Xukulem (Day Keeper Ceremony) pa Wuqu' Kawoq

A cloth with the different colored candles that were used during the ceremony.

Wicha making sure the candles were placed correctly.

Clarice and Kate helping set up the materials needed for the fire.

Clarice, Claire and I focusing on the fire.

The daykeeper took my candles and touched them to my 13 joints during the part of the ceremony for my nahual (Toj).

After we all got back from Antigua, we had the opportunity to participate in a xukulem (Day Keeper's ceremony). According to the day that you were born, you have a number (1-13), and a nahual, which is a spirit that accompanies your soul in life. My day is Julajuj Toj, which means that my birthdate corresponds with the number 11, and my nahual is a Toj, which is a raindrop or a tear. It is said that the higher the number you have, the more strength you have.

During the ceremony, the daykeeper (aj q'ij) uses various materials, such as candles of different colors, incense, liquor, red soda, sugar, salt, rosemary, etc. Once the fire is started, he summons the ancestors to give the people participating in the ceremony guidance. For us, we asked our ancestors for strength as we continued to learn Kaqchikel.

As the ceremony proceeds, he goes through all of the different possible nahuales, and then names off the numbers 1-13 that correspond to each nahual. When your nahual is being summoned, you can toss your candles into the fire, or you can kneel and have the daykeeper take your candles and rub them all of over you, touching them to the 13 points of your body.

At other points in the ceremony, if you would like to put candles in the fire for a loved one, you are welcome to do so when that person's nahual is being summoned. For Brian's nahual, he is Waqi' Tz'ikin, which means that his number is 6 and his nahual is Bird. It is particularly interesting when the bird is summoned because everyone in the ceremony takes a handful of birdseed and sprinkles it over the fire while making a bird sound.

After having spent a year working to learn Kaqchikel, it was so beautiful to hear it being used in such a poetic way to summon the ancestors. However, what was the most amazing part of this particular ceremony was the fact that the day keeper sat with us after it was all over to explain what had just happened. According to him, our fire was very positive in that it indicated that we all approached the ceremony with open, pure hearts. The fire had several tornado-like swirls, which is the response of the ancestors. He told us that so far, there hasn't been any disturbance in our work and that our path is open. Now, we just need to continue to do good work, which ultimately depends on each of us.