The Serpent and the Jaguar: Living in Sacred Time
Author: Birgitte Rasine, foreword by Kenneth JohnsonPage count: 274 pages (cover to cover)
Book description:
Everything we do and the way we think is based on a linear conception of time. Our very ideas of life, success, and happiness are tied to a non-cyclical, non-organic paradigm that often works against our own nature and potential. The Maya live in a different world—close to nature, close to their children and their elders, and close to time: the sacred and the secular. It may seem we could not be further removed from the Mayan way of life, but there is a road built centuries ago we can still access. It’s called the Tzolk’in, the sacred ritual calendar the Maya have used since ancient times to guide their personal and spiritual paths.
For the first time, The Serpent and the Jaguar brings you the Tzolk’in and all of its 260 days interpreted in the context of modern life and modern challenges. This book will help you redefine your relationship with sacred, cyclical time in the face of our demanding, stressful schedules operating on linear time.
Included in the book are:
• The full set of the 260 Energies of the Day of the Tzolk'in
• Detailed descriptions of the 20 trecenas and their ruling day signs
• Detailed descriptions of the 13 numbers
• Introductory sections on the Mayan Calendar, the day signs, trecenas, and the numbers
• A guide to living with sacred time
• Original illustrations of the Maya day signs by New Zealand painter and artist Maree Gifkins (along with the traditional depiction of the day signs and numbers)
Author Bio:
Writer, journalist, poet, and producer, Birgitte Rasine is the creator of the well-known Mayan Calendar Portal community (@mayancalendarportal on Facebook and Instagram), aka the MCP. In her quest to make the sacred Mayan calendar more accessible to people everywhere, Birgitte consulted numerous Maya scholars including Ken Johnson and interviewed Don Rigoberto Itzep Chanchavac, a K’iche’ Maya Daykeeper in Guatemala. In addition to The Serpent and the Jaguar and its companion mobile app, MCP Mayan Tzolkin, Birgitte has produced numerous webinars and interviews about the Mayan Calendar and Mayan astrology, presenting to MCP audiences such experts and scholars as Kenneth Johnson, Dr. Robert Sitler, Maya author Gaspar Pedro González, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum.
Funds from the sales of The Serpent and the Jaguar and the mobile app directly benefit indigenous communities in Guatemala.
Birgitte also serves as the Chief Evolution Officer (CEO) of LUCITÀ Inc., a hybrid design and communications firm committed to sustainability. She holds a BA in Aesthetics of Film from Stanford University, studied cinematography at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, California, and completed a professional masters program in international relations at the Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset in Madrid, Spain.