Peeking into the Way of Oc and Chuen

 Let’s peek into Oc and Chuen’s first story

The story of Oc and Chuen is a story which began coming alive  on an Eb day when my exploration of the Mayan Cosmos first began. 

There are twenty days making up Mayan Time. These days have energies and stories that inform how these people thought about themselves. Their sense of the way of the world unfurls through the people’s measurement of time, as practiced daily through their observation of their calendars .  Thus, these calendars holds their creation story, their values and their archetypes. Their behaviors and actions are prescribed to certain days. Eb's qualities as explained by Maya_Thought on Instagram are featured here and below

The ancient Maya were mathematically precise people who multiplied without dividing.  Much like the eternal expansion of the universe, they looked at wide ranging patterns repeating themselves thru multiples, rather unlike the Western sciences that dig deep into the division and fractions . 

 

Maya People, even today,  accept a flow of days, collectively derived, providing  common meanings from the archetypes of each daysign.  Modern Mayas have different names for the same energies and also use different associations of the day-signs with directions. I use the Classical Mayan name designations (which Yucatan Maya also still use) from the classical Mayan period that flourished until about 1000 AD in the area of Central America.  

There are twenty day-sign energies in every calendar . Oc - dog, and Chuen - monkey,  are the 10th and 11th day-sign in the Maya Long Count way of numbering the twenty day-signs, basic to all Maya calendars. 

The Tzolkin, a 260 day sacred calendar has thirteen rounds of the twenty day-signs gives us the stories and meanings there which reverberate in Maya world views to this day.

(chart from Kenneth Johnston)

We enter the story of Chuen and Eb during the 12th daysign, Eb, the road, the path and the way. It is a Native American concept closely resembling the Tao in eastern cultures. 

This story brings us into the center of the ten days in the twenty day creation story. Many people consider Chuen to be the first day of the human calendar - when we appear in the scheme of things.  We have the dog which is cosmic law  and guardianship walking with the monkey, who is seen in the light of civilized humankind and they are walking a road (Eb)  leading to community and common good.

The 13th day sign - and one should know the Maya revered 13 above all other numbers - is Ben. In this story the council meets each Ben (every twenty days). Ben is a concept of community, alters and family. It is represented by reeds and bamboo. These plants can be seen by the strength the massive entangled roots giving the community an ability to withstand the floods and storms while living on and near riverbanks. 

 Ik, the wind in the story, is the second day sign in the order of creation,  if one begins with the daysign Imix - and for these purposes, I do.  This story illustrates  or plays with the Mayan concepts of wind (Ik), dog (Oc - guardianship, law)), Monkey (Chuen which translates to artisan or craftsman and is associated with arts and culture),  the road (Eb) and Community (Ben).

I hope this helps. Light, Carole. (Ik Glyph with ancient tree shaped by wind, original art, Carole Dixon)