Sixth Sun: Meaning for Humanity & You

In a multi-year global pandemic with no end in sight and inflation, unemployment, homelessness, and poverty escalating, we are living in very challenging times. Add catastrophic volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and devastating tsunamis, all broadcast live 24/7, and you get a picture of what is creating our collective anxiety and stress today.

This uncertainty about the future activates an even deeper fear that we often keep at bay deep down in our subconscious: Where are we going collectively in an unsustainable civilization plagued by pollution, deforestation, overpopulation, and global climate change? With this question hanging over our heads it can be hard to remain hopeful and not turn angry or cynical.

What makes the Toltec civilization and its shamanic tradition so relevant today is its ability to provide a deeper meaning to life by reframing our present-day challenges in the most beautiful way.

Who were the Toltec?

Many people have been introduced to the Toltec through Carlos Castaneda’s numerous books devoted to the mysterious spiritual path called Nahualism, the teachings of the Toltec.

The Toltec were one of the original inhabitants of Mesoamerica, succeeding the Olmec and the Mayan. They flourished in ancient central Mexico between the 10th and mid-12th centuries, building an impressive capital at Tula. Ultimately, they passed on their heritage to later civilizations including the Aztecs. The spiritual knowledge of this sophisticated culture has been maintained through a lineage of teachers going back centuries, including my teacher Sergio Magana.

Most information about the Toltec comes from Aztec and post-colonial texts documenting earlier oral traditions. The Aztec civilization inherited their art, architecture, and the famous “Aztec calendar” from the Toltec.

The Aztec regarded the Toltec as a great and prosperous civilization, the noblest and wisest of people, and creators of a golden era when such wonders as writing, medicine and metallurgy flourished. Most researchers agree that the Toltec invented all the arts and sciences that the Aztec copied. The Toltec were legendary sculptors and artists who left many impressive monuments and stone carvings behind, including the intricate façade at the Quetzalcoatl temple in Teotihuacan.

The Aztecs also revered the Toltec for their advanced knowledge of astronomy and mathematics. The word “Toltec” comes from the Nahuatl word “tolli” which means “measure,” referring to their ability to imitate the Divine Architect with creations of sublime and harmonious proportions, both in architecture and in the concept of time.

The Toltec divided time and the cycles of humanity in periods of 6,000 years called “Suns.” The 6,000-year calculation is not arbitrary but is based on the precession of the equinoxes, an astronomical phenomenon known by many ancient cultures and acknowledged by modern science.

Each 6,000-year epoch was described by a name and contained specific characteristics. If you want to know more about the precession of the equinoxes and the ancient eras that preceded ours, you can take the free “Birth of the 6^th Sun” class, and ITH members can take the “Toltec & the 6^th Sun” class.

According to the Aztec calendar, there have been five Suns prior to today, and May 26, 2021 marked the transition from the 5^th Sun to the 6^th Sun, a monumental event.

Many traditions concur with this concept but use a different vocabulary for it. You may have heard of the Golden Age following the Iron Age, or the Aquarius age replacing the recent Pisces Age. These are synonymous with the 6^th Sun replacing the 5^th Sun. They all refer to a transition from one era to the next.

So what does it mean to transition to a new Sun? What are we leaving behind and what are we going towards? And why does this transition give me hope for the future?

Goodbye 5th Sun

The 5^th Sun is the only time period recorded by official history, a history of male-dominated war and conflict. Countless generations of your ancestors were born into it, and unless you were born after May 2021, you were born into too. The 5^th Sun is all we know.

Referred to by the Toltec as “the Sun of Injustice,” the 5^th Sun was a time of great suffering – male and female inequality, rich and poor, black and white, duality. The Sun of Injustice created anger, conflict, wars, rebellions, and revolutions, which were attempts to reestablish basic equality and justice for all. We are very familiar with this angry Sun that sees the domination of a group over oppressed peoples and the destruction of the natural world.

The 5^th Sun was also called Ollintonatiuh, the Sun of movement, literally the shaking of the earth. Some scholars interpreted this to mean that the 5^th Sun would end with massive earthquakes affecting everyone on the planet. It’s hard to conceive of earthquakes erupting everywhere on earth at the same time unless we expand the definition of what constitutes an earthquake.

If we think of a global earthquake as something that shakes humanity out of its normal ways of living the world over, disrupting systems and affecting people on every continent, then the Covid-19 pandemic which began in early 2020 certainly fits the bill. The pandemic was a global earthquake, the ramifications of which we’ll deal with for the rest of our lives and will take generations to recover from.

As a matter of fact, the Toltec forecast 2020 and 2021 as being the most difficult years of the transition and described them as a period of darkness and uncertainty (which turned out to be a good definition of life everywhere on the planet during those years).

The transition to the 6^th Sun affects every one of us very deeply in our bodies, minds, and souls. You may be ready to leave the 5^th Sun of Injustice and all the anger and oppression that it contained. You may already feel the pull of the 6^th Sun and the birth of a new consciousness that it brings.

Hello 6^th Sun

The 6^th Sun represents the birth of a new consciousness on earth, and this new energy is a very big step up for humanity. The Sun of the future is a time characterized by an elevation of our collective consciousness and the rise of feminine forces. Imagine a world devoted to the exploration of a higher awareness and elevation of consciousness and you have the 6^th Sun.

The 6^th Sun is compared to the rising morning Sun, an image that evokes enlightenment and the rising of our kundalini, the primal life force within us. But as with all enlightenment, we are required to evolve and change, which is challenging and uncomfortable.

While the 5^th Sun was masculine, the 6^th Sun is feminine and feminine forces are the energies of the future. To live aligned with the consciousness of the 6^th Sun, we need to learn how to integrate feminine energy in our lives. This does not mean that masculine energy will suffer at the hands of the feminine. It is about balance and harmony of the 2 polarities, with an emphasis on the collective.

What is meant by feminine forces? In Toltec tradition, there are three main feminine forces that offer balance and guidance when we connect with them:
– Mother earth, called Tonantzin
– The moon, called Metzli
– The night, called Yohualli

As these forces gain momentum, the ancient teachings of previous feminine Suns are re-emerging. There are more books and teachers coming to the forefront about shadow work, lucid dreaming, astral traveling, and ancestral clearing. If you have not heard about these spiritual methods yet, you will soon. At some point they will be as common as yoga.

With the arrival of the 6^th Sun, the highest states of consciousness are not reserved for a few but become accessible to all. Humanity is poised to establish a new relationship with the Source, which includes the Divine feminine.

The transition from the 5^th to the 6^th Sun is a time of adjustment from a lower frequency to a higher frequency. The 6^th Sun relates to the subconscious, the dreamworld, and wisdom. This is the perfect time to step back and look at the world from a different perspective, beyond the pandemic, inflation, etc., to the larger pattern at work.

Toltec tradition says that the 6^th Sun will force us to change, and that we will have to reinvent our lives. We will have the opportunity to look inward so we can create something new for ourselves, and we will need to adjust our lives for the benefit of the collective.

Kaleidoscopic change

A time of transition is always chaotic. Picture a kaleidoscope. You look in one end and see a magnificent pattern, often reminiscent of fractals, that holds your attention.

The pieces make up a harmonious design that draws you in and heals you because it feels complete. You enjoy looking at it and when you turn the knob, after a brief moment of jumbled disarray, another magnificent pattern emerges. A kaleidoscope is the perfect analogy for how the universe works, with one beautiful patterns giving way to momentary turmoil only to arrive at another beautiful pattern.

Our chaotic period of transition right now is the jumbled disarray that comes from breaking up an old pattern and rearranging the pieces to construct something different. Transition periods, when patterns implode, imply destruction. But out of the chaos new patterns crystalize, which implies construction of a new design.

2020 and 2021 were about being able to see the results of our actions and going inward to clear our underworlds individually and collectively. In other words, they were a time of karmic clearing, which is not pleasant but pushes us collectively to reflect on what we have created.

The 6^th Sun requires us to evolve and change. This is why everything is shaking and there is a lot of chaos and uncertainty. We can no longer rest on the same principles as before. We need to learn the new principles that govern the 6^th Sun.

This transition is a time for humanity to evolve and improve, but many people are attached to the past and resist change. Over time, they will find themselves working with energies and principles that are becoming obsolete, and will find it increasingly difficult to maintain their traditional principles.

What can you do?

There are three things you can do which will kick-start your relationship with the emerging energies of the 6^th Sun. The first is to consider your own life path and the transformations you are going through personally as they relate to the collective transformations around you. Everyone is undergoing change, so understanding the collective shift is to understand your own path. The 6^th Sun is a return to unity and the highest good of the collective, and to find your own mission in the 6^th Sun is to contribute to the highest good of the collective. Consider yourself a special version of a collective event.

The second thing you can do is develop a relationship with the feminine forces of nature. According to the Toltec, three feminine forces of nature are becoming predominant in the 6^th Sun. These are the earth, the moon, and the night. Shamanic practices give access to these archetypes allowing people to tap into an immense reservoir of feminine energy for personal and collective healing. ITH’s mission is to gather these pearls of knowledge from the past and adapt them to present needs in order to help everyone benefit from these rising feminine forces. If you have a calling to work with feminine forces, check out the 28-day Moon Meditation Essential Program which helps you cultivate a relationship with the 6^th sun via the moon’s energy.

The third thing you can do to kick-start your relationship with the 6^th Sun is to let go of the victim/perpetrator mentality and forgive. This is the end of the Sun of Injustice, so a way to contribute to the 6^th Sun is by ending anger within yourself. It’s understandable that injustice triggers your anger, but in order to rise to the 6th Sun, we’re going to have to clear this negativity within ourselves.

We are moving through this process individually and collectively. It may be painful, but it does not have to be. You can learn through higher knowledge rather than through pain, and you don’t have to do it alone.

You have a choice

To be incarnated during such an amazing time is a great and rare honor and we certainly chose to be here to witness this major cosmic event. What gives me incredible hope is witnessing and participating in this universal shift. It’s good to be alive and it is fascinating to discover our place in this new collective era.

Since 2020, statues of conquerors the world over have been toppled, another sign that the old patriarchal system of the 5^th Sun of Injustice is experiencing the beginning of the end. The thirst for equality is becoming overwhelming and a force to be reckoned with, as evidenced in massive global marches and protests related to dismantling oppressive systems and regimes. As the 6^th Sun grows, the oppressed will continue to be empowered and justice will be able to thrive.

The 6^th Sun is not about predictions and the end of the world, but the end of an era and the birth of a global transformation. With the 6^th Sun, we can sense that we are part of something bigger than the daily load of bad news from the media.

You have a choice. I hope you let the 6^th sun inspire you, rejuvenate your spirit, and immerse you in a new consciousness.

– Suteja, January 2022

Resources

I was introduced to the Toltec through the spiritual lineage of my teacher, Sergio Magana, world-renowned author and teacher who shares healing techniques and ancient knowledge to solve the challenges of modern life. I send a warm thank you to Sergio, my teacher in Nahualism, who gave me the map to my subconscious and caves of powers. Learn more about Sergio . . . . . Get Sergio’s Books

Learn more about the ancient Toltec and their beliefs at Toltec Empire: 5 Days That Can Change Your Life, Toltec Empire: New Year on March 12, Lucid Dreaming Techniques from the Ancients, and Meditation Script for May 2022 Full Moon.

Learn more about Toltec civilization and the 6^th Sun by taking the “Birth of the 6^th Sun” class and the “Toltec & the 6^th Sun” class.

“Time of the 6^th Sun” movie is about the awakening and transformation of global consciousness as we move into a more evolved state of being and ascend to a higher level of collective co-creation. The documentary is an eight-part series created by Nikki Luna Williams from more than a decade of interviews of scholars, activists, and spiritual leaders of the world. Learn More About “Time of the 6th Sun”

Learn more about healing and consciousness at  Inner Treasure Hunt. If you liked this post, you can subscribe to the Inner Treasure Hunt newsletter to stay informed about new posts, programs, and events.

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