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Galactic Butterfly Activation – New Sacred Tattoo Design
Another amazing journey into the realm of sacred tattoos comes to closure. I have a special affinity to this one, as it shares a symbol I wear on my own “Spiritual Skin” – Hunab Ku, otherwise known as the Galactic Butterfly.
And so it is, that I was honored to bring to life the Galactic Butterfly’s Realm in my own interpretation for a sacred tattoo. I got to play with this in my painting, “Spirit” – part of my “In Lak’ech” series, but was excited with the creative challenge to focus on an alchemical infusion for sacred body art.
I even have a sore thumb where it connects to my hand and into my forearm, from focused work on this piece. Another reason I spread my work out, as it is important to keep my “tools” – hands in tact for all of the healing arts work that they do. Yes, even artists and healers have work challenges they need to be mindful of and keep in balance, otherwise we can’t work! And that includes our ability to take care of our needs first, so we have more to give – something important for everyone.
But back to this sacred body art, I was just so excited by what channeled through and its timing of completion comes right before I go in tomorrow for my own sacred piece and celebratory closure of my tattoo journey. Love that this is the piece sending me off! Hunab Ku – One Giver of Movement and Measure. My very first two tattoos were a butterfly and this symbol. 😉
This piece is a counterpart to another sacred piece I had already co-created with my client (pictured left). This one will continue moving the energy up and through her Chakras and into the wholeness of that completion, illumination, activation, channeling the Divine Feminine, bringing harmonic balance, and anchoring authentic truth, power, and freedom that was intended.
It is intended to sit at the upper back and will start from the bottom of the neck/throat Chakra (the tip just reaching up over the back of the collar bone) and then flowing down and coming to sit somewhere mid-back. The design will flow over the Throat, Higher Heart, and Heart Chakras, and draw energy into the Solar Plexus, where the other design is also drawing up into. It is quite large at about 14 inches long from top to bottom and at the widest area at the bottom where the Lotuses are, it’s about 13 inches wide.
The elements that came through include, as shared, the Mayan Hunab Ku at the top – the Galactic Butterfly, which I channeled into my own interpretation of its magnificent Cosmic essence – creating an organic petal or flame like opening at top of its wings. Could be both Sun and Moon energy in the top portion of design as well.
Then three, 7 pointed Star Lotuses as that Trinity energy, as well as an interpretive 7 pointed Faery Star – also known as the Pleiadian Star and gateway to the Otherworld. They are guarded by two graceful butterflies that come from the realm of the Galactic Butterfly and signify also transformation, celebration, transition, lightness, soul, time, grace, elegance, freedom, joy and bliss, miracles, flexibility, cycles of life, creativity, gentleness, preciousness of life, as well as the medicine the ability and clarity of mind needed before self-transformation.
The energy from the Star Lotuses flows down into organic Lotuses of the Earth – bridging Cosmos and Earth. And these Lotuses are surrounded by water for that flow with the sea of life and ability to change with grace.
Down the center, the Galactic Butterfly’s bottom winged energies flow into an Infinity energy (mirroring my client’s other piece and keeps the energy moving up and down) through the third Star Lotus that then turns into the water below. I worked in some similar flows from the other piece, so they work in balance and some of this design will likely be stippled like the other in some of the areas, which will tie it in and look ethereal and lovely.
Under the center Star Lotus, is my interpretation of a cosmic Bee or Queen Bee, if you will, that came through.
Bee symbolizes understanding female warrior energy, connection to the Goddess Diana, reincarnation, the power of community and harmony, importance of our place in the collective, productivity, service for a greater good, concentration, prosperity, fertility, and sexuality. The Bee is also a symbol for accomplishing the impossible and anything you put your mind to, as aerodynamically its body is too large for its wings and should not be able to fly.
The Bee reminds you to extract the honey of life (that empowerment of fun, joy, opening your heart to the epitome of love and life and to life fully and uninhibitedly). The Bee also makes our lives fertile with ideas, creativity, and productivity with the promise of fulfillment if we pursue our dreams. Its honeycomb, a hexagon, is the symbol of the heart and represents the sweetness of life found within your own heart and is also the symbol of the sun and its energies. The Bee reminds you to savor the honey of life, do all you can do to make your life fertile and examine your life to make it more efficient and supportive.
The Bee also is a strong symbolism of the circle of life and balance that they create, as such an important part of our ecosystem. Bees are also considered messengers of the Gods and are associated with the Sun and the Goddess according to Druid beliefs. In Hinduism the Bee relates to Vishnu, Krishna, or Kama. In Egypt, the Bee symbolized royalty. In Greece, it was the symbol of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Celts associated the Bee with hidden wisdom.
I am always in awe of what channels through and this, to me, is simply alchemical magick.
Don’t forget February’s Offering of the Month, which is a Sacred Tattoo Special:
You have the opportunity to receive a FREE signed and inscribed copy of my book, “Spiritual Skin”, along with a FREE Reiki Healing Attunement for activation of your intentions that the tattoo will help you to embody, when you commission a sacred tattoo design this month. An $85 value.
Plus one person this month will receive 1 hour of sacred design work FREE (a $175 value) by sharing with me what sacred tattooing means to you and how you feel that your design will be supportive for you. I will pick one person from the entries, which can only be sent in until February 14th – that’s only 4 days away. I will then read through what is submitted and choose one person based on the content you share – not compared to anyone else, but in terms of reflection and depth expressed.
If you would like to partner in co-creating your own sacred visionary piece of artwork or tattoo design to embody the empowerment you desire, you can contact me at tania@spiritualskin.com.
There is currently a waiting list. You can easily make your deposit at the link provided to embark on this journey in partnership with me.
For more information about the process and pricing please visit: What is a Tattoo Design Consultation
To enjoy a visual journey of some of the sacred tattoo designs I’ve had the honor and privilege of co-creating, please visit: Spiritual Skin for my YouTube video.
Some people have preferred to read my book, Spiritual Skin ~ Sacred Tattoos: More than Skin Deep, especially if they are new to sacred tattoo designs, before embarking on this journey.
If you are drawn to learn more about sacred tattoos you can order a copy of the book here: Spiritual Skin
It is also available in Kindle format here: Spiritual Skin
You can also order your personal copy here: Signed and Inscribed Copy of Spiritual Skin
12/12/12 – My Thoughts for You
Galactic Butterfly – Hunab Ku close up from my painting “Spirit” from the In Lak’ech series
Today is the first stargate of the month – 12/12/12 – which provides energies of intense purification for renewal and creating new realities. I will be taking time today to go within and create my own sacred ceremony for personal and collective integrative healing support, along with supporting several people who had joined in on my offer of a Reiki Healing Attunement on this powerful day.
Last night, as I was finalizing some preparations for the group joining our upcoming Bimini journey over 12/21/12, I was guided to write a few words to share with them. This morning I feel guided to share some of them here as well, as they speak to all of us I feel:
I wish for all of you to have a beautiful 12/12/12. If you are able to spend some time within, in meditation, or doing something intentful in the way that resonates for you, this would be of great benefit, not only to yourself, but collectively, and in preparation for the journey ahead that we are taking together, as we walk through the next and final gateway of 2012, on 12/21/12.
Now, up until, and on 12/21/12 is an opportune time to feel your strength, center in your heart, find balance in your life, anchor and ground, be ready for clarity, reveal truth, and be willing to free yourself from fears. Your courage to face them and release them will reward you tenfold for the experience you are intentfully creating.
Make a commitment to be one with and honor your Higher Self through your heart center. The voice of truth and wisdom is always in your heart and your intellect will teach you the discernment. This centered mind/heart connection is the key to understanding how to reclaim your power.
Your attitude towards responsibility will shape your experiences and have an impact on the synergy of personal and collective coming together in service to all of humanity and all of creation.
This is a powerful experience that each of you have chosen to embark on and you will be walking your path with higher vibrations at the culmination of it.
I am heart and soul grateful to be walking this experience of life on Earth at this time, with each of you, and honor your courage to embrace this journey. It means a tremendous amount to me to be assisting such a powerfully transformative time in human evolution and in the evolution of Earth in this divinely Cosmic unfolding.
You have everything you need within you. You are unlimited.
In Love
Tania
Sacred Bone, Tattoos and Stones: Mayan Portal Mysteries Unraveling
My sacred tattoos, including Hunab Ku (Galactic Butterfly) on my sacrum at bottom
I’ve been receiving a lot of intuitive nudges on the sacrum and coccyx, both literally and energetically. With my own experiences in having sudden pains over the last several months in that area (physically due to a fracture of the tailbone I had about 11 years ago, but energetically linked to much more), hearing from a few others on issues or focus on this area, and even clients and friends getting sacred tattoos on their sacrum, it all started to hit me again, as to the significance of this region. I then was reminded about the connections that had taken place for me about 8 years ago and how it all is energetically linked with the now.
March 5, 2004 I got my second sacred tattoo. It was the Hunab Ku symbol (or Galactic Butterfly, as it’s also known).
This symbol is called the Galactic Butterfly which is said to represent all of the consciousness that has ever existed in this galaxy. This is all of our physical ancestors both human, animal, reptile, fish, shell fish, plants as well as the consciousness which organized all of the raw material from a whirling disk into stars then planets and solar systems. Big Meaning. So big that the original Maya had no symbol for this. In their civilization it was like having no name for God. Just knowing the concept was good enough. Later this pattern was devised by Toltec or Zapatec weavers as a pattern for blankets and this is where Jose Arguelles came across it. He called it Hunab Ku. The indigenous peoples call it “The Galactic Butterfly”. Butterflies are seen as ancestors returning for a visit to physicality. Wearing one of these symbols is very powerful as it broadcasts your reaching to actively join the consciousness of our galaxy. ~ Ian Xel Lungold
I was intuitively drawn to place this Galactic Butterfly on my sacrum. At that time in my life, everything was just intuitive for me in what I did. I would then come to see later, the significance and reiteration of why I would be drawn to certain things. And right after I got this tattoo, a whole unraveling started to take place, as I also got my first computer and was able to do research and uncovered deeper meanings to so many things that were emerging in my life at the time, including this tattoo, the placement and the paintings that started to channel. I had opened a doorway that created a flood of energy , experiences, and information into my life in new ways from that point on. The symbol itself, Hunab Ku, had come to me while I was in a bookstore with my brother after getting my first butterfly tattoo, by just being drawn to a book where it was in and I had always had in back of mind that if I ever got another tattoo that that would be it. That was like somewhere near 1998-2000. And then several years later it emerged, after staying with me all that time.
What I discovered, alongside the meaning of this symbol, was also the significance to my own life and soul history and path, as well as the connection with the sacrum bone.
As I shared in my book, Spiritual Skin:
Brian Stross’ “The Mesoamerican Sacrum Bone: Doorway to the Otherworld,” addresses in great depth some of what I came to realize about the potency of my placing the Mayan Hunab Ku (otherwise known as the Galactic Butterfly) on my sacrum. He states:
The sacrum bone has been viewed by some cultures as a “sacred” bone, and been seen as related to reproduction, fertility, and reincarnation. … “in Mesoamerica the sacrum represented one index of the more generalized but variously manifested ‘portals’ or doorways permitting translocation of shamans, spirits, and deities between worlds or levels of the cosmos.”
Brian Stross continues to share:
In Mesoamerica the sacrum, along with closely associated bones, is apparently seen as sacred in some Indigenous societies even today, though surely less so now than in earlier times. The name “sacrum,” designating the more or less flat bone with eight holes located at the base of the spine, comes directly from Latin os sacrum, meaning ‘sacred bone’. Sugar points out that while most bone names readily reveal their origins, it has long been a mystery why the sacrum bone (os sacrum) should be called the “holy bone.” “That it is a translation from the Greek hieron osteon merely pushes the inquiry back from the first Latin use in about 400 AD to the time of Hippocrates (about 400 BC)” (1987:2061). Following the trail through several explanatory hypotheses about the origins of the name sacrum, Sugar introduces evidence that the sacrum in tradition was the bone necessary for resurrection, identifying it as the “almond” or luz of the Hebrews and the ajb of the Arabs, and ultimately deriving its conceptual underpinnings from the ancient Egyptians (1987:2062‑2063).
Upon finding that some Mesoamerican Indian languages also named this bone with words referring to sacredness and deity, one may well ask why societies distant from one another refer to the sacrum as a “sacred” or “holy” bone. Presumably such naming practices reflect independently, rather than through diffusion, the cultural importance of this bone, and one can suggest plausible explanations, based on observational logic, for its being termed “sacred.” The word “sacred” for our purposes can be defined as “worthy of veneration, reverence, and respect on the one hand, and protected by tradition and ritual against symbolic or actual abuse on the other.”
The sacrum bone is, among other things, the fulcrum of support for the human torso, and as such is well designed to take great physical stress. It is what we sit on, and by sitting we place ourselves at rest in a position that can be maintained without significant movement for long periods of time. Perhaps more importantly from perspectives of symbolism and cultural importance, it is located next to the reproductive organs, which are of utmost significance for the species as well as the individual, and are surely of great significance in most if not all societies. In its proximal location, the sacrum could well be thought to share significant qualities with the reproductive organs, and even to transport material from the brain to those organs.
Several cultures around the world assume that the sacrum participates directly in procreation by channeling seminal fluid through the spinal column to the penis, most notably ancient Egyptians and some cultures of India. Its location on the body and the formal similarity of spinal fluid to semen provide an observational basis for these conclusions. Even Leonardo da Vinci, with such a fine grasp of human anatomy, must have made a similar assumption, for he placed in his drawing of a human male a seminal duct leading from the sacrum at the bottom of the spinal cord to the penis (Huxley 1974:64).
Sacredness of this bone is also related to a belief found in various parts of the globe that the sacrum is the “resurrection bone” from which residual raw material remaining after death a person will be reborn, presumably by attracting the spirit residing within. This notion may spring from the observation that as an especially hard bone, the sacrum resists disintegration through time, and is often among the very last visible remains of a body that has been left on the ground or that has been unearthed long after burial. A rational basis for attaching importance to the sacrum bone can thus be constructed from empirical observations and conclusions underlain by a kind of observational logic.
Stross goes on to share some fascinating insights and research presenting the ritual and symbolic significance of the sacrum in Mesoamerica and its place in conjunction with a shamanic world view. His findings also present things pointing to the fact that:
…the sacrum as a focal part of the pelvic girdle represents a metaphor for the cosmic portal linking this world with the Otherworld while emphasizing the generative or (pro)creative aspect of the life cycle, just as the jawbone as a focal part of the skull represents another metaphor for the cosmic portal, but one emphasizing the analytical or destructive aspect of the cosmic cycle.
He then continues with a discussion of the human pelvis in shamanic worldview:
A pillar of five fused sacral vertebrae within the pelvic girdle supports and balances the human torso. This pillar, the sacrum, is attached to four more fused vertebral bones together called the coccyx, but otherwise known as the tailbone. The sacrum (or the sacrum and the coccyx together) is a pivot, a support, and a focal center in the human body….Some Mayan names for pelvic bones or for the rump region suggest that the procreative area of the human body was in the past identified by Mayans as a figurative “fire” composed of the coccyx surrounded by figurative pelvic “hearthstones,” three being the traditional number of stones in the Mesoamerican hearth. Two of the pelvic “hearthstones,” the hipbones, are similar in form, like mirror images, while the third, the sacrum, is different. The pelvis, so closely connected to the creation of new life, somewhat resembles a skull and shares other features with the skull…
Dictionaries of Indigenous Mesoamerican languages do not often include words for sacrum or coccyx for understandable reasons, but there are a few that do, and related concepts such as Spanish rabadilla ‘coccyx, lower extremity of vertebral column (including that of a bird)’ and rabo ‘tail, hind end’ can sometimes be found when the more explicit form are not available. In those Mayan languages for which we have translations of sacrum and coccyx, the words usually relate the sacrum to notions of ‘god’ and ‘sacred’, while the coccyx is related to ‘fire’. For example, Yucatec Maya has a word for sacrum, k’ul, which also means ‘sacred’ and ‘holy’ (Barrera Vasquez 1980). Itzá Maya has the word k’uul ‘hip, tail bone’ (Hoffling and Tesucún 1997:402), which surely derives from the Itzá root k’u ‘sacred, holy’.
The Tojolabal Maya word for sacrum s‑bah h‑wawtik (literally “sacred image, sacred self”) is based on the verb wawtikan ‘to worship, deify,’ and ultimately derives from the root waw ‘man’ (Lenkersdorf 1979 (2):666; (1):395).
In Choltí Maya data limitations render uncertain what the word xun‑xun means besides ‘coccyx’, but in a near linguistic relative, Chontal Maya, the root xun means ‘trivet, the three stones of the hearth’. For the Yucatec Maya a bird’s coccyx is called the “griddle of the rump” (xamach it), and in Chol Maya the base of a bird’s tail (its rump or coccygeal region) is called simply and literally “fire” (k’ahk) (Aulie et al 1978:21).
And the references continue in different Maya and Aztec languages that all come back to the same referencing to this sacred bone. Stross continues:
Language data of this sort, based on languages of today and the recent past, can tell us about perceptions in earlier times that do not necessarily reflect current understandings of worldview and important concepts as identified by a contemporary speaker, just as many English speakers use the word “secretary” without realizing that it reflects the notion of keeping “secrets,” or the word “sacrum” without thinking that sacredness is or ever was attached to it. Because language generally lags behind culture change, our language data has here informed us more about past worldview than about the present one. One might look long and hard at contemporary western culture without finding much evidence outside of books for a concern with the sacrum. Somewhat more productive would be looking to mythology and other ancient narratives with a practiced interpretive eye, for even in oral narrative meanings are on multiple levels and are not always obvious, as we can see from the Popol Vuh‘s mention of Blood Woman’s impregnation by a “skull.” However, through information preserved in language and in narrative, particularly when in written form, we are able to determine that some Old World perceptions of the sacrum and pelvic region, if not identical, were at least similar and comparable to those in Mesoamerica, and that data from the Old World links the “holy bone” or sacrum directly to resurrection, which implies passage through at least a figurative cosmic portal or doorway between this world and the other world.
…If the human body can be said to have “portals” or loci of transformative power where the body’s interior is connected with the external world, and perhaps also with the Otherworld, the sacrum in the pelvic girdle is likely one of these, while the jawbone in the skull constitutes the other.
The Coccyx Pendant, another very interesting linking Stross reveals:
A small unprovenanced, but apparently Classic Maya pendant found in the Ahaw collection is in all three dimensions precisely the size and shape of the human coccyx. On it is carved a representation of a human figure. This Coccyx Pendant, of apple green kosmochloric jadeite, has a laterally drilled hole for suspension, not visible in a frontal view. The top half shows a head framed by rolled hair, circular earspools and arms held in the “crab‑claw” position of Maya rulers who usually cradle a serpent bar in this position. Below this upper head, a second head occupies what should be the hip region, visually illustrating the notion of the body having an upper and a lower “skull”. The lower head, manifested in the structural position of the sacrum, has a pronounced elongated chin that is simultaneously of the appropriate shape and position to be the coccyx of the “sacrum” (in this case the “sacrum” is the second skull that is visually manifested as a head). In other words, a little knob at the bottom of the pendant represents a miniature version of the whole pendant, which itself represents a coccyx. The shape and iconography of the Coccyx Pendant constitute strong evidence for the hypothesis suggesting Mesoamerican concern with the sacrum, and the notion of two “skulls”; and it suggests also the importance of the coccyx to the Maya during the Classic period.
Since Stross was focused on revealing the sacred connection with the sacrum and coccyx in his writings, he didn’t mention how the significance of this Maya coccyx pendant being created in jadeite, also spoke to this sacredness. When I read it I immediately was reminded of the marbled green “Dreamtime” Jade Sphere we have in our Joyful Earth Crystals collection (pictured right) and the link with this sacred bone area and Mayan “sacred stone.” Jade is known as a sacred stone by the ancient and some current primitive tribes. It allows you to access the knowledge used during the Mayan “dreamtime,” as it help you connect with the elders of the Mayan culture. The Mayans revered jade as the “Sovereign of Harmony” facilitating peace with the physical, emotional, and intellectual structures, as well as with the materialistic world. It was said to bring accord to the environment, to transmute negativity and instill resourcefulness. It promotes balancing of your needs with the requirements of the day, allowing you to nurture the things that are of prime importance to well-being.
….Frederick Starr has written of other native Mesoamerican traditions that connect the coccyx with sexuality, noting in this connection that in Mexico the coccyx is sought by prostitutes in the belief that men’s power (sexuality) is lodged therein (1899:100). It is appropriate here to recall that some of today’s Maya call the coccyx bone the “fire,” recalling another of the Mesoamerican metaphors for the cosmic portal, i.e. fire. Not to dwell on this metaphor, it is worth mentioning at least that a fire is a superior transformer of materials (making the milpa fertile, creating edible food for people, etc.), that not infrequently individuals referred to in the literature as shamans demonstrate their control over fire in one way or another (as for example by placing hot embers in their mouth), that the three hearthstones characteristic of indigenous Mesoamerican homes enclose the fire and establish the center of the house, and that of course fire is clearly another sort of portal or gatekeeper between worlds.
…If the body can be viewed as a microcosm, then its form is either a template for or a reflection of other cosmic levels, and its form is our only guide to the appearance and operation of these other levels, incomplete as this guidance may be. The body has two ends regulating the passage between the inside the body and outside of it, and at these two ends are portals. One end has the mouth; on the other end are the anus and the water producing urethral orifice (and in females there is also the entrance to the birth canal). Concentration of power is in the bony appurtenances surrounding these portals, and most focally these bones are the lower jaw and the sacrum (sometimes including the coccyx). On a slightly more inclusive scale, these bones are the upper skull and the lower “inverted skull.”
…A serpentine conduit, the spinal cord being protected by the bony vertebrae, joins the two skulls. The vertebral column, because of its durability, is where the power is presumed to be concentrated. The soft portals of the body (mouth and anus) are also joined during life by a winding serpent‑like digestive tract composed of soft and perishable parts. Things come into the body through the mouth portal, where they are transformed in composition (destroyed) by the actions of the jaw. They pass through the serpent conduits in the body (spinal column, intestinal tract), and they pass out of the body, transformed in the pelvic portal (created) by the more mysterious actions of the sacrum. The male body creates new life (ultimately delivered from the sacral region, and according to some the sacrum proper). The new life is then transferred into the female womb (itself backed up by a sacrum).
Much that goes into the body, observational logic would dictate, is crushed into pieces in the mouth, transformed in the stomach and intestine, and exits by way of the anus, which by a continuation of the logic should itself be viewed as a portal, and surely it must be, though that has not been explored in this study, for lack of data.
In the worldview outlined above as “shamanic,” the body’s form and functions can be considered our most basic guide to understanding the appearance and functioning of other cosmic levels, operating thus to generate and/or reflect them. In that way the metaphors and allegories relating the body to other elements in the world allow these elements and their combinations to be comprehended relatively easily, consistently, and with a plausible logic based on observing nature, and especially our bodies as parts of it.
This speaks to the Kundalini Serpent Energy
Stross concludes more with:
For example such observational logic treats the earth as a living being, so for the Huasteca Nahuatl speakers the soil comprises its flesh, while stones are its bones and water is its blood (Sandstrom 1991:238). Vegetation is the earth’s clothing (Alcorn 1984:57). This logic continues in treating the mountain as if it is a person, with analogous anatomy and physiology. The mountain has a “head” and a “foot”, grass that “clothes” its body, and animals that live in the remote parts of it. It “drinks” water from the top (as rain) and the water is passed out from lower down (as springs). Similarly the water is passed down to earth from the bottom part of the heavens, and sometimes likened to urination by the sky deities (Thompson 1970:253). The earth, if likened to a human or animal body, needs to eat, and sacrificial food is placed at special places or portals [mouths of the earth]. The portals can be sacred places in the natural landscape such as particular caves, springs, mountaintops, and sacred trees. The portals can also be located on human-made miniature representations of the earth (or its parts) within the cosmos, such as altars, wayside crosses, and small temporary pits dug in the earth for placing sacrificed “food” in the center of the cornfield. Just as some seeds need to pass through a bird’s intestinal tract before they can sprout, so the shaman initiate may see the need to pass through a long cave with two entrances (the earth monster’s intestine) in order to be purified and empowered, as can be observed in a well known long cave in San Luis Potosí when done by Teenek shamans. This may be conceived as being swallowed by a serpent and passed out the other end. Things like water, and spirits, etc. have to pass from one level or medium to another by means of the portals or “doorways” which are not always open, just as the animate mouth and anus are not always open. Sometimes specific activities, times, and / or rituals are required to open them. Blood appears to be a particularly useful substance in this respect, but music, dance, and chanting are frequently found in portal opening contexts. Chanting clearly comes from the upper skull (assisted by the chest), but dance can be said to reside prominently in the hips (assisted by the legs and feet).
And here is an interesting table he includes that lays things out clearly:
TABLE 1 Transformation Zones
| FOCAL REFERENT | EXTENDED REFERENT | NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE | REALM | |
| Portal 1 | Jawbone | Skull | 7 Neck Vertebrae | Middleworld |
| Conduit | Spinal Cord | Spinal Column | 8 + 8 Intermediate Vertebrae | Conduit |
| Portal 2 | Sacrum | Pelvis (Inverted Skull) | 9 Sacral/Coccygeal Vertebrae | Underworld |
Alongside promising to share this information with someone who was inquiring, I’ve received big nudges of its importance, have had my own personal connections and experiences with this that are coming full circle, and in hearing of many also sharing tailbone and sacrum experiences of late, as well as many feeling compelled to work with the Root Chakra energies for integrative healing (I feel, holding a key to a lot), there is something to this.
I could draw many conclusions for you, but I think it best to let it percolate and find its own meaning for each. What I know for myself is nothing is arbitrary, everything has meaning and purpose, based on things I’ve been working with, receiving and feeling, combined with my major tailbone issues accompanying this and now subsiding and healing with miracle activations on my visit to Tahoe and working with Root Chakra energies, only to remain as a random bruising feeling at odd times in sacrum (an energetic reminder) and all the things I’m channeling with portal energy, having others activating their own sacrum portals with sacred tattoos (some that I have designed) and starting to connect their own dots with it….needless to say, I do experience the connection. 🙂
If you want to read Brian Stross’ writings in fullness, including many interesting images to accompany you can do so here: The Mesoamerican Sacrum Bone: Doorway to the Otherworld
If interested in support with designing your own “sacred bone” portal tattoo you can contact me at tania@spiritualskin.com
Butterfly Messengers – Ancestors of Wisdom for the Now
This is a time of remembering. The time to experience the mystery of life in its reality. A time to allow and embrace all that is in your heart to come forth, putting aside fears and drawing forth your soul’s authentic voice to commune with those of others in symphony. The butterfly is a beautiful and powerful example for us to learn from. So much of the answers we seek are present in the miracles that are all around us as gifts from Mother Earth. We need only to look with our hearts and be consciously present to receive.
In a previous post, I shared a little bit about the Mayan Hunab Ku symbol, also known as the One Giver of Movement and Measure and the Galactic Butterfly (my favorite description). I wanted to explain its symbolism a little further and its connection to the now, as well as its butterfly connection. To the Mayans, butterflies are seen as ancestors returning for a visit to physicality, and part of that return is to support the shifts in consciousness by bringing back the wisdom, integrated into the now, for a return to natural harmony.
Again, this symbol (Hunab Ku) is said to represent all consciousness that has ever existed in this galaxy: all our physical ancestors including human, animal, reptile, fish, shell fish, plants, as well as the consciousness which organized all of the raw material from a whirling disk into stars, then planets, and solar systems. It’s meaning is so huge that the original Maya had no symbol for this. In their civilization it was like having no name for God. Just knowing the concept was good enough. Later this pattern was devised by Toltec or Zapatec weavers as a pattern for blankets and this is where Jose Arguelles came across it. He called it Hunab Ku. The indigenous peoples call it “The Galactic Butterfly.”
This symbol is very powerful, as it broadcasts one’s reaching to actively join the consciousness of our galaxy. The Maya taught that the Milky Way Galaxy is the generator of life. The architect of the universe is called Hunab Ku, The Absolute Being, The Center of the Galaxy, The Universal Dynamism, which stimulates and motivates life in its total manifestation of spirit and matter. The principle of intelligent energy that pervades the entire universe. Hunab Ku is understood to transmit radiant energy information through stars which serve as lenses to transmit energies to planets. Our Sun is the chief mediator of Hunab Ku for our planetary system, the lens by which Earth receives direct galactic information. The pulsations of Hunab Ku are understood as a language of codes and energies recorded in the form of the Tzolkin, a universal harmonic module accommodating every possible permutation of Hunab Ku, also known as the Sacred Calendar. Numerically, Hunab Ku is communicated as the union of numbers 13 and 20, which represent movement and measure, energy and form, spirit and soul.
Hunab Ku, who can see and understand everything, knows that the time for the great change has come. We will complete a 26,000 year cycle, according to the calender on 12/21/12 – not the end of the world, but the beginning of a new experience of life as we have never known. A new cycle has already begun and life as we know it is evolving continuously and rapidly. A cycle that calls us to realign with the cosmos, which can provide essential energy needed to live together harmoniously and with honor for our Mother Earth. We are not separate from anything or anyone. These are the times in which all races, from all directions, must come together in harmony and unity. The Hearts of All Beings are connected. It is impossible to be disconnected.
Many indigenous peoples of the New World hold butterflies in a special place in their culture and butterfly motifs were used everywhere including ceramics, stone carvings, mural paintings, codices, feather work, wood carvings, and gold ornaments. They appear not only in pure form, but in many highly stylized renditions, sometimes so abstract that they were frequently misinterpreted by pioneer archaeologists.
Xochiquetzal, symbolized by a Mayan mythological butterfly, was called “precious flower” and regarded as a mother goddess, goddess of love, goddess of flowers, as patron of all fine arts, as the symbol of beauty, as the symbol of fire, as a symbol of the spirits of the dead, as the patron of domestic laborers and as the patron of warriors killed in battle.
Itzpapalotl, the Aztec “obsidian butterfly,” was a mother goddess, goddess of obsidian and knives, of human sacrifice and of war, the personification of the Earth, the patron of women who died in childbirth and more.
Massive figures of warrior-priests (about 15 feet high) have breastplates decorated with a butterfly motif. Along with the snake, the butterfly was one of the most frequently represented animals of Ancient Mexico that held deeply religious symbolism. Butterflies represented fire, soul, death, warriors, travelers, and hummingbirds. They were a component of many poems and songs. 
The butterfly has come to mean many things to many people, collectively and individually. Some of its symbolism includes: resurrection, transition, celebration, lightness, time, soul, transformation, joy, unquestioning embrace, keeping the faith, grace…
I celebrate the beauty of the butterfly, recognizing it’s rich spirituality and honoring it as I would myself. For, if butterflies are said to carry the souls of our ancestors, then isn’t it quite possible that all creatures, great and small, possess the essence of intelligence beyond what we are presently conscious of? We have much to remember.
Nature has so much beauty to behold and the butterfly is an exquisite example of the precious miracle of life. 
Hunab Ku: The Galactic Butterfly
Hunab Ku has been a prevalent part of my life since my synchronous reconnection with it in my early twenties, now over 15 years ago. I was drawn to it through rememberance and connective threads by following messages, intuition, signs and guidance received. I then incorporated it into my own “Spiritual Skin” as sacred tattoo art on my sacrum (my 2nd tattoo after the butterfly, which was my first). And, later, it was integrated into one of my paintings, the fifth and last of my In Lak’ech series called “Spirit.” It is part of my life in many ways and the core basis of what I share in message through my work. Its potency of symbolism and message is simplistically beautiful.
Mayan Hunab Ku Symbol: One Giver of Movement and Measure. Also known as the Galactic Butterfly is said to represent all consciousness that has ever existed in this galaxy. Hunab Ku, who can see and understand everything, knows that the time for the great change has come. Hunab Ku calls us to realign with the cosmos, which can provide essential energy needed to live together harmoniously and with honor for our Mother Earth. We are not separate from anything or anyone. These are the times in which all races, from all directions, must come together in harmony and unity. The Hearts of All Beings are connected. It is impossible to be disconnected.
Mayan Hunab Ku Symbol: The Galactic Butterfly - Image from "Spirit" painting as my artistic interpretation.