greatest rock and roll moments” in T.V. history

6 B’en (Jan. 28th) – representative of “personal authority everywhere”, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of Manitoba women receiving the vote. In honour of this the Manitoba government proclaimed January as Women’s Equality Month.

7 Ix (Jan. 29th) – a “self generating transformation” type of energy, as was in place in 2013 at the time of the national memorial service for Nelson Mandela; at this time this energy correlates with the start of the 62nd edition of Quebec’s Winter Carnival

8 Men (Jan. 30th) – a “resurrection” type of energy associated with the high vision of the Eagle; in 2006 this energy accompanied the formation of the huge North American Blizzard that dumped heavy snow on many eastern coastal states through to Atlantic Canada

9 Kib’ (Jan. 31st) – an expansive, “restoration of order” type of energy, sometimes associated with making “adjustments”, often with long term implications

10 Kab’an (Feb. 1st) – a foundational type of energy associated with the earth and evolutionary movement

11 Etz’nab’ (Feb. 2nd) – an “inspirational flint” type of force that can be quite dazzling and attention-getting, as happened during the summer of 2012 when Venus achieved her greatest brilliance under this influence in conjunction with an “extreme” X1.4 solar eruption. Maya birth energy of actor Christopher Reeve, who will long be thought of as “Superman”. Three cycles since the death of the extraordinary Peter O’Toole.

12 Kawak (Feb. 3rd) – the “gathering storm” energy that can provide a final big PUSH toward enlightenment

13 Ajaw (Feb. 4th) – “transformational Full Sun”, a day often filled with high drama and great change – and sometimes even great light, at the conclusion of the Imix to Ajaw cycle. Tzolk’in anniversary of the awarding of the contract for construction of the Space Shuttles Atlantis and Discovery in 1979; seven cycles exactly since the “moment of transition” in Egypt in 2011 when hundreds of thousands waited for the president to step down.

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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.]