Tijax translates to “obsidian blade” and “sacrifice” in the Mayan language. The black crystal, obsidian, is razor sharp yet delicate. It cuts through to the core, shearing away delusion, illusion, and disease.

This is the nahual of suffering and healing alike, and it represents both the warrior and the healer. It can be a challenging, double-edged sword kind of a day. Equally, Tijax days tend to illuminate the truth and encourage powerful healing.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin – all my relations.

I honor you in this circle of life with me today.

I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in this prayer.

To the Creator, for the ultimate gift of life, I thank you.

Before I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in March, I was pretty clueless about the condition. I soon discovered that intermittent fasting is an ideal way to treat insulin resistance and thereby lower one’s blood glucose level. Plus, it’s free and simple (though not necessarily easy, especially at first).

I inhaled The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally by Dr. Jason Fung. He outlines the causes and effects of diabetes in plain English and with a wry sense of humor. The fact that obesity is a hormonal imbalance, not a caloric one, was a revelation for me.

“Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.” ~ Gautama Buddha

In the Mayan cosmovision, Nahual Kan holds the secrets of the universe. It is represented by the deity Kukulkan—the feathered serpent—who plays an important part in the Mayan creation story. Kan helps us to connect with deep wisdom and awaken our consciousness.

Kan is our intuitive wisdom and natural intelligence, as well as deep emotion and energy. It can thus propel major upheaval and change.

“The traveler sees what they see, the tourist sees what they have come to see.”
~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

Where have you been? Where are you going?

Are you a tourist or a traveler in this life?

In the sacred Mayan calendar, there are 20 day tones or Nahuales. One of them is the Nahual E’, which represents the road and the path of life. It guides our inner and outer journeys to connect with our essence, and its totem animal is the roadrunner.

Kawok is the rainstorm, and the coming two weeks may bring a sense of inner turbulence that can feel like a tornado moving through your life. Eventually, the storm brings healing and soothes the soul.

The turtle is the spirit animal of this nahual. Kawoq is connected with the 13 moons in a year and the ancient wisdom of the divine feminine.

“If you can win over your mind, you can win over the whole world.” ~ Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Be careful what you ask for. My word for the year of 2023 is “clarity.” A wave of clarity hit me like a tsunami. In mid-March, I went to the gynecologist for a pap smear and, thanks to a blood test, found out that I have type 2 diabetes.

The news was a shock, and I struggled to hold back tears as I spoke with the gynecologist and then a general practitioner.