18 - Etznab (Flint / Mirror / Pyramids)

[Myriel RAouine]

Etznab (Flint)

Written by  Uros Muluk

Native Names: ETZNAB [ets'nab], TIJAAX
Common Mayan Usage: knife, flint
Qualities: timelessness, discrimination, clarity, hall of mirrors, spiritual warriorship, sword of truth, facing shadow, integration of paradox
Symbols: mirror, sword, toucan
Number: eighteen
Color: silver
Element: air
Direction: north

Shadow Wisdom: illusion: judgment, self-doubt, separation; being caught in a problematical hall of mirrors;
thinking illusion has power over your ability to change your experience
Shadow Transformation: Look at the mirrors provided by other people and life situations as gifts. See how you maintain the illusions in your life. Use discrimination. Face your shadow. Look in the mirror. Wield the sword of truth in your life to release and forgive.
Harmonic Wisdom: dissonance

Mudra: alternating one arm at a time, reach out above the head; then cross arms diagonally in a downward sweep, as if the arms were swords cutting through illusion

Meditation: “I am the sword that is not a sword, which can cut away that which never really was; only a mirrored reflection of the truth beyond mirrors.”
Affirmation: “I am the truth beyond mirrors. I now step through the mirror into the greater reality.”

 

The Journeyer

Etznab represents the hall of mirrors, where you can face your own reflection and see the truth about yourself. As a mirror, Etznab merely reflects what is, whether truth, beauty or illusion. Here you can face unfinished business, the dissonance of difficulties, or charged issues that would keep you from the full expression of your Divinity. Become aware of any illusions or distortions within yourself; your clarity of perception will transform them. Take a moment to see yourself as you actually are, shadow and all, freed from the maze of mental illusion.

Sometimes you may find yourself reacting rather than freely responding to a situation or person. If you have charged reactions such as frustration, anger, fear, judgment or jealousy, look at how you might be projecting these issues onto someone else. The world is the mirror for you to truly see. Any strong reaction to a person or event signals an issue to work on in yourself. Be willing to examine and utilize what you see in your mirrors, in order to transform dysfunctional belief systems, negative thoughtforms, and fixed patterns.

In the hall of mirrors there is no good or bad, no right or wrong - there is only the reflection of what is. As you learn to see yourself, you begin to see your emotional reactions as signs indicating where to focus your awareness for growth.

On this quest, come prepared to face Etznab's sword of truth and purification. The wisdom of this sword penetrates, exposes, and ultimately heals your illusions. Discrimination tempered with love cleanly cuts away everything that does not serve your evolution. To the Maya, Etznab is the flint that hones your sword.

The greatest gift of the sword is the power of forgiveness. A profound freedom emerges from forgiveness, the releasing of the illusion of cause and effect. Use the great gifts offered in this blade of truth and light to forgive and release anything you may judge or see as imperfect.

To the Maya, Etznab is the knife that cuts you free from that which binds you. The sword of Etznab symbolizes truth, light, and the beneficial use of power - that is, power balanced with love and wisdom. As such, Etznab can be seen as a symbol of spiritual warriorship. In becoming a spiritual rainbow warrior, you choose to undergo apparent tests and trials - to temper your blade in order to bring forth great wisdom. You undertake initiation by the light, that you might fully fuse with your Essence Self.

Etznab's are able to clearly reflect others back to themselves once their own mirror is clear.

Etznab is an octave above Chuen, the trickster/fool. Here, at last, the cosmic joke can finally be appreciated and understood. And the joke, of course, is that you are already an enlightened being! Meditate with the star-glyph Etznab. Encoded within its pattern is an aerial view of a three-dimensional Mayan pyramid, the “interlock” of matter, the crack between worlds. Through meditation, you can unlock the mystery in this pattern of Etznab. Its star-glyph reflects the apparent duality of male and female, light and dark, happy and sad, ignorant and wise. As part of the Mind of Light curriculum, you have chosen to experience all of these positions in order to learn more about your consciousness.

At any time, however, you can choose to sit fluidly poised between any two polarized positions, becoming a third point above the linear patterning of duality. In so doing, you create a triangle of light that expands duality into a more open system. With further expansion you can create a multidimensional “pyramid” of light within which you are poised in the crystal clarity of the eternal now. In this time of transformation, the pyramid of heaven is touching the pyramid of Earth, and the crack between the worlds is widening. On the platform of this expanding present moment, heaven and Earth are merging as one.

The color for Etznab is reflective silver. Silver symbolizes the lunar intelligence of intuition and receptiveness, the mirrored illusions of duality and multiplicity. In the larger pattern, all things are reflections of the greater reality. Silver offers a glimpse of the Great Mystery, the reflection of things as they really are. To access the qualities and teachings of Etznab, utilize silver.

 

Shadow Wisdom and Transformation

Have you unconsciously created a reality in which you seem lost or confused? In this shadow, you may feel enmeshed in the illusions of the hall of mirrors. Remember that the only real power the hall of mirrors has is your belief that its grand illusions are real! On Earth, we presently live on a holographic playing field made of the elements of time and space. This field draws to itself the density and mass necessary to form a three-dimensional reality. All phenomena within it are images that appear for our learning and growth. Since each of us is a hologram of light within the larger hologram, getting lost in fear, judgment, and denial can certainly appear to be “real,” but it is really only an illusion. The essential mind is silent, still, empty - hence, incapable of getting lost.

The transformation offered in this shadow is found by being mindful. Meditate and pray for the reestablishment of your direct connection to Spirit. Become quiet and still. Imagine yourself floating timelessly in the center of the star-glyph Etznab, receiving divine wisdom. Cut away with clear discrimination. Forgive and release yourself and others. Enter into the timeless truth of the spiritual warrior.

Another shadow transformation of Etznab may be found in seeing yourself clearly in the mirrors of the world and other people. Using others as mirrors allows you to experience hidden truths about yourself. Ask for honest feedback from friends you trust. Risk hearing the truth about yourself. Openly observe the events in your life to see how they can be used to better understand who you actually are.

One of the most self-limiting illusions is the belief that one's own view of reality is the only one. This often causes the mirror of the world to reflect back to you your “unseen” shadow, and when you see this shadow, it can produce a judgment or reaction. Such emotionally charged situations usually have two poles or positions. When you believe that only you are right, both poles remain charged and fixed. For a moment, experiment with letting go or changing your position. As you loosen your hold and step aside, the “other position” or person is freed to change as well.

Understand that judgment and acceptance are two sides of the same mirror - the transparent mirror of ascension.

 

All above excerpts are taken from my most close-hearted spiritual guidebook, The Mayan Oracle – Return Path to the Stars by Ariel Spilsbury & Michael Bryner. Written in the true language of the One Heart, this is my most highly recommended book in the Universe to practice with!