8 Chuen (July 11, 2011)

The number 8 is highly auspicious. If 1 and 7 are the beginning and the end, then 1 + 7 = 8, making 8 a number of completion or wholeness, much like the number 4. This is why there is some sort of ritual for almost every 8 day, and why some extremely traditional communities have a special local shrine dedicated to the number 8. Of course, 4 + 4 = 8, so the wholeness implied in the number 4 is doubled here, as if the wholeness of the fourfold universe were seen from the viewpoint of both polarities: night and day, light and darkness, sun and moon, yin and yang. The number 8 has been said by Maya teachers to represent the weaving of life, the thread or cord of time. It is also sometimes said that the Mayan symbol for 8, a bar with three dots over it, has a symbolic meaning, with the three dots on top representing humanity and day, and the bar underneath representing Mother Earth.

CHUEN (B’ATZ’) MASTER OF ALL THE ARTS: Signifies weaving the thread of life, time, development, and movement. It is the nawal of all the arts, of weaving, of the artists. Upon this most auspicious day, we may voice our intent that all we have requested from the universe may be freely given to us. This day is sometimes called “Monkey,” and monkeys were the mythic patrons of the arts in ancient Mayan lore. This is an auspicious day for all artistic projects. In fact, it is an auspicious day to begin projects of any sort, for this day-sign also represents “the thread of life,” the weaving of the loom of existence. This is the best day upon which to be married.

The K’iche’ Maya of highland Guatemala honor this day, 8 B’atz’ (Chuen), as the beginning of the 260-day cycle of the tzolk’in. It is celebrated with a fiesta. Upon this day, shamans are initiated.