Pialli. I learned about this valuable tool in my Four Agreements study group many years ago. I first used it when I was going through a bad breakup. During that time, my thoughts were extremely negative, rampant, and highly emotional; my energy and psychological state were unstable, and I was on the verge of making harmful decisions for both myself and others.
This Mitote Journal helped me contain and diffuse the intense, negative emotional state that resulted from giving power to those assaulting thoughts. The Mitote Book also helped me neutralize negative thoughts’ ability to hook my attention and detrimentally affect my mind, body, spirit, and, thus, my life. I think of it as 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 be great as a regular stalking (intense self-reflection) exercise to expose unfavorable patterns and beliefs that keep us limited or cause grief in our lives.
In creative reflection, I was considering that often we try to create or “wish” for beautiful situations in our lives. However, in revisiting this Mitote Journal exercise, I am now thinking that perhaps blessings are already natural and “God-given, ” a presence that is never absent. 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 welcome so we can improve the information on this page.
Mitote is a word from the Nahuatl language that, for our 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 affect our perceptions, actions, energy resources, and creations. Overthinking 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.
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.
I keep my Mitote Journal on my altar or in a personal space that no one will hassle. 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 mitotic book with sage or sweetgrass.
Try to catch yourself in the midst of a negative emotion and ask yourself, “What am I telling myself?” It is impossible to have a negative emotion without telling yourself something first. 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 that is triggering this negative emotion? What words/beliefs are triggering and feeding this negative emotion?”
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.
