The Mitote Journal

Pialli. This is a very valuable tool I learned many years ago in my Four Agreements study group. I first used it when I was going through a bad breakup. During that time my thoughts were extremely negative, rampant, highly emotional, my energy and psychological state unstable, and I was on the verge of making harmful decisions to both myself and others.

This Mitote Journal helped me dispel and drain the intense negative emotional energy and thoughts I accumulated from giving space and power to those assaulting thoughts. The Mitote Book also diffused the ability of these negative thoughts to hook my attention and detrimentally affect my mind, body, spirit, and thus my life. I think of it being a “Roach Motel” for negative debilitating thoughts and beliefs.

While it is especially helpful in times of increased mental and emotional challenges this Mitote Journal exercise would also serve great as a regular stalking (intense self-reflection) exercise to expose unfavorable patterns and beliefs that keep us limited or cause grief in our life.

I was also thinking that often we try to create or “wish” for beautiful situations in our life, but in revisiting this Mitote Journal exercise I am now thinking , perhaps beauty is already “God-given,” natural, and always there. Maybe all we have to do is remove the obstacles, the illusions— the smoke from the mirror in order to see the natural beautiful reflection that has been there all along.

It’s been years since I practiced this and my recollection of this Tolteca practice is a little rusty but I will do my best to recall all the pertinent details. I’m sure there will be questions and feedback regarding this exercise so your feedback is great welcome so we can improve the information on this page.

The Mitote

Mitote is a word from the Nahuatl language that for our basic purposes means “chaos” or a condition of being out of harmony. It is said that the Mitote is all the chatter that goes on in our minds. It is the busy and chaotic center of numerous voices and thoughts that vie for our attention. These voices mostly hook our attention to insert confusion, doubt, despair, anger, self-importance, and other emotions.

Thoughts, or more accurately, thoughts that we identify with and agree to, shape our reality and affect our emotions which in turn affects our perception, actions, energy resources, and creations. Over-thinking consumes energy. Heightened emotions consume even more energy. Heightened emotions lead to exhaustion (mental, physical, spiritual) as well as irrational and in the extreme—dangerous or violent decisions. Once exhausted and drained of our precious energy/spirit resources it leaves little energy for us to create and direct our life efficiently.

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“Any new Undertaking/Creation on our part, if outside of our normal activities or endeavors, requires “free” or available energy to accomplish. This is the reason for the enormous difficulty facing an ordinary person wishing to change or create situations distinct from those that make up the “normal” in his/her life: there is no energy available.”

Victor Sanchez

The Mitote Journal helps us identify, acknowledge, and keep inventory of the conflicting voices harassing us and that we’ve accumulated and given power to. It helps build a defense to overwhelming thoughts which may incite or manifest as unnecessary drama or physical (psychosomatic) issues in our life. It gives you opportunity to address the issues of our life with a coherent and centered perception.

The Mitote Journal puts a spotlight on our shadows. Where there is light the entities of darkness have no room to operate. Where there is a guard keeping watch it significantly reduces the chance of “break-ins” ; If you’ve been “tagged” by negativity and emotional disarray then the Mitote Journal is the “container” where you can gradually, if not all at once, dispel these negative energies to. These are just some metaphors for the roles and capacity of the Mitote Journal.

Making Your Mitote Journal

Get a notebook, preferably one with a red cover
- My current Mitote Book does not have a red cover so I just wrap it in a red cloth.
The front inside cover:
- Put a picture of yourself
- Declare an intention or short mission statement for the Mitote Journal such as: “This book is dedicated to Creator. This is a call to action,” or “I dedicate this mitote book to my healing.” Whatever the intention read it to remind yourself of your intention every time you open the book
- Sign and date it with your name.
The Content
- You write from these general categories of voices in your mind..
- The Judge: The Judge is essentially behind the other Voices as well. It judges you as well as others. (Example: “You should have done it like this”; “ Damn you’re such a dork.” “Why the hell am I doing this exercise anyway, this new age shit probably don’t even work.”)
- Victim: Always feeling sorry for yourself or that you’re in a deficit. (Example: “Poor me.” ; “I can never do anything right;”I’ll never find a good relationship.” ; etc.)
- Personal Importance: The assumption that everything is about you. ( “Why does this always happen to me?”; “She broke up with me because I’m ugly.” )
- Doubt: (Example: “I’ll never be able to pass this test.” ; “They’ll never pick me for this team.”)
- Big Ego -Jealousy, Envy, Anger, etc: ( “I hate that dude, he swears he’s bad ass” ; “ I don’t know why they didn’t pick me, I’m obviously the better artist.” ; etc.)
- Note: Let the thoughts, judgments, negative assumptions, all the things that are running through your mind draining you, making you restless, sad, angry etc. pour out. The idea is to release that energy from yourself and expel the negativity onto the pages of the mitote journal.
As you find yourself writing down these voices and thoughts recognize them as false and not of your “true face”.. the smoke in front of your mirror blocking you from a clear reflection. Declare it mentally and/or out loud” “These thoughts have no power over me,” or sommething to that like.
Release the lie and regain the energy you had invested in it.
As you expose your underlying voices and thoughts in this way, go further by reviewing past entries for thought patterns (voices) tearing you down or giving you a false sense of your own self-importance.
Sign and date each entry
Refresh yourself: Take a shower or wash your hands and face with water or smudge yourself.
After acknowledging the negative voices and noticing their behavior patterns you now stand in a place where you are fully conscious of what thoughts you are feeding. “Harmonize the Opposites” by affirming and giving attention to the opposite of your noted negative thought patterns— declare the positive visions you want for yourself.

I keep my Mitote Journal usually on my altar or in personal space that won’t be hassled by anyone. It is also helpful to make this a routine before you go to bed, but it really shines in moments when you can’t go to sleep, or when you are feeling more restless or emotional than usual. I also occasionally smudge my mitote book with sage or sweetgrass.

Self Awareness Exercise : “What am I Telling Myself?”

Try to catch yourself in the midst of a negative emotion and ask yourself : “What am I telling myself?” When you start feeling frustrated, angry, sad, etc. Do your best to stalk your thoughts. Pause and ask your true self “What am I telling myself? What words are triggering and feeding this negative emotion?”

Footnote:

Controversy over “Tolteca Teachings”
There is some controversy over the claim of Toltec Teachings because much of this knowledge has been exploited or abused by charlatans and also because it is common for people to dismiss what they dont know because it wasn’t verified by some western academic scholar. Whatever the case may be, the validity and origins of the Mitote Journal technique or rather the Tolteca claim in general was brought into question after I first made this post. Aside from my own experience and confidence in these Tolteca teachings which might not be enough for some people, I am providing a citation to validate a connection. This citation is devoid of spiritual awareness language but this entry documents a variation of the knowledge employed in the Mitote Journal technique.