Imix – the primordial waters of creation

Series: Glyphs of the Maya – Drawing the Day Signs into Your Life

Key Words: Creation • Birth • Chaos • Water • Beginnings • Intuition

In the Maya cosmovision, Imix is the first step in the sacred cycle — the beginning of all things. It is the nawal of water, the great womb from which life stirs. Imix is imagined as the waterlily monster, a crocodilian being whose body is the earth itself, carrying creation across the cosmic waters.

The crocodile (ayin in Yucatec Maya), guardian of mangroves and waterlilies, is a fierce mother — protective, watchful, and nourishing.

Imix embodies that same blend of chaos and care: turbulent and unstable like the first storm, yet the fertile ground for new foundations.

It is a day to embrace beginnings — to be creative, cleanse negative energy, receive messages from beyond, and set new projects into motion. When the number in the Tzolk’in count is low, Imix supports clear decision-making.

A note about the glyph image

The drawings you see here are from my personal grimoire. They are on lined paper because they were created during my own magical practice — each line a record of connection. These glyphs are not copied from printed sources; they were drawn by hand, holding the intention and energy of the day sign itself. Some are simplified slightly so you can draw them more easily, even if you’ve never worked with Maya glyphs before. The simplification does not take away their power — the act of drawing them with intention is what awakens their energy.

drawing the Imix glyph

The Imix glyph represents the open mouth of the crocodile — a vessel of life and possibility — resting above breath scrolls, the curling lines at the base of the glyph.

In Maya tradition, these breath scrolls are not decoration — they are the life-force itself. They show that the glyph is alive and breathing. When you draw the breath scrolls, you are calling the energy of the glyph into the world. Without them, it is only a symbol. With them, it becomes a living, breathing presence.

How to draw it:

1. You can use the color red if you wish. The directional color red (chak in Yucatec Maya) connects with Imix’s place in the east, the realm of sunrise and new beginnings. Turquoise or jade can be used as accent colors to honor its water element.

2. Begin with the inner square and the details inside the core. This is the main picture of the glyph

3. Add the outer square

4. Last of all, draw the breath scrolls, doing it with intention as you bring the glyph to life.

As you draw, breathe deeply and picture the first light breaking over endless waters, and with each curl of the breath scrolls, feel the glyph inhale and exhale.

using the glyph’s energy

in your home

• Place it by the entrance to invite fresh opportunities into your life.

• Keep it near water — a fountain, bowl, or vase — to strengthen the flow of abundance.

• Hang it in creative spaces to awaken inspiration.

on your body

• Mark it with natural pigments (achiote, blue clay) over your sacral chakra for fertility or creativity.

• Draw it on your hands before starting a new project.

• Wear it in jewelry close to your heart to keep your intuition strong.

other ways

• Etch it into candles before lighting them for new beginnings.

• Draw it in the sand by a cenote or ocean before entering the water.

• Paint it onto seed packets or plant pots to bless growth.

• Draw the glyph on a sheet of paper where you’ve written your intentions, dreams, or prayers. Place this paper under a bowl of water, in your journal, or on your altar so the living energy of Imix breathes life into your written words every day.

  
  

awakening the glyph

To call forth Imix’s energy:

1. Sit with the glyph in front of you.

2. Inhale slowly, imagining water rising within you.

3. Exhale with the sound hááá — the Maya word for water.

   • In Yucatec Maya, há means water, the very element of Imix. Speaking it aloud is more than a sound; it is a word of creation.

   • As your breath carries the word, imagine you are breathing water into the world — giving life, flow, and renewal.

4. Repeat three times.

5. Whisper: “Ahaw Imix — open the waters, birth the new.” (Ahaw is the Mayan word for Lord and is used when we address the Tzolkin Day god)

When you combine the breath scrolls in the glyph with your own living breath and the sacred word há, you are uniting image, voice, and spirit — the three strands of Maya creation magic.

reflection

Imix asks: “What is ready to be born in you?” Journal on the seeds you hold now — creative ideas, new paths, personal transformations — and how you will tend them until they take form.

Remember, when you draw something, you bring it to life.

hugs and butterflies,

laura