guide to the spiritual tenchngs and. magical ‘of racial experience and will greatly eich our ISBN 1-5L713-372-7 HININNT IIE Wil? eves seston LI meee otranser MAYAN CALENDAR MAGICAbout the Author Kenneth Johnson holds 2 degree in Comparative Fligions with an emphasis onthe stady of mythology. Hei the author of Nort Star Road (Llewdlyn, 1996), co-author of The Siber Wheel (Llewellyn, 1996) and The Grail Cate (Llewellyn, 1995) with Marguerite Elsbeth, and Mythic Astalogy (with Ariel Guttman, Lewellyn, 1933). Born ia southern Californi he has ved in Los Angeles, Amsterdam, London, and New Mexico, and eurcently resides on California's central coat To Write to the Author 1 you wish to contact the author or would like more information about this book, please write to the author in care of Llewellyn Worldwide and we will foward your request. Both the authorand the ppablisher appreciste hearing fiom you and letming of your fajoyment of this book and how it has helped you. Llewellyn Worldwide cannot gnarante that every letter written to the author can be answered, bat all willbe forwarded. Please write te Kenneth Johnson lo Lewellyn Worldwide P.O. Box 61383, Dept. K372-7 St Paul, MN 55168-0383, USA Pee endo #eifaégreved sarped envelope reply ck S19 ene House US. endos internation potal ely ecupo. Free Catalog from Llewellyn For more than ninsty years Llewellyn has brought its readers knowledge inthe fields of metaphysics and human potential. Learn about the newest books in spiritual guidance, natural healing, astrology, occult philosophy and more. Enjoy book eviews, New Age articles, a calendar of events, plus current advertised products and serves, To get your free copy of Llewellyn’s New Worlds of Mind and ‘Spirit, send your name and addres to Lewellyn New Worlds of Mie ae Spirit PO. Box 61383, Dept. K372.7 St Paul, MN 55164-0983, USA, Contemporary Practices of Mayan Shamans Jaguar “Wisdtomn MAYAN CALENDAR MAGIC ne aT Kenneth Johnson 97 evan Publications St Pu, Minnetts $8164.08, US.4Jaguar Wider. Copyright ©1987 by Kenneth Johnson. All rights reserved. No pir of this book may be uted or reproduced ia ay manner whatsoever without permission from Llewellyn Publications except in the eas of brief quotations embodied in critical articles, FIRST EDITION Fics Printing, 1997 Cover at by Pat Gulltt Cover design by Tom Grewe Interior illustrations by Marguerite Elsbeth (pages 12, 19 & 21) and Novak (pages 10, 13-15, 19,45, 49, 65-101) Book editing, design, and layout by Astrid Sandell Library of Congress Cataloging in-Publications Data Johason, Kenneth, 1952 Jaguar wisdom : Mayan calendar magic / Kenneth Johnson. sted. pam. “Contemporary practices of Mayan shamans.” Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-56718-372-7 (phic) 1. Maya magic, 2. Maya calendar—Miscllanes 3. Shamanisn—Mesico. [Title BY1622.M39}64 1997 133.4°5089974152—de21 97-5482 ap Printed inthe United States of America Lewellyn Publications {A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Lid. P.O. Box 64383, Dept. K372-7, St Paul, MN 55164-0383 Other Books by Kenneth Johnson North Star Road: Shamanism, Witchcraft the Otherworld Journey, 1996 ‘The Silver Whee: Female Myths and Mysteriesin the Celtic Tradition (sth Marguerite Ekbeth), 1996 ‘The Grail Castle Male Myths and Mysteries in the Celtic Tradition (with Marguerite Elsbeth), 1995 Mythic Astrology: Archetypal Powers in the Horoscope (with Arie Guttman), 1993 Forthcoming Slavie Sorcery: A Personal Journeyable of Contents 1 The World ofthe Ancient Maya “The Mayen Universe The World oft The Sacred Calendar The Book of Days Mayan Astrology Four Directions Mayan Divination ‘Mayan Historical Prophecy Appendix Mayan Calendar Tables for the 20th Century Glossary Bibliography Index 2 a o 103 1st 169 aL 21 25 29 The World of the Ancient Maya ‘The higher civilizations that took shape in Mexico and Central America have fascinated academies, occultists and speculative mavericks of every var ty. The Mayans and Aztecs built great and complex sites crowned by temple pyramids, yet never knew the use of the wheel except asa childs toy. Al architectural achievements were accomplished without the wie of metal—their buildings were of stone, ther swords of obsidian, and their metallurgy limited tothe produstion of beautiful works of art. Despite the lack of what Westerners consider the escentals of civ lization” the Naive peoples of North and South America were math. ‘ematical philosophers ofa high order, asisevidenced by the syste of cords and knots the Inca eilled the quips, and by the great Long Count Calendar of the Clasic Maya, The influence of Mesoamerican civilization spread north over wide geographical regions. Ite temple architecture inepired the Mound Daler ofthe American Southeast, whose mychology seers to have resembled that of Mexico and Central America, The presence Mesoamerican religious idea is noticeable among the Southwrestero ‘Anusazi and ther present-day Pueblo descendants s wel, Few topics are capable of provoking 2 mach argumentai the origins ofthis civiiztion. Oceltists and advocate of aatedlwian continents believe that Mesourerican culture, especally as exemplified by the Classic Maya, is of great antiquity and owes is beginnings ool fiom Atlantis (or pethaps the Pleiades). Archaeologists place the2 Jaguar Wien ccnergeace of the Maya no cals than the fist fw centuries before Chris) and the birth of Mesoamerican civiization itself at about rae0 ae According tothe standard archacclosical mode), the cultivation of| coin began perhaps as early a5 6000 8. in Oaxaca, but the develop ment of agriculture dd nat spark a “revolution” in Mexico ait did in the Old World Reople continued living their traditional ves in sll sillages while the agelcultural Kfe-path spread slowly and without rama, Then, with surprising suddenness, a tu civilization appesred, sxemingly ost of nowhere. Around 1200 a2, large cere- rn centers began o be erected along the Gulf Coast in wha is row the southern part of the stateof Veracruz. Temples of earth and stone were raised in thejgle, and most ofthe themes which were to ‘emai constant throughout the history of ancient Mexice made their frst appearances in those ancient ceremonial precincts. The ritual handball game, so important to the Aztecs and the Maya, was first, layed in thee ery centers the jaguar and thesecpent, two antral, Which were of major rigious significance to all the peoples of Mesoamerica, were worshipped here as wel. Their images remain, carved in eerpentine and jade ‘We do not know what the inhabitants of those first cities called themseves. We have nansed them the Olmecs, 2 rather unfortunate term which means"the rubber peeple.” Extracted in abundance from ‘the topical forests where the Olmecs lived, rubber was most notably ‘used to mate handball, However, twas not the material eynote of Olmec civiization—shat distinction belonged to jade. Whatever else they may haveben, the Olmess were dedcitd trader in jade, some times traveling all the way t9 Belize on the Caribbean coast in search ‘ofthe precious green store, Jade was tothe Olmecs what gold vas to European conquistadors and alchemists t was beth materially valu able and spiritually empowered. A reverence fr jade was part of the ‘Olmec legacy to Mesoamerican civilization in general and Aztec poets ‘wer lil singing the stone's praises 2,500 yeas ter on the eve ofthe Spanish Conquest. ‘Massive temples and urban-religious complexes the serpent and the guar the sicred handball game, anda love for jade these essen til elements of Mesoamerican civilization ave all found among the Olmecs, who ae widely belied te have been the “mother cule” of “Mesoamerica. Their civizing influence spread west tothe highland tena of central Mexico. There, srotnd the time of Crist, arose the Tie World of the Ancient Maya 8 great of Reothaacn the “Abode ofthe Gods Tetibuacin grew bn poner and strength bya. 30 the cy dominated central Mexia Daring this tame erate Clase Mays aed the and the south ‘Altoughit wasted nti cnt that Mayan cleston only tegan wo ourish avund AD 300, KB now lt that is oo are intch eer In at, Mayan cviztion reached it fist pain cere ‘oni enters sch 98H Mirador a ul 309% For rome we do not yet undertand theo ey eke were abandoned show telore the tine ef Chit Then, sbow century te anew cons fon of rban-elgions center roe msthng the ginning ofthe sis Pred ofthe Moye en cpoch ht sted untlaout 300. “olay, we can read the story of the Case Maya fn their own word. Since T84l when the Amercan adienturer fn Tloyd Stephens brought the Mayan rane the worl atentonithasbeen sleet the ancient Maya were alert pop. The wal oftheir ‘mentuidingsare covered wit ierosTrphis, are the fe sanding one monment, or ee, which ae seared through the rine ‘Ancient Mayan book writen on fldigaecs of bark paps ale ‘Although the dexipherment of Mayan hieroglyphics has added s0 ‘much fo our knowledge of the Classic Mays, tis still unclear why theit Civilization declined, But of one thing we may be certain: the ahauob Tost their power, People ceased to believe in the divine kings Had the Mayan elite become corrupt and unworthy of trust? Had they ceshouited themselves in petty was? Or did their elaborate iiization ‘simply fal before the onslaught of more vigorous and warlike peoples from thenorth—people who, though ethnically Mayan, were strongly influenced by the changing cultures of central Mexico? ‘We do not know the fll answer. Having reached the end oftheir daysof glory, they seem to have walked away rom tal and returned to ft more traditional, tribal way of ie. They emmned tothe jungle. ‘Such, atleast, wis the case in Guatemala and southern Mexico though notin Yucatén. Around the same time thatthe great Mayan centers such as Tikal and Palenque were being abandoned, anew and aggressive people called the Itza were making their way into the Yueatin peninsula, Scholars of an earlier day believed that the Tia themselves rust have heen from central Mexico: hence lder books on ‘Mayan civilization speak ofthe “Toltee Peri’ or he "Teltee-Maya.” Itisnow believe thatthe Ita were Mayan, and that they were orig nally from the southern end ofthe Gulf Coas. Their links with central, Mexico were indced strong; they seem to have been trades of sts and to have come to Yucatan in great sea-going canoes. By 867 they hha founded the city of Chichén Itz, which dominated Mesoamerica for thee hunded years However by 900, the art of hieroglyphic wri ing had disappeared at Chichen Tu, and the Long Count Calendar 2. Tatiana Proskouriakef, The Worl of the Ament Mag had vanished fom the Mayan word, The empire ruled by the lords of ‘Yocatdn was expansive, more like the empises of Teothuacin or the ‘Aatec than the city-states ofthe earlier Classic Maya, Chichén Iti itself was abandoned around 1200. It was succeeded by another con fedezacy in the Yucatin region, that of Mayapan, which lase from 1250 to 1451. By the time Christopher Columbus encountered an cean-gning canoe fllof Mayan merchants in the bay af Hondurasin 1502, Mayan civilization was only a shadow of ise. The Spanish con (quest of Yucatin began in 1526, andthe last independent Mayan king dom persisted until 1697 ‘The spiritual tradition of the Maya lives on tothe present day. In some respects, Mayan spiritual beliefs have changed: a sometimes uneasy compromise has heen reached with Catholic Christianity but the eld ways have continued with much oftheir primal vigor stil ‘tay and a great mary modern religious and magical practices have strong roots inthe world view oftheancients Let usexamine the uri verse as it was conceived by the Classic Maya, ENDNOTES |. Michael D. Coe. Breaking the Maya Cade (Neve York: Thames and Hudson 1982) 185-56 via npicatons ofa Pattern of Date at Piedras Negra, Gutemala” American Aniuty 25.84 475, 3. Coe, Breaking the Maya Cade, 265-52 Linda Schele and David rede, A Ferest of Kings: The told Story of th Aacient Maya (New York: William Morrow and Ca. 1990) 41,1 3, David Carrasco, Rliion of Mesoamerica: Cosmovsion and Ceremonial Centers (San Francec: Harper an Row 1990) 39, iG2 The Mayan “Universe ‘According o the Mays, the world has been created and destroyed a numberof times. Each world the gods have brought into being hat heen created with the hope that humankind will worship the gods properly, and more often than not the gods have been disappointed. Their coatinsing attempts to create a perfect being, one who will honor the sacred is the fourda- {on of evolution. The Hopi Indians of Arizona, who were deeply influenced by the common spiritual heritage of Mesoamerica, sy that ‘humankind has been successively “emerging” through four different, worlds. The Zui of New Mexico, witha similar mythology, say that ‘man was created in the Underworld and looked fire like ard or ‘eptile, but hasbeen evolving through diferent worlds ever since, The ‘dea of mankind's spiritual evolution ies at the heat ofthe history of the costnos asthe Maya understood it. ‘The Creation of the World ‘The present world, the most recent in tis succession of worlds, was ‘ceed by a pair of gods—male and ferale—who were believed to be aspect ofa single deity. The ears known rendition ofthis creation Story has been revealed tous only recently through the decipherment. ‘of Mayan hierogiyphics. tis inscribed on the walls of three different, temples at Palenque and dater from the reign of Chan Behlum (Chawn-Ba-LOOM, 684-702), son of Pacal (Pa-KAHL) the Great!1 Saguar Wistom “The new creation began on the day 4 Ahau, 8 Cuma, in the year wwe all 3114 nc. First Pather and First Mother were alresdy present, for they had been born inthe previous word and had done the work of workd-making the beginning of the new cycle, creating the work in which we now live. Fest Father shaped the universe and raised the reat tree atthe center othe word. AS we shall see, this tree is every: ‘where even within us; in celestial terms itis the Milky Way. Fits. Father’ celestial helpers lad the three sacred hearth-stones in the sley-—stars that Westerners call the bel of Orion, In honor of that vent the Mays continee to place three stones in the hearth as the foundation oftheir homes. Meanwhile First Mother gave birth to the three oldest gods: the God of the Four Directions, the Night Sun Jaguar, and the Serpert-Foot God ‘The Cosmos of the Maya ‘The previous legend tells how our current word began, Further sources telus ofthe nature ofthis universe created by Fist Mother ata First Father a somecived by the Maya It as divided into three pars Heaven, Earth, andthe Underworld. Heaven, the home of the feos was compried of thirteen ayers shape ikea pyramid Each of these heen yrs of Heeven-—oF tes ofthe cose pramid—w red by one ofthe gods. fe Henn wefan so wasthe Under, The devon wa regard a an inverted pyramid of nine steps or layers. Hence the Mayan tiers was comprised of two pyramids, a8 upper and. lower one (igure ‘dark laa called Xialba (She-behiFBAH, “ihe ave vast some place”) ts ruled by z Ta T] the gods of death. Resen- ACER bling skeletons and smo ing large cigars, the nine lords ofthis Mayan Under- woud ere 4 colefal Tot FIGURE! TheMayanCormos indeed. ‘The bony figures “The Mayon ‘Universe I wo psd ort the Mean Dap ofthe Den rete “eath- {aro ofthe Fennec in Now Meio probaly owe hi sya {SE attue as much to thse ond of ba ss thy oo Be Gin Raps of ape eased ye nh Batwec Heaven tnd the Usderwerld )te arth and Sy the worl omen The Earth was imagined aca ft expe on est Ingen te mck yas rcelo lnten wl eed cso serous opal pond lof wate iesaconcy nown toa he peep of Meares Tn ution, the Maya Rengued.» eat Extn Serpent er Conn Dapn ne provine waste sy This Shy Serpent bud two heads an two mouth ene opened pen Hebe and theother spon the Underworld The ndaren plar iyo th Couric Serpent ws sy potaps Went fo the solic who cared the worn hsback There beneath te ei cas area epiancetre we tepng_soynbalof th perineal of Sing om he Day ofthe secede re Word Te he reat ives tre whe os etched Gown the Under sd whos branche second up mi lene, in" rar Ramon de Ordos y Alar became the fst ao pean tovith ncof ale: Heth mated and ied Ey asec bas altri the balding ey known oe Temple ofthe Crow and th Templo he Fled Cos foo he the temps tht contain he Penge eons). gad fther sr what he ed be operations of the rs of Glishence the nes ofthe emp gure 2) Pondering oe tow ths mba ofthe Chstan ign cul hare rechehe ‘Seve tha Merc wal before cade aay Ordos sn hin contenporsis bean fo hore aout psc Now word ourneby th nt sae the poste oman Indother Wht therar hacen nthe tenples wee actly mages ofthe Tes fete ental uso the Neoamecan une ees ingthe Te sf sew he Chita rs bot ere ed fete othe rat tha be cers specatons eet ties and hote-rting sons proved tobe arty ise ne Isstrethtthecou ate Worl Te ae the ane sol “The es of Lie sone of te few plat know etal or Stuicbouarie t te te ta eran shamans mb hen thew tela the aps thts Vgc meds12 Saguar ‘Wisdom central column of the Viking universe upon which Odin (another shaman) hung lke a sacrifice in serch of wisdom. It isthe tree that stood in the center ofthe Garden of Eden, and had passed into Hebrew myth from older Babylonian stories. The cross of Chris i yet another ‘World Tie: it was even sud, in medieval legend, that his cross kad been carved from a descendant of the Tres of Life which stood inthe Garden ‘of Eden, Someumes the World Te is perceived asa World Mountain, Tike Mount Mera in Vedic myth. The peoples of ancient Mexico hon ‘ored both concepts ofthe center—tree ard mountain. In ary event, the Tree of Life represents the center of the universe, the axis around which everything else revolves. The pyramids of Teotihuacén and CChichén Itz are images ofthis Wold Tree and Woeld Mountain FIGURE? ‘The Mayen Tre oftie Tenpleef te led Cen, aden The Magus Universe 18 “The Tree of Life was often represented in a T-shape, reminding Spanish priests ofthe cross. The T was symbolic not oaly of the tee, but ofthe vvifping energy contained within it Itrose from the back of the world-bearing crocodile and ascended into Heaven, The center of Al things, it was the artery between the terrestrial and celestial wworkls—the souls of the dead climbed it into the world of the gods. ‘The Milly Way, visible symbol of the World Tree, was sometimes Jenownas the Sac Be (SAHK BAY) or “White Road” and symetimnes a¢ the Xibalbs Be (Shee-bahl-BAH BAY) or “Road to the Awesome lace” When the Milky Way lay upon the horizon in Maya Landy, there wae black portion of sky above it which was called the Fk Ue [ECK WAY), the "Black Transformet” or “Black Drearyplce? This was the dark hole into which souls vanished towards the Otherworld Ifthe World Trees the center, the world that First ather and First Mother made isa fourfold world and its axes ate the four cardinal directions: Est, North, West, and South, “Many are familiar with the significance ofthe four directions in Native American thought, for they form the bass of the Medicine ‘Wheel among the tribes o the Great Plains The four directions are fandamental to most Native American spiritual traditions, not just those of Mesoamerica, and one finds variations in the colors and even the meanings atrbuted to these directions. Since thisbook is primar- lly concemed with the Maya, the scheme given below i gleaned from Mayan sources. Though there are differences between the Classic and contemporary concepts of the Four Directions, an underlying unity informs theenti symbolic sen. What olowssbwted os bth old and new concepts ‘East ast the diretion of sunrise nd of the spring. Iisa symbol begining, ofthe energy tht gees bith to (OTE Scion and en taste win the rering ¢Y cath ges bio the ower Spring othe ye ef hersingsin givebirth os new day, atthe erenly fc ofthe els Serpents and ed the colrsscaed te ese dtection ‘When a Mayan shaman work his path he typical faces Fast he facing his far, in both the sprit and mater seme. ‘Ths he attributes both his destiny ands psa chiden tthe East19 Saguar Wise West West is the direction of sunset, the direction of surumn, In the Wes all things come to an end: cret- \ tues die, just as the sun takes ts nighely death when, it dips below the western horizon, ora the leaves de and blowaway inthe fl, Butwhat seems tobe the end i fact, only ‘one stage nan eternal proces. Sou wl he reborn in Hesven even as the cart will be reborn in spring. An action or idea which has its birth inthe East may dip below the surface of the symbolic western horizon and experience an Underworld sojourn, but it will arise again rcbom, Hence West is the direction of transformation, the Under world fae of the Celestial Serpent. Since the Mayan shaman typically faces Fast, the West is behind hir. This isthe place ofthe ancestors, «ofall who have come before him and who stand behind him to give him thie support Both black and blue are colors associated with West. In Aztec poctry “the red aad the black” isa metaphor of wholeness, of com plteness It signifies the polar opposites of ast and West, and hence the process of birth, transformation, and rebirth. On the cross of the four directions, the East West polarity forme the herizntal arm, ike 4 road. Among North American tribes this horizontal arm finds its «equivalent in the Medicine Wheel asthe “Good Red Rosd” the medi path, Thies the road that leads from birth o spiritual transfor mation, tne Road of Li. Noxrt Another arm of the directional ers runs from sr North to South In Classical times, North was equiv- alent to “above; the place ofthe sun at zenith. Like ‘West, itwasasociated withthe ancestral spirits who Ihave departed this world, The rosd tothe Underworld isthe rosd to the north of the sx. Hence North has the meaning of wisdom, the wisdom we acquire from the ancestors Is color is white. When the Mayan shaman stands facing Eat, the North ison hit Jef Asin other mystical systems around the world, the lft isthe fem- inine side. Hence to the contemporary shaman. this direction repre sents women, rdationships, and marriage The Mages Unsere 15 sours In Classical times, the South was equivalent £0 “below” twas symbolicothe maserioasgenerative power that comes fom beneah the ri and makes x the plans sprout and grow. ts olor bs yeow, the ((((@)))> coor ofthe growing corn. South is symbolic ofthe {generative power that gives life to all things, Is the diection of Sundance: In the Sacred Calendar, ach yea is governed y one of the four directions. Years governed by the South ae held to be the most fivorale. especially in terms of agicalturl eyes, for the sgowth of the sel Facing East, the sana bas the South on Bis ight Sige. Thus the South symbolizes male enery, the sength and abun: dance of ares family ne en ‘ahr nfo forth eters ita primary deton (77) scmarimmeniminalnenn eee C icici emma $e Soe Sacred Geomancy The Weld Tice w the cere o4 cosmos rom whch four ated Siccions erate had power sescnancey every spec of Mesoamerican Gvitation, bat nove more =e honey ans ing ac ofthe peat Moar cures based Wet te stacy or cpl These apt cies wee dened according a aconcet we el gerancy—teced form ofacbtcune onc eign ncn raced meena aie Ameren eons tha sued the eon esi air that the yal founder af Mesunscon habe tan the Tacs or Makers came fom le cle Tee ie ‘AT wold em Beare sl ee he ob so aaeement pon wher ti orginal Tye hoe ‘who proved the Spann monk Benans de Sigua with16 Suguar Wis information for his siteenth-century encyclopedia of Artec lore, placed iti the east, The Mayan chronicle entitled The Arma of the ‘Cokchiques places i in the west. At ther times, these ae said 10 be four Tuas, onefor each ofthe sacred diectons. Clealy, Tala remains asmucha mythial 1s geographies locaton, Profesor David Carrasco has argued that Tula isthe “center place itself the World Tree or World Mountain around which the fous direc- tions revolve} He goes on to theorize that successive cultures erected ‘ther capital cites a geomantic models ofthe original Tula, The great sacred city was always Talz the origiral center place re-created again and agin. Ths, acording to Caraic, is why so many different loea- tiom in Mexico—Teotihuacin, Xechicalco, Cholula, and. Tale Hidalgo—sre all identified with Tula. The wandering Mayan sea traders who founded Chichén led regarded their own capital as asm ilar geomantic world center a Tula, a did each dynasty of kings that ruled the city-states ofthe Classic Maya, ‘Herein Kes the explanation forthe remarkable astronomical and sgeomantic alignments thet characterize these Mesoamerican cen- ters—they were not merely cies, they were mancalas orcosmograms. ‘They were worldly manifesations ofthe archetypal Tula, mental maps constructed according to the dictates ofan intricate geomancy. The {area temple of Feathered Serpent at Chichen Itz, for example, is 2 true World Moun'ain. Ithes fou stsrways one running up each ofits {our sides to symblize the foar directions of time. The axes of the rnortheas: and southwest corners ofthe pyramid are oriented towards the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset. ‘Many tourist and Nev Age ravers continue to gether in Chichen Itza on the spring equinox to watch an amazing spectacle which was planned by the Maya. Tre balustrades along the four stairways ‘eseznd to cath in the shape of feathered serpents. The mein doorway ofthe temple that crowns the pyramid opens te thenorth, the road to the center ofthe sky On the equinoxes, shafts of sunlight ripple down the back ofthe two gret serpents ining the northern stairase. Here {sa trly wonderful example of Mayan sired geomancy-—the Cosmic Secpent who forms the central energetic pole ofthe World Mountain and World Tice becomes illuminated, charged with power, pointing the way tothe ancestral well f soul that listo the north. ‘The central plazs of Chichén Itz, Tke the great plazas of other Mayan cities, symbolizes the ocean of creation from which all things have arisen inthe center of this plize isa simple platform with four Me Magus Univerre 17 stinvays oriented to the solsital diretions and symboliring ance again the four directions tha dhe gods established atthe beginning of the world. The “rorthem path” through Chichen ita leds from the ‘World Mountain, down the backs ofthe feathered serpents t the cos- mie sea through the original center place where the gods established the four directions, and on tothe so-called Great Sacrificial Welk which surely represented theentranceto the Underwrld, the cave af oul, ‘The Inner Tree Jostastte woxid Teo Weel Mountain a univers symbol hat trascnds alta boundaries, soisthe ea ht the ena eo Inowniin sly hin the hum body-Thre iv prec cor. Tpondene beeen the achitcare of Heme the macros, and the constuton of ma, the mirocum As there oa ental tre ori fore th pet point the wri or he nies Uhewsethere mune a cena that forms he pvt point tina pit entity, Acceding to Hind hong. he spin Col the haan alg of Mount Mra sorting te Kabel inte adi the Tee 0 Le found rt ein the mynd Ga. den of en, but within the human body waar on coesponds tothe spinal column abate alter fom wine eat rave te Wo Mountain or Tee! Lit ane th lieing poner othe go Hows awn there an sult ht Sows nthe sia cen ging let theinner orton mn, Hinds eat ie hands Kae ‘sti know itsthe Sein othe Cat May ae PETZ). the “aewofhenen” whe to modern day Nayar Gendarme “The spiritualia’s ability to walk a metaphysical tightrope between ‘healing and soreryllasirates an important point about contemporary ‘Mayan life Many Mayan people fes sorcery and spend a great deal of ‘me protecting themselves from the atacks of malevolent sharnans ‘The most important ingredients in ther protective magicare: ‘The Word of the Four Cireetions 27 (COAL tesin, gathered from ihe sacred copal tee the wordy cor respondence of the great Would Tree and aspirin ts ovrright, iscapable of overcoming evil Copal incense burned to protect agains evil forces, black magi, avd such spiitual diseases as exw fright, ane gre. Itisalso used to summon the ancestors RUE is universally recognized as the herb of grace. This strong spiritual medicine s best known for its ability to ward off evil spirits. Rue can be mixed with dunk root (sori) and pow- dered white stone (see below, pizcra de Esquipals) to banish jealousy ora bad case of nerves. HOLY WATER, cllecte from the nearest Catholic church, can be speinkled about the house or grounds, or used to ancint and blessa spiritually troubled person. PIEDRA DE ESQUIPULAS, a caleim-based stone, is found at sacred mountain in Gustemals. It named forthe “back” or [Native statue of Christ tthe shrine of Esquipuls. The stone is round to a fine powder and added to + tea also containing skunk root, rue and holy water. riak it three times & day to break enchantments and aver the envy of others. This may bea bithard t come by iFyoa ve north ofthe border, though there is another healing Christ of Esquipulas et the village of Chi- mayo in northern New Mexico. The sanctuary there coatains & Pit of “healing earth” Gather 2 bit of tand mix it in vate, a¢ with the piedra de Esquipulay. BASIL, called ca cl sux (ah Kahl TOON) in Yoestén, ie familiar wild and catvated spice used ina variety of ethnic reipes In the ran forest tis also used to break enchantments ard ward off evil spirit. Burm i for seven Friday to clesr an unpleasant atmeshere in the horse. ROSEMARY burned with copa resin makes a off evi pris and eavy. For protection, rosemary can be burned for nine Friday. SKUNK ROOT is an herb used by Mayan shamans to increase their powers, Bol the root or bark and drink ita ea ‘Say this prayer when using any ofthe above remedies: ‘May elt harmful evil depart from ths place. In the name of. the Creator Sobe it incense to ward cure of copal and2B Sear Wid ‘There are many mare techniques o spiritual protection whch form prt of the Mayan magical tradition. Amulets are especially popula ‘To make one, place a sprig of rus, a chip of copal incense and tiny segment of Esquipalas stone (or Chimayo dirt) on a bit of balsam bark. Folda square ofblack silk or cotton around the items to create a small, neat bunele, Sew ap the edges with black thread. Wear the ‘pouch arourd your neck ot hep ton or about your bodyatal tines. Living at the Center of the World ‘The Maya continuetaliveina fourfold world. In many highland com- ‘uniter, fou local mountains ar accounted stcred and at sid to represent the energies ofthe four directions. The Yuestee Maya still recognize four spiritual guardians for the sacred directions though row those gustdians have ‘aken on diferent names—St. Dominic rales inthe East and St James the Younger inthe West, whe Gabriel the Arckange guntds the northern direction and Mary Magdalene (a filting ptroness of fetliy) isin the South! “The four directions give the shaman the principal magical core: spondences—colors,sessons and metaphysical concepts—though the ‘ruc eomplesity of Mayan magic is only reveeed through « study of the Sacred Calendar. In order o understand how the Mayan sbarean perceives the spiritual universe, make use ofthis very simple exercise Meditation: The Four Directions 1. Stand facing the East 2, Take a deep breath and close your eyes. imagine that you stand nthe center ofall things the ery navel ofthe univers. You are the World Tee. Your roots stretch down to the Underworld, and your mind touches the heavens. Above your bead shines the ‘NorthStar. You are the Milky Way, the great cosmic highway, 9.Now imagine that spiral of energy is ising up out ofthe earth, ‘traveling up the back of your les, then up your spine the trunk ‘of your own inner World Tree. Tis energy is cli, stablizing, and abundant. n fac al possible abundance and good fortune comesto you asa result ofthis earthy power. 4.Now imagine another spiral of energy, Booding down from the heavens above, entering your body through the crow of your he Wel ofthe Foe Direstons 29 head and ieveling down yourspinalcolumn into the abundant ceurth. Ths foree embodies spiritual power; itis symbolic of {your inspiration, your connection with the divine, This is the energy the Clasic Mays called ir the “dew of heaven.” 5. Visualize these rwo energetic forces as spirals of white light, one moving fiom the sky into the earth, the other from the extth into the sky. Together they form a double spiral taveing up and own your spine, lke the double heli of DNA molecule 6 Now stretch your arms out fom your ses, 0 that you stand as ‘cross the ceater of all things. Remember, to the Maya the Cristian cross but 2 symbol ofthe cross ofthe four direc- ‘ions the World Tre, andof the fourfol universe itself You ae that universe. _Atyourright band, tothe South, are gathered all the male pow ‘ersofthe universe. Since the Maya trace thei ancestors through the father’s side. these “male powers” include all the living riembers of your fri. In Mayan magic we learn to honor all ‘our relations, so for the moment you must forget about any psychological “issues” you may have with these people, Love them anyway. Also at your right hand are all she psychological actnibuts we general associate with malenes, including yout sense of authority, astrtiveness, power, and command, Now concentrate on your left hand, Here in the North, are gathered all the female powersof the universe. Some rational shamans cy thatthe marriage ceremony its is symbolially “toyour left” So, whether you are male or female, see all your intimate relations, aswell s the actual women who come into your if, on your left hand. Once again, forget about any iss you have with these people, and simply love ter, In back of you, to the West, stand all your ancestors, whether fiom your own family or the worldatlarg. Here lies the colee- tive spiritual power ofall those who went before you. When Your oven time comes to die, you will became pat ofthis great colkctive human unconscious that resides in the “poo! of souls” Wewill explore the pool of sous later, but for nove sm ply acknowledge the power ofthe ancestors behing you. In front of you, tothe East. esthe future. Dp you have children (of your own? They are is the East, for they are part of your80 Sauer “Wisden ‘future. This is where your spcitual path is, for on the spiritual path we always walk forward, never back. Recause magical or ritual practice is part of the spiritual path, and because divination withthe Sacred Calendar helps us to understand the future, some Mayan shamans say that divination is “in the East” 7. Breathe and reflect quietly on this, your own Woeld ree, until ithevomes partof you, Many Mayan communities have their own “world centr?” which is taually @ pagan shrine somewhere in or near the village. Like the ancient temples, it serves a 2 power spat representing the axis of the ‘world, the sacred tee or mountain Such a shrine usualy consist of & natural stone altar in rural seting-—fragments of broken pottery, balls of burnt copal incense, and mounds of candle wax abound, Many traditional Mayans, especialy shamans or ther peacttioners of the “old ways” alo work from private altarsin theic homes. By mak Ing such an alla, you create the cener ofthe universe, the pwvet of the four directions, in your own living space ‘Aa alter may be simple thing-in fact the simpler the beter In ‘Mayan villages, where money is arate thing, an old bench or card ‘able may serve for an alar, even artong the most powerfal shamans. Begin by finding an appropriate pies of furniture. Very few Maya would place an aka dead center in the mide of room—after al, ails ate large and space i limited The best place for an altar sagan’ a wall or ina corner. [Now you may begin to decorate your altar. Among the Maya thsi 4 highly individual and improviestional affair. An altar may be = model of the world axis but it also an artistic expression of you. Here are some things one might find ona traditional Mayan altar: A. CROSS—To entera Mayan home and vicw the family altar with its prominent cross may give a visitor the impression of con ventional Catholicism. Mayan croses are more properly sym- bolic ofthe World Tree and the four directions; thelr meaning soes back much farther than Christian hegemony in the New World. A Mayan alr cos, fr example, may be garbed in 2 duipit or traditional Mayan dress, aswell asin beads charms, Tae War of the Four Direction 81 andso on. Ifroses bother oa in general, you dos’ need one, butif ou can appreciate theancentaymboliem andthe artic possibilts, uy draping a cos with your faverte magical ‘objets or ever “essing tix do's clothes ‘CANDLES—Candles represent forgiveness or pan. They cor- respond tthe daysign Volare inthe oldeaendar the vale, ‘who ext carrion isasymba for “kami an-ovt” Siler, {he candle isalso a purifying agent, baring up our “sins” WDOLS—Mayan people, atleast until resealy, wed «0 fe ancient statuettes or other objec inthe uns ané bring them Ihome. This practice, ofcourse, has become more rae a oc authorities become inereasingiy severe about Spotting” archaeological sites. In any event itisvery unlikely that you ive ina zane where sich antigues would be avadable (ant would be wll egal wo take them, anyrvay) Ifyou Bike the ides of plang arus with a Mayan “ooK" to them on your alta, you ‘will ave to make do with store-bought repeodvctions. Alo note that some Cathobe saints appear to have taken om the ‘meaning of ld gods, and what Ios like a sandy cos may in factbe a reninder ofthe ancient ways. Simon Peter, for ex pis isthe contemporary equivalent of the old pagan Earth Feather, whom we sll meet shorty FOOD, POWERS, AND PHOTOs—Mayan people may ceve- ence thee anestors by placing ther pictures on the atar— Grandma's photo honors Granda’ pit and le hep her ‘valued or much-loved energy inthe home. y the sme token, food may somtimes be fon an akar “or thedead” This prac: tices of ees, part ofthe popula Mexican holiday called the Day of the Dead elerated on Noverber 1. To pace fay photos objets thatremind you of loved ones othe occasion burst on an akar creates avery colofl space, and akare ‘roughout bickwoods Mexico are colorful eight woven able- clots or sarapes, vibrant flowers, bots of lesbo. wedding cake figures, even Christmas ree ight sell opular. Us your inmginaion. “piv” does have o mean drab or cores. INCENSE—Among the Maya, incense ypcilly mean sopal You an burn it om anything, wether tbe an old platy fay92 Saquar Wison incense burner, or usta rock. Copal is readily available in most American health food stores, DIVINKTION BAG—A Calendar shaman usually keeps hisbagof divining seeds on or aga the lar. Tiss aspeca topic, which westall cover in Chapter. CRYSTALS AND OTHER STONES—This too sa special topic. With some stones, you muy establish an especially powerful relationship. Such stone—one that file you with a feeling of| power and the sacredness of life—may in fact be a “seeing stone” or “stone of light” known in Yucatec Maya asa sastan (ahs TOON), Finding Your Stone of Light ‘A sastun canbe anything—for the grea contemporary shaman and healer Don Bigo Pani it was simple childs marble, whl for bis Principal student, Rosita Arvigo it ins New Age type” crystal Ifyou posessastone or crystal so special to you that roa suspectit may be your seeing stone or sastun, you can use this ritual as taught by Don Bigi, wo “test” Even i your stone doest turn out tobe a true astu, the first bal of the etal will “power up" or charge any crystal or stone, Another way to charge 2 stone isto keep it overnight ina las of brandy after praying overt, as is done in Yucatin ‘According :o Dor Bigio, the fllowing ritual should be performed ona Friday, 1. Hole your crystal in one hand, Dip the fingers of your other hand intoa glassof someind oliquor—Don Figo used rum, while in Vucatén they often use brandy, which s my own pref ‘rence. te cipping your fingers, mae the sign ofthe cross on both sides of your stone Speak the following words: Sas sot ask tha you tlle ll want to krow. Teach ie to understand signs. Viw me in all my dreams. Give me the snswers Tseek I have faith that this satan will answer al ry prayers. Go the Father, Go the So ana Gol the Hey Spirit. (Acwill become clea in few pages one could ako say "In the same of God in the name of the Earth Fates end in the name hy We of the Four Directo 93 ‘of the Ancestors”) Repest the dipping and the prayer nine 3.Go to seep with your tone or crystal neay—in your hand, ‘under your pillow, or wherever i feels right If your stone actualy a sastun, the spirts will come to you in 2 ream and Snstmact you i te proper use. ‘Ifyou want to enhance the possibility of powerful, significant dream experience, you can do what some Mayan sharvans do wea they are “seching a dream” Drink «glass of warm water ‘mixed with 2 tablespoon of lemon juice in order to clean out yout system. Do this abou an hour afer dinner inorder to give yourself time to digest fest, as well es giving yourself time to make afew trips othe bathroom before retiring, 4. Ifthe spits come to you ia « ream to confiem your stone asa ‘sastun, they wil give you very specific instructions as to how your stone should be used. Bvery person and every stone is unique; henes every set of magical instruction: willbe ciferent ‘rom any other, Follow instructions othe etter. 5.1fyeu de have «dream, and ifthe stone in your posession isin fact your sastun, continue to honor it br signing the cross with alcohel and saying the prayer nine times every Friday night. ‘Though some shamans.use a seeing sone in combination wth Cal- ‘endar divination, this isan extremely advanced technique Ifyou di ‘cover your seeing stone, you wil probably wish to setitasde, keeping. itseparae from the rst of your divining equipment (sce Chapter 7) ‘The Earth Father ‘The Quiché recognize their own trinity, which is quite dierent than the trinty of the Catholic Church. The Quiché terms are Tiox, ‘Mando, and Naniat® The word Tix tee-OSHE) is a Quiché transla tion ofthe Spanish word Dios, meaning God: Tiex includes the Chis- tian God an¢ all his saints, the etire Catholic pantheon. ‘Mundo, ofcourse, isthe Spanish word for earth end indus not ‘oly the earth tse bur specially caves and mountains, fer caves and mouniains were regarded as gateways to the Underworld in pre: Columbian times. Santo Mundo oF Ssint World, the second person of ‘the Native Mayan tint i an ambivalent character84 gna Wado Like the old Underworld gods this Farth Father is treacherous and somewhat untrustworthy. Yee the Maya realize that i i Santo Mundo—tickster though he may be—who i cesporsible for all ‘worldly prosperity. After alle lives below the earth, and anyone can ‘see that this she place where the gren plats, expecially thelife-gv- ing corn, hare their origin. All our natural food—and henee all or natural abundence—arises from the earth, The Earth Father maybea tempestuous and unpredictabe ‘orc, some might even call him evil, for heisblieved to be responsible for all our madness and craziness. Yet itis he who gives usall the good things of his world. Tn the villg of Santiago Atilan, a Guatemalan town that is wall lknoven for its adherence to costambre and the traditional ways, the “Earth Father goes by the name of Mazimon. (His role as Earth Father, however, isa highly ambivalent one. Martin Prechtel, who knows him ‘vol say: "He isnt really he’) “The name ist is revealing— sa combination of Maar, the okd ‘Mayan word for the Earth Lard or (sometimes) the spirit ofthe yea, and Sinory from St. Simon Peter, Lt it be noted, however, that in ‘many traditional Central American communities St. Simon 1s a “patron sant” of sorcery and Hack magic rather than « peaceful fish- cerman. He plays much the same role as does St. Gipeian, who, in ‘South America basnumerous grimoires ané books of spells dedicated tohis name, Let it be noted lo, thateven the highly significant name ‘of Masimon i just wil for deper teuthsMartin Freche! lo sy “Maximon isnothis rel rame" ‘Maximon represents natare in the raw, the destructive power of neture which monies in earthquake, Hoods, and storms, He is & wandere: who travds on foct, and may strike a man with madness or snakebite. He is worshipped a the mouths of eaves, which ofcourse is where the Underworld gods have aheays been worshipped. He may be ‘he spell descendant of the ol Mayan god called Pauhatua (Pow. al TOON), an Underworld god who presided over what we might cll “the peychedelicenema’—Mayan abauob often took enemas of the juice of psilocybin muskzooms in preparation for thee rituals any ‘vent, most contemporary Mayan people fear Maximon, and only the people of Santiago Aten pay him euch special reverence Maximon isan iol, almost ifesized, whose coftadie oF teary Seciety keeps him stored in the rafters of their “dawn house” for most ofthe year He sports black coat and hat a blac beard, and a big cigar, Sometimes he i depicted with « bottle of booze as well Just The Ward ofthe Four Circe — $6 before Lat, the young men ofSaniago Atitlan go into the mountains to gather various fowers and fruits for Maxton. They go without their wives, Bt they are encouraged to go wild with sexcal activity, when they return. After all, Maximon isthe patron saint of worldly abundance, and is believed to bea porerful sexual force who will lend vigor and potency to the young men. The flowers and fruits they gther are stored next to Maximon in the dawn house. ‘When the people celebrate his power during Lent, Manition will come down fom the rafters, the mountain offerings will be presented tohim, and the people wil danee and sing. Maximon will be taken to the charch, hore on the shoulders of his “horse” a specially chosen cofradia member. A pole symbolizing the World Tie wil be rased in aside chapel. Macimon wil be eased up onthe pole: n other words, he wil hang fom the World Tree as do all god sharnans during theit Iniviation—including Christ. As for Christ himself, the more staunch Catholic members ofthe village have made him the star ofa soremony very similar to Maxi mons. On Good Friday, an effigy of Christi carried to the church, and hanged on yet another World Tree which is raised ina small pt of ‘earth called “the center ofthe world” Thie Chris ike Masimon, is a nature spirit, for within his cloak one can see fruit and smal animals Intime, he is taken down and placed ina glass covered casket covered with flowers and decorated with Christm tree lights. Chest and ‘Maaiion ex the church atthe same time, and engage ina kind ofit- ual conftontation—during which, according tothe devotes of Max ‘mon, Chrit will be “impregnated” by Maximvon. Thus, the New Yest ‘muy begin, forall seasonal forces may be resolved to the dualism of Light (Chns, yang) and Darkness (Maximon, yi). Tor the mast part, this dynamic tonsion between Christ Lord of Heaven and Maximon the Underworld Father is balanced cosmic dance. However, outright conflict sometimes deveops, In 1950, a Catholic pres, conrinced that Masémson wat actualy Jods, the slayer ‘of Chit (which is in fact only one of his many atzbues), ile the “Maximon idol from the éawn house. Somebow it ended up in the Musée de Homme in Paris, where it was enshrined for many years, ‘Then in 1973, Martin Prechtel, slong with the poet Nathaniel Tart, egotiated the return of Maximon to Santago Atitan. The French ambassador rented a launch and ssiled across Take Atlan accompa nied by female diplomat who carried the mas ther wis. Thus Mazimon returned home,$6 aguar Wiston Sadly encugh, the conict has continued. Martin was driven outof Guatemala by goverament death squads who strafed his house. The growing strength ofboth Catholic and Evangelicals in the Guatemalan highlands presents an ongoing danger tothe devetees of Maximen. But, for the moment, Maximon continues to survive. ‘The Pool of Souls The “third person” of the Mayan trinity is Nantat (nahn-TAHT), hich signifies the Ancestors ard corresponds to the ahaunb of times st who were ritually woke by the Classe Mayankings. The Ancestors are everywhere het spirits permeate our ives. The Maya ask permis- sion of the Ancestors before undertaking any operation—sach as buildings house—which might influence the family structures forthe ‘Ancestars remain guardians ofthe family. The Ancestors may also retara to us taking on new life, for the Maya (or sore of them) have concept of reincarnation ‘Most Mayan peoples belfeve that there are infact two souls. Con- captions about these two souls ciffer widely: the summary hece is ‘based on information from the Quiché Maya of Momostenangp. ‘Every human being has a “lie-soul;" one that is linked with the ‘body and that, should it depart from the body. would cause the per~ son's death within a short time. This hfe-sotl i also called the slab (oosh-LAH) or “breath soul's well asthe anbna, a Spanish or Latin ‘word for soul. This soul arrives at birth and is lodged in the heart. ‘There is another component ofthis lfesoul, which may sometimes be regarded asa separate entity altogether. This's the coyopa or “body lightning” which we have already discussed. Because not everyone is ‘bon with coyopa (though t may be acquired through ritual) to pos- sess thls powerful energy isto be marked for «shamans destiny ‘The second soul isthe “free soul” This soul differs from the life- soul for several reasons. The life soul, for example, tied to the body, ‘while there soul may literally roam fre without harming its posses- ‘sor. One suspects that the freesoulcorrespendsto the ‘astral bods” or “astral cul” of ther occult traditions around the world. Stil, there are diferences. The free soul is sometimes called the rnagual, which is actually a term borrowed from Nahuatl. The tradi= ‘onal denition ofa nagualiea guardian eprit or animal totem which presides over an individual’ destiny, One may dlcover this guardian The Wr of the Fone Oreste — 87 spirit through a dream, or, among some Native peoples, by noting the frst animal to cross the newborn path. Amagusl may sko bea Force of mature—fr instance, a thunderbolt—rather than an animal. The ink between a person and his nagul or totem is indissluble and life- Jong, In Mayan thinking, one's nagual is inked with the day one it born. To be bocn on she day Eagle, for earmple, indicates that the eagle is your nagual. There are other terms for this link between the [roe soul and the day-siga of one’ birth: ether one may be described asyour “face” o¢ “destiny” Itis this fee soul tat, after an individual’ death, travels on and say in time reincarnate. Mayan souls are sometimes ssid to journey to the “pocl of souls” fiom whence they may reach back (@ us and communicate wth us through caves—doorways tothe Underworld. Jn Quiché territory, for example a cave near Utallan is eepecally rev erenced asthe great entryway tothe Underworld. In essence, any cave ray seve, and shampans who wish to communicate with the spirits of the Ancestors will ofen journey to thenearest cave to perform rituals ‘The sanctity of eaves is taken very seriously. Inthe late 1960s, an archaeologist named Dennis Puleston got the notion that he would ‘exeavate the caver of Belize, hoping to find ritual object frm the ‘Classic Period, The tional Mays in the area refused to help him the only workers be could obtain were those who were strongly influ: enced hy Western society and had ceased to below in the ways oftheir. fathers. Puleston didn get fr with his excavations, however. He was struck by lightning and killed while standing on the top ofthe great pyramid of Chichén Io dating thunderstorm. His archaeclogical colleague, Barbara MacLeod, proved to be wiser—she rewmed to Belize and hired local shamans to help her make atonement at the mouths of the very ewes she had once planned to excavite Deep below the surface ofthe earth, thea, lies the pool of souls, ‘where the miguals ofthe departed wat. I bonored propery they may ‘communicate with us through dream, vsion, oF through the voize of ‘shaman, much as theabauob ofthe Classic Period spoke through the Dries kings who performed their rituals atop the pyramids—which, Tike caves wer gateways tothe world heyond, In time, «shaman may help a departed soul return. Mary Day- beepers practice a ritual caled “planting” wherein the soul of an ‘ancestor s magically “planted” in the body ofa pregnant woman, and ‘thus enabled to retum to earth once more. And so the cycle of life goes en.38 Saguar Widow Celebrating the Days of the Dead Throughout Mexico (and, increasingly throughout couthern Califor nia and the American Southwest) the Days ofthe Dead are celebrated ‘on Halloween and on the days immediately following. The “oficial” Day ofthe Dead is November I. Altar are evected in homes and ded ‘cated to departed members of ones family. Colorfully decorated, thes altars contain religious ieans and objects as well x photographs ofthe deceased. Food is cooked and placed apoa the altar to fed the dead. After the deceased have take their invisible portion, the ‘amily will et the actual meal. Candies made inthe shape of deletons are particular favorites among the children, During the Days of the Dead, Mexican families visit the graves of Aoceased relatives in their local cemeteries. They decorate the graves, so that the cemeteries become colonfl, rmgical places Picnics are held, anc in tis wa, to, families symbolically feast with their ances tors. The people say thst the spirits of the dead will wall abroad at ight during these days, and search for shir previous homes. Paths of marigolds the lowers the dead are often steewn in front of hows. Iki believed that a path of these flowers wil aust the spzits ofthe deceased in finding thelr way home. ‘To maintain a close and friendly connection with the Ancestorsisa way of assuring that the whole community-—beth living and dead— vill maincain its spiritual health, and tha a continuity with adi and with the past will be preserved in the present. Most of us may not live ia small ilages that constitute words unto thersselves, bat weal, live in some kind of community, and we al hare a duty to help our community maintain its spiritual heath—even, orpethapsespecialls, ‘we have come to peredve thst community as glabal in nature. After all, healing the tribe is the proper business of shamans. One of the ‘most important ways that we can do ths to honor the Ancestors. "The traditional mse for thie practice is Halloween or Al Soul’ Day, but it may bedone at any time, A Traditional Celebration 1, list you wil need photographs or other mementos of your dead. in Mexico, the altars for the Days of the Dead are deco- ‘ated with famed photographs, poctrait, and personal abject ownedby one's departed parens, grandparents, siblings and 30 Te Wel of the Four Obestions — 29 on, These mementosare et forth upon your altarasimages and reminders of those who have passed beyond, ‘The notion of honoring deceased relatives maybe troubling for some, specially if you've gone through therapy encouraging you to ind the source of your own negative habit patterns in parental programming. Why pay homage to 3 mether who as abusively cold, or a father who was a conic alscholic? Why should you honor a grandmother who shattered the family structure for generations o come by runing off witha camival Darker long ego? Aren' these the very people from whom you ‘are attempting to berate yourself! Bat the Feast for the Dead is a much more ancient tradition than any current brand of therapy, and it may force you to see things in diferent ight. To honor the dead ie an act of ove which requies that we forgive our wn past ad all the people init, What you hots in your father isnot hisalcoholsrm—it is his immortal soul, a soul in which you share simply by vires of Deng human. Wat you honor in your cold or abusive mother is not he fierce rigidity, but the flere fire of spirit that once burned within her and which burrs within all living. Following aashamanic path means that you must arn to nurture a loving conser for the Ancestors, for all the departed souls of your total human community, which goes beyond mete emotional attachment or aversion. This can orly be éefinec, 4s the Bud- hits define it in terms of compassion, 2. Now you must feed the dead. What shal you feed ther? Any- 1 you like In Mexico, it would not be unusual to cook ap Grandpa's favorite enchilada recipe and place it on the atat next to hispicture 3.When you leave food and delnk on the altar, ty to hold good ‘thoughts for those to whom the food is dedicated. Canter pte, reflect, imagine, What was good about that person, or hose people? What was beautifl, a part of ther essential immortality of spirit? Sit and meditate on these things. When your hearts fled with love for yous particular ancestors, you ‘ay send forth tat love allover the world, coall our ancestors, and tothe living as wel,40 Lagu Wisdom 4 Leave the food onthe ata fas long as practicable (cons ering the nature ofthe food, its perishabity, the temperature of the room, ete). Takei ff the altar and eat t while it ell fica and nourishing, you can, share it wih like-minded rel: tives who honor the same dead, or with fiends who have theit ‘own ancestors tose, Eat in silence, and in reverence far the souls and spirits of those who came before you. Cherish ther with each bite, drink deep oftheir spirit wit each sp. Mayan magic and pisculity isan immensely complex topics only the merest outline ofthis extrocdinary system can be given here. ‘There is, however, one subject that must be uniecstood in depth in ‘order to gain any degre of real knledge about the Meyan Tradition ‘This isthe Sacred Calendar. ENDNOTES 1. Barbara Tedlock, Time and she Highland Maya (Albugerque: ‘University of New Mexico, 1982) 54-8 2, Rosita Arvigo, with Nadine Epstein and Maryn Yaguinto, stun: [My Apprenticeship ith Maya alr (Sen Francisco: Harper and ow, 1994), 4, Tedloe, Time and the Highland Maya, Tt. 4, one Nicholson, Mosican anid Central American Mythology (loador: Paul Hamlyn, 1967), 22. 5. Arvigo, Epstein and Yaquiat, Saute, 117-21, 6 Telos Tie and the Highlond Maya, 4-2. ie) 4 ‘The Sacred Calendar "The Sacred Calendar it about time. ‘We all know what time iso: think we do. Itisa suceessin of dawns and sunsets, éays and nights and seasons, We may divide into hours and nin- ‘ules or years and centuries, Dut we can never step ‘outside of it—except perhaps in moment of special which constitute the peakexperiences of ie Time is one of the esential words Life itselt is subject vo the regimen of iment justhuman and animal if, butte if of planes and galaxies as well ‘Time the one inescapable faci of exvtence Be that as it may, oar personal quantam of biological energy will ‘wind down, in time, and time will overcome usin the end. We 38.8 species have always been inclined to regard time at akin of tskrnat= ter arlene clock thatholds usalWaysin its grasp, ticking eway the ‘minutes toward our eventual extinction. Time i the linea reality that ives shape and pattern to our ives, defining ave morality. ‘Acconling te many traditional sceites there ae two dimensions ‘of time: ordinary time and sacred time. What has just been described ‘sondinary time oedinary time represents a process to which all of we are subject snd before which all of us are ultimately poweitss, then sacred time ‘epresents cosmic order. tis the foundation of rhythm and motion. tis the glue that binds the universe together. Withost the tense of cosmic order implied by this sacred dimension of time, nothing could hheppen. There would be no loom apon which to weave the apestry of#2 Jaguar Wate life. In many ancient mythologies, the gods do the work of universal creation in a world where time does not yet exist Time iselfs the summit of cretion, for iti oly when time exists that the new made ‘world is reay for humankind. The creation of time replaces orginal chaos with cosmic order Mardi king ofthe gods of ancient Babylon, slays the primordial serpent Tiamat, symbolic of cheos, and when he Isdone he sets the stars in their courses” and thus establishes the cal- ‘endar Similarly, the Viking god Odin and his brothers slay the great frost-giant Yin, fshicning the world from his carcass and, finally, altencing tothe calendar by putting the heavens in order. Stcred time exists cortemporaneously with ordinary time. It is fashioned ofthe same elemients—seaional ang cclestal— which com: prise ordinary time It is simply our altered or ritualized perception of time that allows usto enter its sacred dimension, When the shaman draws his magic circle, or hen a priest approacies the altar to celebrate the mas, he enters ritual space. This isa sacred place where the erdinary les of realty dot apply. This is where magic happens. The centr of the shaman's circle, the altar ‘ith its bread and wine—here lies the center of the universe. ‘Weente itval space in our éalylixes whenever we prayor mitt, whenever wecreaie—in shor, whenever we pay homageto the presence fof the divine in our lives. For that moment, Weare athe center ofthe universe, Whenever we enter ritual space, we ener rial time as well ‘Ordinary time may be going oa all around us, but we are no longer @ part of i. Our perception of time has changed. It's no longer a mere progression of hours and minutes, but alising vita spritsal presence Taisis what the sucred dimeasion of time sal about. According to Chinese tradition, the primeval sige Fu Ht “looked "upward and contemplated the imagesin the henens:he leaked down- ward and contemplated the paterns on earth Prom thi original act ‘of contemplation arose tree diferent ways of measuring sacred space and time: astrology, geomancy, and the f Ching. Both ordinary and ‘socred time are generally measured by the patterns of heaven and ‘arth, for itis these patterns, these constantly securring cycies, that iterate us withthe cosmis order underlying all things. Honoring these recurring changes is yet another way for esto enter the acre dimension of te. “Thus humanity has devised rituals to mark the four major changes ‘ofthe solar and seasonal year—the equinoxes, when day and night are ‘of equal length, and the slstices, when the sun appears to stand stil The SucredCulodor 43 and ther. “tur buck tothe orth or south, Priests and magicians of| llcaltreshave charted the progress of planets an fue the postions ofthe stirs, forthe orderly eyes of the heavens ate among the most potent symbols of the cosmic order—remember, Marduk ard Odin {rented time by"seting the ars their nurses” The ogi honors the Thing ofthe sn each dey ardso pays homege to the sun as asynbol ofthe Self thus he eaters into tual tme—which, paredoxcaly s timelese, even othe Seis eterna “The Mesoamerican sptitaal tradition exemplified i vision ofthe universe in mandalas oF cosmograms, diagrams of the infite, The double pyramid constuction ofthe Mayan universe was one such di iiami the geomanic city was mothe But these conrograns ate sential tt; they are nct in motion. The Maya delieved thatthe ‘universe oth human end cose, sear constantly eveving through different works or “suns? diferent epochs of cosmic tine. They baived that every moment in time wasn a state of Say a shifting tapesty of energies that manifested in earthquakes and vances, in the wars of gods and men andthe changes ofthe human heat and spirit Hence the theme of tarsformationicetel all Nevsmer- ican mythology. In one story a de‘ormed and rejected god i wans= formed into the glorious sun ofthe new wold epock in arte the god-king Quetalcat is transformed into the planet Venus. The woridisconsaaty evolving However, an evlving world i a worldintarmell, and therefore it neces be centered, equiibeate, and maintained so tat shall act beccme koyaniguas, a Hoi ter meaning “world oat of balance” Haman beings mast constany struggle for the sense of universal ‘order and harmony even as they struggle towards the own evolution. To pluck order out of chaos we mt understand the nature ofboth Peli, the very shythmofemergence. Hove, then shall we metare the ebb and flow of energy in time, the vast transformations and ‘metamorphoses that make up life on earth? How shall we find the fee of cosmic order in thi shifting ress word of volcan pa sions, both human and terres ow shall we sense both the oder and the chaos entwined in one vast scheme? Fortis the people of ancient Mesoamerica needed a cosmogramn or manéala that was fd ether than setc—a cosmogram that ‘moved in time, capable of embodying the Mand eux fie “Tis was the Secred Calender,Ht Jaguar Weston ‘The Structure of the Calendar ‘When we tak about che Sacred Calendar, we ae realy talking about to calendars—one that measures ordinary ime, ané one that met- ‘sures sacred time. Thee two calendars interpenetrate in such a way a6 to integrate and synthesize the secular and sacred dimensions of real- ity In this book we shall be primarily concerned with the measure of, ‘taal time, sometimes referred ta the Ritual Almanac or Divinatory ‘Almanac. To ly the groundwork for discussion, we shall consider briefly the nature of both calendars and the maaner in which they ‘combine to weave the pattems of human life nd history Lets frst consider te solar calendar, the yardstick of secular time, ‘The Maya recognized the solar year of 365 days, just as we do. How- lever, they divided it differently. Whereas we use 2 calendar of twelve moat, cach of approximately thirty das, the Maya divided the year int eighteen months, each one oftweaty day, followed by ve extra dae at the end of the year Tn Figure 5, the names of the months in Yacatee Maya are given with the hieroglyphic symbol used by the CGassic Maya to denote each month, The Sucr® Calendar 48. ‘This solar calendar is called the haab (HAH) in Mayen, and ithas several peculiarities that ate worth of our noice. For instance there isthe matter othe twenty ays within each month. The days are not nnurabered fiom one through twenty, Instead, the frst day of cach reoath is called the “seating” ofthat month (ie the seating of Pop, the seating of Ua, and 59 on). This terminology derives from the fact thateach month was «kind of deity or spiritual entity unto itself and, ikea chittan o ord, took its “seat” upon :ts throne, The ftst day of each month—the seating day—i nambered 6, then the days proceed from 1 through 19. At the end of 360 days come fie final days called the wayeb (Wye-EB). These five days were traditionally considered unlucky. especially by the Azrcs who fasted, prayed, and quenched all fies throughout the wyeb period. "Note thatthe haab equals 365 day, whereas the true solr year isa Title longer than tht. Thisis why oar Gregorian Calendar inchades an ‘entra day every four yeurs—to bring the 65-day calendar back into hharmony withthe actual jce of the sun. The Mayans were aware of the true duration ofthe year, but for reasons of ritual ting they made no ettemp: to reconcile the heab withthe solar cycle; the haab kept ‘moving ahead ofthe solar yar. In 1553, the fist day ofthe solr year, Pop, occurred July 2 (according to the most recent revision ofthe Gre {gorian Calendar), whereas the Calendar shamans of Guatemala now ‘elebrate the arial of 0 Pop near the end of Februzry Tis then, isthe haa the sola calendar and measure of secular time, Lets nove consider the yardstick of ritual time, We donot know what the ancient Maya called this ritual or sacred aspect ofthe Calen- dar. Some scholars use the word tzollin (t2ohl-KEEN, from ‘2ol=count and kin=day, hence “count of days"), but this is purely & ‘etm of convenience and may not have been used by the Maya, The ‘aolkin isa unique method of reckoning time. It consists of twenty named days combined with thirteen numbers. Each dey-rame is ‘peated thirteen times during the Calendar cycle for a total of 260, ays (13 x 20=260). The twenty days, with thei glyphs, directional correspondences, Mayan names, and their most commonly accepted ‘sacanings among contemporary Daykeepers, ae given in Figure 6 on the following page. Because the tlkin is comprised of twenty days bat ony thirteen numbers, the cycle of days and numbers wil soon setup an interlock ing thythm ofits own design, Beginning with 1 Crocedil, the days will proceed in order until 13 Gorn. Then will come I Jageas 2 Eagle,46 Jaguar ‘Wado cum Doss! Mau N soe SJ tas _| imix (ee-MEESH) © | wort | 2) © vor aoa aden © soni | ran kay Beas | edn (ckCHANN) | The Spe @ | Norh Gimideeste | Dat Gwen | oaks EBK) | Thee | © sowh Lama ahaHT) | Tee Rabb BJ aoe | mlue(mooL00K) | Wie © | som _oc(ox) [te Dog [wat | Chuen(ooEN) ——__ TheMoniey O| scan | maw) The Road © | cast _| Ben (REN) The Cora @ | som | sees) Te age | wat | Men nen) Theat @B sean [ch aceen The valine © | east | Coban (hah-BAHN) Incense @ [ror [Bund ewan) | Fi ®[wisr [cauettowocx | Mesim BD [sum [atetcr How) | Hheancaon FIGURE 6 The Twenty Day-Sigus ofthe Sacre Calendar The Sserd Calendar 47 3 Vulture, and so on unti 13 Death, which i followed by 1 Dees. At last, the final day 13 Ancestors wil be reached. after which the whole «yee begins again with 1 Crocodile, repeating eternally ‘We begin oar count with the day 1 Crocodile. The complex inte penetrating cycles ofthe Sacred Calendar and the twenty-year cycles called katans (ah TOONS) made 1 Crocodile a logical place to begin the counting of days, and hence 1 Crocodile was sometimes called the “peginning” However, his is an abitrary point of origin. The rhythm of the Sacred Calendar is cirelar; many contemperary Calendar shamans insist that it has nlther beginning nor end. Nevertheless, we will follow tradition and use 1 Crocodile asa convenient “beginning” ‘The 260 days ofthe Secred Calendar can be arranged in digram form (Figure 7). Thediagram resembles a sort of calendar bourd, and thee is evidence that calendar boards of one kind or another were ‘sed fr divinatery purposes in ancient times. Also let us rote a pat ‘cular mathematical property ofthe Saced Calendar? The numbers 1 through 13 ike any seties of odd numbers, form binary pais that ‘mirror each oth 12345678910 111013 ‘The mirroring pars formed by this series are 1 and 13, 2and 12,3 «and I1, and soon, Each these pairs, when added together equils 14. ‘hi, of cours, is2x7, and 7 i the namber inthe center, the number that has no micro. This isnot simply a mathematical curiosity it hos ' practical application. The binary pairs may be arranged diagram- ‘matically (o form a syrnbol we shall cal the Pyramid of Time (Figure 8). This Prramid of Time is idertcal to the upper portion ofthe dia- {gam we have already called the Pyramid of Heaven (see Chapter 2), sand itgives us an important clueasto the inne: meaning ofthe Sacted Calendar. The Sacred Calendar i a pyramid, Fence another World “Tee or World Mountain, ‘The Mayan Calendar & 2 symphony of cycles within cyces. The 260-day tzolkin is interwoven with the solar year, and with larger ‘whichever diy sign begins tht particular fornighty period ce "he rder of forms if fom the ode of days For instnee, INCENSE 4 11/5 3 ove may bel wth 1 Crocodile, but hs ntl forngaypeiod wl Come toa clot with 13 Car. ascan be seen in ure 7 The net mnt s n|6 4 sk bps wi aan tc aes in Deans, There STORM. 6 13/7, 4 5 oieferalgisioas Crocodile ANCESTORS [2 [9] 3{10) 4 [us [12] 6] Vee FIGURE 7 The Calender Board. Ancestors orn Death90 Sagnar“Wisdowr Storm Road Serpent Fine ‘ionkes inard| Incense Dog Neht Vulture Water Wind Eage Rabbit “Though the order of he fortnights may be differet than the order of days, one thing has not changed: the sequence ofthe four diec- tions. The four directions oftime continue in ther appointed rounds, whether in the ele of days or of fortnighs. Take a look at the St four periods: Crocodile is atributed to the Eat, Jaguar tothe North, Deer to the Wet, Ancestors to the South and then we return tothe Eastagain with Coa. The fortnights are the essential component of what we may call “ving the Calendae” They se the clock forthe major rituals of Mayan life, The Daykeepes of Guatemala sey that low numbers are “weak” and ack strength, whe the middle mambers—€, 7, 8, and —repre- teatthe days ofbalaned energy and power The al day, 10 dough 13, are"too strong," s0 power aso De potentially dangerous Thee. forall maior ituals are performed onthe days of balanced power st the center ofeach fortnight. A cyl of ritual activity for any given fortnight typclly begins at sunset of dy 7 (or sometimes on day 6) continues through day 8, and reaches a conclusion on day 9 The hisroghyphicdateron monuments from the Case Peried show that 5,6, 7,8, and especially 9 appear more often than other numbers Brom this, we may asuime thatthe Classic Maya, ice their modera Aescendant, alo peformed their importnt ital on thewe das fe retura 1 Our Pyramid of Time diagram, we can sea definite pattern emerging. The energy inherent i particular fortnightly cycle Seal tentative or weal inthe begining not yet fully esablshedin te own nature, Aste te pyramid begins to prow in power 1 The Sacred Caleniar 9 ‘reaches the peak ofthe pyramid on day 7. Since the Maya count ther dys fom sunrise to sunrse, theexact middle of any given cycle must ‘occur at sunset ofthe seventh day. Ths isthe top ofthe pyramid—and_ precisely when many Daykeepers begin the round of ritual appropriate for each given fortnight. As the current cycle begins its ‘couse Gown the pyramid, it will grow in power just ke a wave that hnas reached its crest and then begins ocrash downward. This descent ‘of power is sil in 2 balanced condition onthe eighth and ninth cay; afer that the energy inherent in the current cycle of time becomes. ‘mote and more intense—too intense to be safely dealt with om ritual terms. The Aztecs thought of these days as “holy” rather than “dangerous” Were the Aviecs, a warrior people, attracted to precied'y those moments of power that were too itense for others to handle? (One is reminded of Barbara Tedlock’s statement that everything in Zati spirituality can be classified as either “the beautiful” or “the dangerous” and thet sometimes the two polarities overlap—the beautiful may become dangerous and vice versa® Tf for the moment, we eave behind the somewhat static or archi- ‘tcctoni image ofthe pyramid, we may return tothe metaphor ofthe ‘wave asa concept that is closer both to the world of nature and the world of post-Finsténian physic. Esch fortnightly cycle may be ‘regarded as «particular quantrn of energy an energy that evelsina ‘wave-like motion, Precisely like a wave, begins as an underground, surge, symbolized by the saris emergence fom the Underworld om the fist day ofthe eye This wave of energy grows in power untlitcrests ‘Then it begins to descend, discharging its quantum of energy in a thundering cath to the shore. A the energy inherent in the wave trices away into the snd on the night ofthe thirteenth day, a new cycle has already begun farther ut at sea. The power of the day-sgn that will begin the new fortnight already present. At eanset om the thirteenth day, the Daykeepers welcome the sprit of the coming day, the one who will begin the next fortnightly cycle, They think of the next day as “gues” whois alceady entering the saced space limaed by their communal and family alas Each fortnight hasits own meaning and particular character. This characteris not necetsrly formed by the fist day or 1 day of the ‘yee, Rather itisdependenton the mile days (7, 8, and 9), the days ofbalanced power.52 Lagu Wisdow ‘The Year Lords ‘Now let us look atthe war in which the hab and the tzolkin combine. Each day hae a position in both the secular and sacred calendars—2 speciic resonance in trims of both ordinary and sacred time. Con- sider the date March 2, 1977. Ths was the Mayan New Year's da © Pop. In terms of the Sacred Calendar, it was alo the day 4 Wind. Because of the disparity between the number of days in these cycles, the Sacred Calendar completed an entre cycle and returned tothe éay 4 Wind on November 17, 1977, while the solar calendar had only reached the day 0 Kenkin, low long will take Before 4 Wind and 0 Pop once again fll on the sume dey? How long atime must pase before the solar and sacred calendars once again coincide! The answer i 18,980 days—just afew days short of ify two years. On February 28, 2028 it will once aguin ‘be Wind 0 Pop. ‘This cycle of fity-two years is called the Calendar Round Ie was recognized asa significant cycleby the Mava, and attained paramount Jmpertance emong the Artec, who refered to it as a “bundle of years” The Aatec New Year was celebrated with a ritual called the New Fite Ceremony, in which sll the heartfires extinguished during the five unlucky days ofthe uayeb were once again rekincled. By combin~ ing the Calendar Round with the cyele ofthe plane: Venus the Aztecs selected a special day every fifty-two years when the New Fire Cere- ‘mony became a ritual of cosmic significance symbolizing the renewal ofthe entire world. "The cele of fifty two years was also meaningful to each individual Let us say that you were born on September 10, 1963, which woxld be 9 Ancestors § Mol. The day 9 Ancestors would come around again very 260 days. The day 8 Mol woald recur every 365 days. But the Combination 9 Ancestors 8 Mol would only recur after 18,980 days— inthisexample, on September 2,2013. ‘This fifty-two year Calendar Round “birthday” probably symbol ized. second birth among the peoples of Mesoamerica. This, presum- ably, was the date that marked one's passage inco full maturity this ‘was when one became a “elder” ‘Due tothe way in which the to edlendarsinterpenerate, the New Year's day of O Pop can only coincide with one of four tolkin day~ names. These four New Yea"'s days were called Year Bearers by most Mesoamerican cultarss, and diferent Native cultares used different The Sacred Calendar 83 sets of Year Bearers. For instance: the Aztecs used Coen, Fiat ‘and Rabbit asthee Year Beaters, while the Yucstec Maya, during early Spanish Colonial times, wied Water, Jaguar, Storm, and Lizard. The reat Mayan chy of Tika, as well as Teouhuacdn, elebrated New ‘Year’ on Wind, Decr, Road, and Incense. The Quiché Mays of today tase the same Year Bearers; we shall do the same. There is some evi- dence, however, thatthe ealiest set of Year Bearers—used daring. ‘Olmec times-—was Crocodile, Death, Monkey, and Valtare.” Although thie may sll som abit arbitrary and confusing, thee ia ind oflogic wit. Asshown in Figure 6 (page 4), each day-sign ofthe ‘aelkinisassociated with one ofthe four cardinal directions * Nomat- ter which four days wore designated at Year Beaters, there was aways Dmgcron 1 nom ow fat] Gli Sern] Water Nor | best Fin | jgu west | Monkey Net | Stem South | Vale Ribbit | Lad FIGURES The Yur Bearers ‘one day fr each dzetion, as sen in Figures above. Any given year bad certain characteristics according to the directional attribute ofthe éay that served as ear Bearer, Yeure governed by the East and South were ‘onskered more favorable than those governed by the North or Wes. The years succeeded each other in an orderly fashion. As we have ‘seen, 0 Pop fel on the day 4 Wind in 1977. Thus the year received the ‘ame 4 Wind. In 1978,0 Pop fell on 5 Dees, in 1979 upon 6 Roxd, ang ‘in 1980 upon 7 Incense—the number of the yer increasing by one cach time. By 1986, 13 Deer had been reached, 2 that 1987 received ‘the name 1 Roa. How long will take unt eur inital year 4 Wind ‘comes around again? The answer, ofcourse, isfity-two years (4 dy- signsx13 numbers=52). The year 2019 wil be 4 Wind, This progres sion ofthe Year Bearers played a major role in what we might call litical astology”—the prediction of future events through study- ingthe cycle oftime The Yer Bearers were also important inthe pre siction of climaticand agricultural eyes, forming Kind of farmers almanac” for the Maya.5+ Siguar Waton ‘The Meaning of the Calendar ‘What then, dos the Sacred Calendar mbolze Why thiten nam bers and twenty day signs? What sort of eee this that chronicles, ‘the sacred dimension of tine? ‘One dus, ofcourse, He ia the fat that thera thiteen divisions ‘of Heaven the Mayan cosmos. Therefore, we may say thatthe num~ ber 13, far fom being “nlc” ass in Westen flkre wns tothe Maya symbol of eaven el Martin Prechtel, however has a more “gas-00t” interpretation. “The thiteen number corrxpondto the thirteen joints ia the human ‘bo he sys. These at: the two ankle joints, the two knees the two hips the hands, the ebows, the shoulder joins and nlite neck (or thirtont oi. “The twenty day-signs may also berated tothe human metaphos ‘the microcosm as macrocosm. The number 20 was rerarced in ancient timer asthe numberof humankind, because its the number ‘of all the digitfingers and toes—on the human body. Thus, the equation 13 x20 rites Heaven with humankind ioterie writers have theoried that the Sire Calendar may {nce even mote complex cycles, and that cma, in fc, bea cos _mogram that embodies the orbital period of various plants. Mars take: 790 days tose the sun and 200x760, Theeynodil period cof Venusis 384 day and 384 evolutions ofthe Steed Calendar wil equal 26symodical Venus years? Anihropologis working emong the contemporary Maya have asked thelr inforanants what the Calendar symbolizes. The answer given by Mayan Calendar shamans is remarkably consistent: Itis the term of pregnancy, the jee of human gestion. This they the {ourdaion ofthe Calendar. ‘Scientifically weksow thatthe actual period ofpregnancy is some- swat longer than 260 day The 260 dy interval fir rae of amb {or the period which elapse berwzen the tie a woman fi mises her mens to the time when she gives birth: ence the talkin is sm bolic ofthe gestation period. It's primarily an earthly, human cyle rather than an astronomical one—shough swe sal se, the cycle of| the sun's zenith passage ao plhyed a een its formation. “Though tithe eel of haman gestation thet, afer 29 many cen- tures, the aya sil dite the bs ofthe walkin, the gout eye il is yet another metaphor. All he world’s reat myths ae essen ‘The Sure Calendar 58 tilly concerned with the journey of human consclousuess—the archetypal hero's journey. The Mayan Calendar is no diferent. Con- sciousness like if, mus journey rom conception to fll birth we take Crocodile asthe “beginning” of the walkin, we any sy tha the Calendar begins its cyclen the primordial swamp ofthe unconscious swith the day-sgn Crocodile, and culminates withthe union ofan and divine consciousness inthe sign Ancesturs, symbolizing the spirit ‘ofthe enlightened collective mind and often represented by a flower. However if we rly on a moce contemporary teaching, we may note ‘thatthe day-sign Eb in Yucatec Mayan signifies “the road"—what other Native Americans have called the Road of Life. In Yocate: Maya, the word eh also means *etairway”—perhaps in reference to the stale ‘ways that led to the 1p of Mayan temples by which te ancien kings ‘mounted to the world ofthe gods. The Calendar, asa symbol of the growth of human consciousness, leads vs up the Pyramid of Titne I ' the Road of Lif and ic 00 lie in te eternal journey we all must make, the journey from conception to birth. ‘The Origins of the Calendar ‘The getaion eee of humanity a meapho forthe Road of ite, may esa th meaniegofthe Clear tit ees show or where fameto 2Zelia Nutal pointed out that 260 deys is one ofthe intervals berween zenith transits ofthe sun at 15 degrees of north Iatiude When wesee the san shiningabore usar noon, appears tobe atthe ‘en the poi diely overhead. This however sa pare ital Petepton. In fic, the sun ony transits over the tue astroromiza Zenith a variable interval that ae determined by ltitade, At 15