Fwd: Maya Calendars /Vague Calendar of the Maya

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, "sunil nair" <astro_tellerkerala wrote:Maya Calendars Vague Calendar of the MayaThe Maya's solar calendar is called "vague" because it only approximatesthe 365 day calendar. Each of its 18 months has 20 days. The final ortwentieth day of each month makes use of the Maya's concept of zero:Instead of its being numbered "twenty," it is described as the day ofthe seating of the following month. That is, it is an empty or zero spotthat is waiting for the new month.he months of this agriculturalcalendar are: * Pop * Uo * Zip * Zotz * Tzec * Xul * Yaxkin * Mol * Chen * Yax * Zac * Ceh * Mac * Kankin * Muan * Pax * Kayab * Cumku[<www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mminteng.html> 10/17/00 Mystery of theMaya] Achievements of the MayaWhile the Maya are known for their phenomenally accurate, complex,calculations of the orbits of stars, planets and moon, and precisereckoning of the solstices and eclipses, there is also an effective, butmuch more ordinary, almost easy to understand calendar. It wasn't tooeasy, though: Only shamans could calculate it.The Calendar Round"It was used to name individuals, predict the future,decide on auspicious dates for battles, marriages, and so on. Eachsingle day had its omens and associations, and the inexorable march ofthe 20 days was like a perpetual fortune-telling machine, guiding thedestinies of the Maya."[<www.civilization.ca/civil/maya/mmc01eng.html> 10/17/00 MayaCivilization] Bundle The ancient Maya and other Mesoamericans used a52-year pattern, a calendar round, referred to as a bundle -- like ourconcept "century" -- composed of two cycles which fit together likecogwheels with unequal numbers of teeth.260-day CountThe Maya (Mayan, by custom, refers only to language) divided their yearinto four quadrants with 65 days in each. We are unsure where the number260 comes from, but it might relate to the period of human gestation orthe interval between the planet Venus' emergence as eveningstar andmorning star. Regardless of where it comes from, the 260-day cycle isthe first in the Calendar Round. It is made by intermeshing the numbersymbols (dots for units and bars for fives) from 1-13 with the glyphsfor twenty days named after deities who carry time acros the sky.Since it still keeps track of time, priests today continue to use this"Tzolkin" calendar (also known as Sacred Calendar, the Earth Calendar,the Sacred Almanac, and the Count of Days) for divination.Vague Year or Haab A second, solar calendar (named "vague" because itonly approximates the 365+ day calendar) is composed of18 months with20 days in each.The 20th day makes use of the Maya's concept ofzero since, instead of its being numbered 20, it is described as the dayof the seating of the following month. Unlucky Uayeb At the end of the18 months, an unlucky five day period (Uayeb) is intercalated. Days arenamed according to both of these calendars (Tzolkin and Haab), so a daycould be 1 Imix 1 Pop (1 Pop being the Maya New Year), but it would take52 Vague years (18,980 days) before 1 Imix would line up again with 1Pop. One problem with this system (called the Calendar Round) is that itonly keeps track of events during its 52-year cycle, and makes noprovision for keeping track of events in earlier or future cycles.The Maya dreaded the five intercalated days (Uayeb) and the end of the52-year period. Towards the end of the longer interval, they feared thegods might be dissatisfied with mankind and bring about the end of theworld.Long Count CalendarBut all this pales by comparison with the end of the 5125-year LongCount Calendar cycle which will be here in 2012.An Introduction to the Maya CivilizationThe Maya Civilization—also called the Mayan civilization—is thegeneral name archaeologists have given to several independent, looselyaffiliated city states who shared a cultural heritage in terms oflanguage, customs, dress, artistic style and material culture. Theyoccupied the central American continent, including the southern parts ofMexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, an area of about150,000 square miles. In general, researchers tend to split the Mayainto the Highland and Lowland Maya.By the way, archaeologists prefer to use the term "Maya civilization"rather than the more common "Mayan civilization", leaving "Mayan" torefer to the language.Highland and Lowland MayaThe Maya civilization covered an enormous area with a large variation ofenvironments, economies, and growth of the civilization. Scholarsaddress some of the Maya cultural variation by studying separate issuesrelated to the climate and environment of the region. The Maya Highlandsare the southern part of the Maya civilization, included the mountainousregion in Mexico (particularly Chiapas state), Guatemala and Honduras.The Maya Lowlands make up the northern segment of the Maya region,including Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, and adjacent parts of Guatemalaand Belize. A Pacific coastal piedmont range north of the Soconusco hadfertile soils, dense forests and mangrove swamps.The Maya civilization was certainly never an "empire", inasmuch as oneperson never ruled the entire region. During the Classic period, therewere several strong kings at Tikal, Calakmul, Caracol and Dos Pilas, butnone of them ever conquered the others. It's probably best to think ofthe Maya as a collection of independent city states, who shared someritual and ceremonial practices, some architecture, some culturalobjects. The city states traded with one another, and with the Olmec andTeotihuacan polities (at different times), and they also warred with oneanother from time to time.Maya CalendarSince it still keeps track of time, priests today continueto use this "Tzolkin" calendar (also known as Sacred Calendar, the EarthCalendar, the Sacred Almanac, and the Count of Days) for divination.The 260-day count - tzolkin 1 Imix 2 Ik 3 Akbal 4 Kan 5 Chicchan 6 Cimi 7 Manik 8 Lamat 9 Muluc 10 Oc 11 Chuen 12 Eb 13 Ben Ix Men Cib Caban Etz'nab Cauac Ahau also described in terms of typeof animal: AlligatorDeathMonkeyOwlWindDeerGrassQuakeHouseRabbitReedKnifeLizardWaterJaguarRainSerpentDogEagleFlowerThe first day on this calendar would be 1 Imix. The second would be 2Ik, followed by 3 Akbal. The thirteenth would be 13 Ben which would befollowed by 1 Ix, 2 Men, 3 Cib, etc. A period of 260 days brought thecalendar back to 1 Imix.In case this is hard to follow, think of our calendar, which has namesfor the days of the week as well as numbers for the days of the month.In October, there are 31 days, but only seven weekday names, so Friday,the 13th (similar to 1 Imix in that it is two terms) is followed bySaturday the 14th, Sunday the 15th ... and then, by the time names fordays of the week run out, we're back to Friday, but with a new number;this time, Friday, the 20th. It will be many months before we startagain by reaching a new Friday the 13th.introduction to the Mayan CalendarAnd so we begin our journey. There is much to discover and much to learn about the Sacred Calendar. By the end of this chapter we will have covered a lot of ground, and I will be sharing someadvanced ideas. In an effort to make this accessible to the beginner, weshould try to get a firm understanding of the basic mechanics of severaldifferent cycles and how they relate. And don't worry, a lot of thebasics covered here will be repeated when necessary throughout thischapter. I'll try to keep this introduction short and simple. The fullmeaning of these interlocking cycles will be explored in latersections.There are two types of Mayan time keeping: 1) the Venus Round system, consisting of the tzolkin, haab and the Venus cycle, and2) the Long Count. Let's start where it all begins, with the tzolkin.Tzolkin, Haab, The Year-Bearers and VenusThe Sacred Calendar, the Earth Calendar, the Sacred Almanac, the Countof Days, the Tzolkin - all of these terms refer to the 260-day cycle.The term Sacred Calendar, however, is often used to denote themultiple interrelated systems, ie., the entire framework of cycles.260 days is roughly nine moons. The cycle consists of 20 day-signscombined with a number from one to thirteen. Each day is named byits number and day-sign, thus giving a total of 260 unique days. Theday-signs are glyphs, and on one level are used in divination. Theirmeanings cover important themes in Indian culture and can be loosely translated as follows:I.AlligatorDeathMonkeyOwl II.WindDeerGrassQuake III.HouseRabbitReedKnifeIV.LizardWaterJaguarRain VSerpentDogEagleFlowerThese day-signs also have linguistic, astronomical and mythical references. The order of the day-signs is universal throughout Meso-america, and there is evidence that the 260-day Sacred Almanachas been followed unbroken for some 3000 years; Wind followsAlligator, House follows Wind, and so on. The 13-day number cycleparallels the sequential passage of day-signs. In other words, 1 Windis followed by 2 House, followed by 3 Lizard, etc. In this way, 7Jaguar (for example) occurs 40 days after 6 Jaguar. Most likely, thecount doesn't "begin" on any specific day, although the conventionallisting begins with Alligator.The way in which the day-signs have meanings on many different levels ofMayan culture is characteristic of Sacred Calendar studies. It wouldbe difficult, indeed inaccurate, to promote just one origin or use forthe day-signs; the Calendar has what I call "multiple meanings." So whyis the 260-day cycle so important? First and foremost, it correspondsto the 9-month gestation period of human beings, which has everythingto do with growth and unfolding. It also corresponds to the intervalbetween Venus emerging as eveningstar and its emergence as morningstar(about 258 days), the interval between the planting and harvesting ofcertain types of corn, and is related to planetary cycles. Here we seebiological, agricultural and astronomical references.The HaabThe 260-day cycle does not directly correspond with any knownastronomical period, yet it serves as a common denominator tosynthesize the cycles of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Earth and and Mars(as well as the other planets). In essence, it is the key factor ofall the planetary periods. Strange to think that it corresponds to ourown gestation period. The solar cycle, which is really the 365 daysor so that it takes for the earth to travel around the sun, wasconceived as a partner cycle to the tzolkin. It was called the haab(cycle of rains) and consists of 18 months of twenty days, with ashort month of 5 days at the end. Haab dates are indicated by a monthname and a day-number. (Unlike the tzolkin dates, the months andnumbers of the haab follow like our own month and days - e.g. 2 Zecin the haab is followed by 3 Zec, 4 Zec, 5 Zec and so on.) In onesense, these two cycles represent the secular and sacred interests of the culture. The haab is the obvious yearly cycle, while the tzolkin structures a hidden dimension, closer to the sacred spirit realms. Together, the tzolkin/haab serves as a framework forpredicting eclipses, timing festivals, and for scheduling visits to shrine sites. The nineteen month-names we will use in this book comefrom the Yucatec Maya language:KayabZecSac CumhuXulCeh PopYaxkinMac UoMolKankin ZipChenMuan ZotzYaxPaxVayeb (5 day month)The Tikal haab began on 0 Pop and numbered months from 0 to 19. The Quiche and Ixil haab begins on 1 Kayab and numbered months from 1to 20. We will explore this further in the next section of thischapter.The Year BearersThis is where it starts getting a little tricky, and we start tosee the mythological uses of the Sacred Calendar. The quality of ayear is determined by the day-sign which falls on New Years Day -which is the first day of the haab. This special day is called theyear-bearer, or, to the modern Ixil Maya, the mam. The 365-day haabis an approximation of the year. It is referred to as the vaguesolar year, or casually, as the year. Since the twenty day-signsdivide into the 365-day haab 18 times with 5 left over, theyear-bearer advances by 5 day-signs every year. Furthermore, five goesinto 20 four times; thus there are four possible year-bearers. Theycorrespond to the four directions and (for the Quiche Maya) the foursacred mountains. In this way, the Calendar's "windows to the NewYear" are anchored in the directional pillars of the cosmos. Theyear-bearer system, then, is the 4-year cycle of senior day-signs whichconsecutively fall on New Year's Day. Because the year began ondifferent days for different Mayan groups, there are 5 possible year-bearer systems, and they are indicated by Roman numerals in theday-sign chart given above. In practice, however, only the Type II system seems to still be in use, among the Mayan groups of HighlandGuatemala.VenusVenus has a 584-day cycle. In other words, it will rise as morningstarapproximately every 584 days. This was an important cycle to the Maya.The astrolo-mythic adventures of Sun and Venus were no doubt trackedclosely by the early Maya, and there is some reason to suspect thatthe tzolkin arose, in part, to structure the related cycles of the twoprominent celestial lights (Sun and Venus). This is because therelationship between the solar and Venus cycles is quite simple: 5Venus cycles equals 8 haab. The influence of the third celestialfactor, the Moon, was built into the tzolkin cycle itself. The cyclic relationship between Sun and Venus indicates that Venus traces afive-pointed star in the sky over a period of eight years. And eight is the musical octave, the number of harmony. More on this later.Since the twenty day-signs divide into 584 twenty-nine times with 4 left over, the Venus cycle begins on one of 5 possible day-signs. As with the year-bearer system, the Venus day-sign system repeatssequentially, over and over. The beginning of the Venus cycle isconsidered to be the day on which it emerges as morningstar, about 4days after inferior conjunction with the sun. The five day-signs whichindicate when Venus will emerge as morningstar serve as a predictionmechanism; the Mayan priest-astronomers thus tracked, charted andpredicted future morningstar appearances. When thenumber-coefficients are considered (which we have ignored for awhile),the calculations become a bit more complex, and the cycles becomelarger.The Calendar RoundThe first large cycle we come to is called the Calendar Round. Thisis when all the possible combinations of the tzolkin and haab areexhausted and the same tzolkin day and haab day come together. Forexample, let's presume that the year-bearer 1 Wind initiates a NewYear. Now, the year-bearer day-sign alone will return to initiate aNew Year in only 4 years time, but when we consider the 13number-coefficients, then (13 x 4) = 52 years (or haab) must passbefore 1 Wind returns to initiate the New Year. This 52-haab cycle iscalled the Calendar Round. It was widely used by the Aztecs as wellas the Maya, and is still vaguely remembered by the Ixil Maya ofGuatemala. The math of this is as follows:260 x 73 = 365 x 52 = 18,980 daysThis, again, is the shortest time in which the tzolkin and haab cansynchronize. But where does Venus fit into the picture?The Venus RoundThe big cycle of tzolkin, haab and Venus is completed when theysynchronize on the senior emergence day-sign, the Sacred Day of Venus: 1 Ahau. The nature of the tzolkin, haab, and Venus cycles are suchthat they all synchronize every 104 haab, which just happens to equaltwo Calendar Rounds. The math:260 x 146 = 365 x 104 = 584 x 65 = 37,960 daysThis is an amazing calendrical accomplishment. In addition, the Mayamythologized this sacred link-up in the Popol Vuh and the Dresden Codex. The five possible day-signs on which Venus could emerge asmorningstar are recorded in the Dresden Codex as: Flower (Ahau), Lizard,Rabbit, Grass and Owl. Ahau was the senior day-sign of the five, and 1Ahau was the Sacred Day of Venus, representing the big synch oftzolkin, haab and Venus.Let's take a little side track here - I'll present a puzzle which we will return to and solve later. Look at the cover of this book. Thefour day-signs above the title are of the Type II year-bearer system,the one allegedly used in the Dresden Codex. They are, from left toright:Wind, Deer, Grass, and Quake.The five day-signs at the lower border (one is in the middle of therising sun), are the five predictive emergence day-signs from theDresden Codex:Lizard, Rabbit, Grass, Owl, and Flower.Now let's think about this. Obviously, if the three cycles oftzolkin, haab and Venus are to synchronize, then at least one of the 4year-bearers must correspond with at least one of the 5 beginningday-signs of the Venus cycle. The one that does, which I have placed inthe middle of the rising sun, with Venus rising on the left and theMars glyph on the right, is Grass, not Flower! Is our reasoning faulty?What is the truth behind this? Could it be that Calendar Round andVenus Round observances were not synchronized? Even though one VRequals exactly 2 CR's, it seems as though (from evidence in theDresden Codex) that during the Late Classic Period the Maya had notyet synchronized Venus emergences with Calendar Round beginnings. Thisimperfect situation, to a people who apparently strived to reveal aharmony of the heavens, must have been intolerable. As we will see, perhaps the Venus system in the Dresden Codex was not the most perfect, and perhaps the Maya continued to perfect the system - during a period of Mayan history lacking in substantial data. So thesmaller cycles of this dating system, the tzolkin, haab and Venus cycle,are encapsulated by the Venus Round, a period of almost 104 years.Here's a brief summary:Tzolkin: 260 days. 20 day-signs combined with 13 numbers.Haab: 365 days. 18 months of 20 days each, + a 5-day month.Venus Cycle: 584 days between each morningstar appearance.Calendar Round: Synchronization of tzolkin and haab every 52 haab(18,980 days).Venus Round: Equals 2 Calendar Rounds. Synchronization of tzolkin,haab, and the Venus cycle every 104 haab (37,960 days).The Long Count and the Great CycleAnother time-keeping system was used by the Maya. It is known asthe Long Count because it deals with larger cycles of time. It iswritten using dots to indicate placement values (for example: 8.15.6.0.4). The leftward placements are of higher value. The LongCount dating method is based on a hierarchal day-count based on twenty.The above date represents the passage of 8 baktuns, 15 katuns, 6 tuns,zero uinals, and 4 days since the zero date. The placement of thiszero date has been a tough question for Mayanists, and we willdiscuss this in detail in the next section. The hierarchy of days is asfollows:LONG COUNT PERIODSNUMBER OF DAYS 1 day = 1 day1 20 days = 1 uinal20 18uinal = 1 tun360 20 tuns = 1 katun7200 20 katuns = 1 baktun144,000 13baktuns = 1 Great Cycle1,872,000In this way, 1 Baktun equals 144,000 days, 1 katun equals 7200 days,1 tun equals 360 days, and a uinal equals 20 days. Also ofimportance, in that it reveals the relationship between humans and thecosmos is the term for the twenty-day period: the uinal. The similarterm uinac means person!The 5-decimal Long Count dating system is found on hundreds ofinscriptions from the archeological record. Fortunately, they often occur alongside tzolkin/haab dates, which has allowed archeologiststo correlate the two systems (they are consistently related). As can beseen, the Long Count generates a large period of time known as theGreat Cycle. This period of 13 Baktuns is about 5125 years in length,and is due to end in 2012 A.D. The end date in 2012 is designated inthe Long Count as 13.0.0.0.0 - which means that 13 baktuns, or some1,872,000 days have passed since the Great Cycle beginning date.Specifically, the Great Cycle began on the tzolkin date 4 Ahau, andwill also end on 4 Ahau. The Long Count seems to be the more abstractdating method. Yet, we will see that the cycles it generates are strangely connected to planetary phenomena and ultimately to the processes of human unfolding.The Long Count and tzolkin/haab/Venus system are theoretically unrelated, yet 37 Venus cycles = 3 katuns. Here are two moreconnections between the "long" and the "short" counts: 1) 72 haab = 73tun; 2) 13 tun = 18 tzolkin. Is this fortuitous, or is there a deeper,hidden pattern at work? Both the Long Count and tzolkin/haab are usedtogether in many of the archeological inscriptions throughout Mesoamerica. With these connection points, a complex interweavingbetween the two methods of Mayan timekeeping could be demonstrated.For now, this will have to serve as a basic introduction to themechanics of the tzolkin, haab, Venus, year-bearer, and Long Countsystems. Grasping all these different systems and how they relate toeach other can initially be confusing. But hang in there, and if necessary, refer to this section or to the Glossary of Terms (AppendixI).The Julian and Gregorian CalendarsI should explain these two calendar systems, as both are used in this study. The calendar system known as the Julian calendar wasestablished by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., which was the year 709 ofthe Roman Empire. It made the year-count more accurate by adding anextra day every fourth year, thus approximating the solar year to365.25 days. (By comparison, the Maya had already come up with theiryear-drift formula which more accurately calculated the solar year as365.2422 days.) The extra day was probably not officially used until 8A.D., during the reign of Augustus. The expansion of the Roman Empire in the subsequent centuries made this calendar widely recognized. The system of numbering years by A.D. designation (AnnoDomini) was instituted in 525 A.D. by the Roman abbot DionysiusExiguus.Since the Julian calendar is still slightly inaccurate, a discrepencybuilt up over the centuries, causing problems in determining theoccurrence of Easter. By the 16th Century, Easter was slipping towardssummer. The problem was resolved by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Thereform resynchronized the time-count with respect to the equinoxesby skipping ten days; in other words, October 4th of 1582 wasfollowed by October 15th. However, the sequential cycling of theday-names of the week could not be broken. This is an interesting fact.Remember, our week days are named after planet-gods and mythicalheros: Sun, Moon, Thor, Wotan, and Saturn among others. It suggestsa European feeling, similar to the Mayan need to track an unbrokencount of days, that the cycling of day-gods was not to be fooled with.The rule for leap year was also changed. In the new Gregorian calendara year which is divisible by 4 is a leap-year unless it is divisible by100 but not by 400. Thus, 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100 are not leap years.It took a while for the new calendar to be adopted in all of the European countries, although Italy, Spain, Portugal and Polandbegan following it immediately. Britain and British Colonies didn'tfollow suit until 1752. English writers of the time often indicatedwhich system they kept by noting O.S. (old style) or N.S. (new style).Russia was the last to reform; after the Bolshevik Revolution January31, 1918 (O.S.) became February 14, 1919 (N.S.).Although it may be assumed that dates before 1582 are going to be inthe old Julian calendar, I prefer to clarify the matter by indicating(J) or (G) whenever necessary.The Use of Julian Day NumbersAstronomers have standardized a conventional way of denoting dates, tosimplify long range calculations. By this method days are identified inreference to an unbroken count begun on January 1st, -4712 (J). TheMayan zero date of the Great Cycle is therefore referred to by itsJulian Day number, 584283. This just means that 584283 days haveelapsed between 1.1.-4712 (J) and 8.11.-3113 (G). Another importantpoint is that -4712 is written 4713 B.C. In other words, astronomersrecognize a 0 year for calculational purposes, whereas historiansdo not; there was never a "zero" year. Therefore, -3113 is the sameas 3114 B.C.; a given negative year number is always one less than its B.C. equivalent.This should serve as a basic introduction to the Sacred Calendarcycles. From here, we will delve right into some of the perplexing problems of the Calendar. I have compromised the accessibility ofwhat follows by gearing it toward the academic community. In many waysI feel there are some valuable contributions here. Yet, in my ownthinking, the most valuable work spills over into the mystical orvisionary approach, which will joyfully receive full expression inChapter Three. But first, I will be happy to share the present state ofmy calendar studies.Arectyng my syght towarde the zodyake,The sygnes xii for to beholde a farre,When Mars retrogradant reuersyd his bak,Lord of the yere in his orbicular,Put vp his sworde, for he cowde make no warre,And whan Lucina plenarly did shyne,Scorpione ascendynge degrees twyse nyne.- John Skelton - 1495WHO WERE THE MAYADefinition: The ancient Maya lived in the sub-tropical area ofMesoamerica that is now Guatemala, the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico,western Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador. They flourished in theClassic period of Mesoamerican history when they were living incity-states characterized by: * strong kings, * very impressive astronomical and mathematical calculations,including: * an accurate CALENDER * a concept of zero (used as a place holder in their base 20 countingsystem, notably in the vague calender) * tables of eclipses, * certain religious practices, including Human sacrifices , * monumental buildings, including pyramids, * reservoirs and terracing for control of the water supply, * Heiroglyphical writing, and * continual warfare.The Maya are also credited with creating a Ball Game precursor ofsoccer.Most of the cities of the Maya were abandoned by the end of the ninthcentury. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/mesoamerica/p/010909maya.htm>Pronunciation: My-yuhhttp://www.2013.net/multidim/mayas/time/tattvan.txtTattva Viveka Questions, Valum Votan (Jose Arguelles) answersTattva Viveka is the name of a German magazine which describesitself as a "Forum for Science, Philosophy and Spiritual Culture," andis apublication of the Institute for Research of Sanskrit Texts (INES). Theeditor, Ronald Engert, recently posed the following questions for aninterview to be published in a forthcoming issue of Tattva Viveka. Becausethe questions and their answers clarify many subtle points regarding themessage and knowledge brought to light by Valum Votan in the process ofunderstanding his mission, we present them in the hope of spreadingfurtherlight on a subject of profound value for the future of the humanspecies.In this Interview, the questions are signified by TV = Tattva Viveka,andthe answers by VV = Valum Votan)1. TV: You have a lot of knowledge about the meaning of the MayanCalendar, which basically is very different from that of the scientificapproach. In this sense, your approach is far more inspired and dealswithspiritual implications. From where do you get this knowledge? What areyour sources? With which traditional shamans or Indians have you hadcontact?VV: My knowledge is derived from study, contemplation, andrevelation. The source of this revelation is Pacal Votan, AD 603-683,whose tomb was dedicated AD 692, long count: 9.13.0.0.0. My journeybeganin 1953, one year after the discovery of Pacal Votan's tomb on June 15(Planetary Mirror), 1952. From Tony Shearer, 1969-70, I received thetransmission of the prophecy of Quetzalcoatl, the Thirteen Heavens andNineHells (note: the numbers "nine" and "thirteen," the same as the tombdedication), which was to be concluded August 16-17, 1987. Because ofTony's knowledge, I concentrated my attention on the Tzolkin, and in1976,I connected the Tzolkin with the Haab as a daily count, synchronized onJuly 26, and so I began living the Mayan calendar. In 1983, I receivedavision concerning the dates of the end of the Ninth Hell, August 16-17,1987; from this vision came the conception of the Harmonic ConvergenceGlobal Meditation which commemorated the conclusion of the prophecy ofQuetzalcoatl, and signaled the final count-down to Winter Solstice, AD2012.Between 1987 and 1997 was the ten-year Quetzalcoatl Project, duringwhich time the knowledge of the mathematics of the calendar and theprophecy cycle of Pacal Votan became completely known to me. Themathematics of the Maya, I discovered, is actually the mathematics ofthefourth dimension and sheds light on a crucial error in modern science: themathematics of space cannot be used to measure time; only themathematicsof time can fulfill this goal. The method of telepathically codedmessageswas a key factor in my unraveling of the mathematics which led to thedecisive discovery of the Law of Time. The Law Time defines theartificialtiming frequency as 12:60, (twelve-month calendar, 60-minute hour) andthenatural timing frequency as 13:20 (thirteen tones, 20 solarfrequencies).>From the dedication of Pacal's tomb, AD 692, to its discovery, AD 1952,was1260 years; and to the end of the Baktun count, 2012, 1320 years later.The prophecy cycle of Pacal Votan includes: The Lost Book of theSeven Generations or The Telektonon of Pacal Votan; the NineHells-ThirteenHeavens of Quetzalcoatl, and the Prophecies of the Book of Chilam Balam.The Book of Seven Generations is the key which is found in the ChilamBalam, and particularly the prophecy of Antonio Martinez, AD 1692, 1000years after the dedication of Pacal Votan's tomb. Science andrevelationsupport each other and my purpose has been to fulfill the question askedinthe Chilam Balam, "Who will be the prophet who will be the priest tointerpret truly the Word of the Book?" This question concludes the"Prophecy of the New Religion." The new religion is not Christianity,butthe religion of UR which comes at the end time after the fulfillment ofallof the prophecies.Besides Tony Shearer, I have had contact with numerous shamans andelders of native American and Maya traditions, including Sun Bear,ThomasBanyaca of the Hopi, Eduardo Calderon of Peru, and the Cherokee, DhyaniYwahoo. The Mayan, Hunbatz Men, came to me in 1985, and through him, wewere able to open Palenque as a sacred site, March 12, 1989. I haveworkedwith Domingo Diaz Porta and others of the Great Brotherhood; and thisSolarMoon (March 23-29, 1998), we shall attend the Maya Congress in Solola,Guatemala with Mayan elders Alejandro Cerilo Perez and others.2. TV: Do you think that this knowledge is still alive in theMayanCommunity, and how far does the Mayan tribe play a role in the futurechanges of mankind? Will the Indians play a role or is it mainly aconcernof white people?VV: My approach is called New Dispensation Maya. It is dependenton prophetic and scientific revelation. New Dispensation supports andis acomplete vindication of all indigenous Maya, and indigenous peopleeverywhere. Insofar as it is based on the Tzolkin, we are the samesystemas the indigenous Maya. While recognizing the indigenous Maya, and allexisting indigenous people as biospheric caretakers, New DispensationMayais universal and is for everyone on the planet today. Germans inFrankfurtare not going to live by the traditions of the indigenous Maya, but theycan learn to live as galactic Maya, which is the purpose of the NewDispensation and its tools: the Thirteen Moon Calendar, Dreamspell,Telektonon, the Rinri Project, First World Peace, and the 20 Tablets oftheLaw of Time.3. TV: What do you think about intercultural exchange and mergingofdifferent traditions? Will this be necessary for the new paradigm?VV: The new paradigm is a return of humanity to living in thenatural 13:20 timing frequency. This is the time which all indigenouspeople and all life in the biosphere lives in unconsciously. Now we areatthe end of history and only by living according to the 13:20 "Mayan"cyclesof harmony with nature will the human race survive its mistake of livinginthe artificial time. This is the purpose of the Calender Change,replacingthe Gregorian with the 13 Moon (Tun Uc) calendar, July 26, 1998. TheNewDispensation-New Paradigm recognizes the existence of globalized humansliving in industrialized environments and indigenous humans, those whohaveresisted to varying degrees the efforts to seduce them intoglobalization.The indigenous people are to be caretakers of the biosphere; the newsociety will turn the Earth into a biospheric park; the now-globalizedhumans will evolve indigenous values into new galactic cultural forms tobeshared by all people as one, this is called UR, the universal religiononEarth.4., 5., and 6. TV: What connection does the Mayan Calendarhaveto the Native American Medicine Wheels? What role do the Zero Chiefsplayin your understanding of the Mayan culture? For instance is HyemyohstsStorm telling us a completely different history of the Maya in hislatestbook, Lightningbolt, than the Western scholars tell us? Do you agreewithStorm's description or do you have other/further information about thehistory of the Maya and which one? Lynn Andrews describes in her bookDarkSister, a cave in Yucatan, prepared hundreds of years before the Maya,where very old scriptures are stored. The characters seemed to LynnAndrews to be Sanskrit. Do you have any information about scriptureslikethese?VV: I am aware of the Medicine Wheel and in the mid-1980s Iparticipated in ceremonies at Ojai Foundation, California, with HarleySwiftdeer, but I am not a student of the Medicine Wheel, so I am notqualified to comment about it. The Mayan Calendar, however, canorganizeMedicine Wheels. Hyemyohsts Storm is an interesting man and I met himoncein 1972. His idea of Zero Chiefs is a correct idea. Most Westernscholarshave a wrong idea or interpretation of Maya and indigenous peoplebecausethey have the mentality of the "conqueror's superiority." Zero is averyprofound concept, and is at the basis of the Maya fourth-dimensionalcivilization. But, as I wrote in the Mayan Factor (1987), the Maya"Zero-Chiefs" are interdimensional and galactic in origin, who had aspecific mission to leave the Law of Time on Earth. My mission has beentodecode this Law for all humans at this time, and so my work fulfills theLaw of Zero in equalizing time for all people. As for Lynn Andrews,sheis gifted with a talented imagination. But there are texts orscriptureslike these, sometimes found on stone and other surfaces. They aregalacticnotations, telepathically transmitted and received.7. TV: In the Maya codex Tro-Cortesianus there is a picture, whichseems to show a very old Vedic (Sanskrit) story: the churning of themilkocean (galaxy). There is a turtle, a rope, blackish and whitepersonspulling the rope, the same protagonists as in the Vedic story. (See:Giorgio de Santillana/Herta von Dechend; Hamlet's Mill, David Godine,Boston, Publisher, 1992, fig. 50.) Do you see any connection betweentheold Vedic culture in India and the Maya?VV: Yes, there is a connection between Old Vedic and Maya. Mayaare a tribe of (galactic) navigators in the Vedas, and this is thesourceof the knowledge of the Kalpas, etc. of the Vedic civilization andtransmitted into Buddhist and Hindu thought. The image described showstheprinciple of polarity operating the zuvuya (rope), or universal memorycircuit, which squeezes wisdom (Law of Time) out of the galactic"milkocean" turtle. The common root and interest in chronocosmology ofVedic and Maya is also seen in the cultivation of yoga (Sanskrit: divineunion) and yok-hah (Maya: higher truth).8. TV: In the Maya calendar the number 104 is very important. Whatharmonic and numerological implications does this number have?VV: 104 is the number of the Arcturus Cycle. 104 = 52 x 2, 26 x4, and as 13 x 8 refers to the Harmony (8) of the Power of Time (13). Thegrand cycle of four 26,000-year evolutionary seasons, forms the grandArcturus cycle of 104,000 years. 104 is also the number of years tocomplete 65 Venus cycles and 146 Tzolkins.9. TV: In what relation does the number 104 stand to the holynumberof India, 108?VV: 104 + 4 = 108 = 104, Arcturus Cycle, + 4, the power ofself-defining form; 108 = 12 x 9, or 27 x 4; 27 = 3 x 9 = the power oftheBolontiku (Nine Lords of Time and Destiny) in the unconscious. So malasare made with 108 beads in both Buddhist and Hindu traditions signifyingthe holy cycle of mantric repetition meant to arouse sublime insightfromthe unconscious.10. TV: In the Vedic Tradition we find the yuga-cycles, which arepartof the Vedic calendar system. They are based in the 144,000 which alsoplays a role in the Mayan Calendar. What connection do you see betweenthetwo calendars or time-systems?VV: The Maya galactic notation and mathematic system functions ontwo cycles: the absolute cycle, which is the binary system: 1, 20, 400,8000, 160000, 3200000, 64000000, etc, where you see the system creating,among others, the sequence of I Ching and DNA (64); and the other cyclewhich is the relative or Vinal code, where the cycle follows thesequence,1, 18, 360, 7200, 144,000, 2,880,000, 57,600,000, etc. This relativetimecount is actually a base nine, where all of the numbers numerologicallyaddup to 9-this is the power of the Bolontiku. The Mayan count is themastersystem, since it is base 20, vigesimal and not base 10, decimal. TheHinducount is derived from the relative Maya time count, either archetypallyfrom "akashic records,"and/or from an actual extra-dimensional contactpoint prior to "history" (the Thirteen-Baktun Long Count, BC 3113-AD2012).11. TV: Many cultures like the Vedic are based on 12 (9 x 12 =108).The 13 is unknown or at least not recognized. But the 13 seems to be avery important number, which transcends the circle of 12. On the otherhand in Western tradition the 13 values as the number which brings badluck. (The 13 was a holy number in witchcraft, European pagan culture,andmaybe therefore had been brought to miscredit by the Christians). Whatmeaning does the 13 have in the Mayan tradition and what are theharmonicnumerological and spiritual implications given to 13?VV: Twelve is the number of the Cube of the Law, from which thecircle of 360 degrees is formed. The circle divided by 12 creates thebasis for the Babylonian calendar; and divided by 18 creates the Haab. Butthirteen is the supreme number of time, hated by the Babylonian priestsforbeing the measure of the female cycle (13 x 28 = 364), and hence thebasisof the superstition about thirteen in the Western civilization. As ourmathematical investigations have demonstrated, 13 carries the power ofcirculation in time, while a calendar based on 12 (theGregorian-Babylonian) creates entropic stasis. Thirteen is the supremespiritual tonal number which gives the thirteen-day cycle (theWavespell)the power to inform our everyday lives with an intrinsic harmonicspirituality.12. TV: Another discredited thing in the Western understanding istheserpent. In the Maya culture the serpent represents wisdom and so on. Canyou please summarize your understanding, what the serpent means in theMayan mythology?VV: The Serpent, Chan or Chicchan, represents the life force,which is the source of innate (DNA) wisdom. To deny this wisdom is todenyour life force. Nah Chan, "Place of the Serpent," is the traditionalnameof Palenque, seat of Pacal Votan's prophetic cycle, indicating this siteasa place of wisdom. When the serpent flies, this wisdom is liberated. Thisis the underlying meaning of Kukulkan or Quetzalcoatl, the plumedserpent,which is also connected with the release of Kundalini in Vedic yogatraditions. Hence, Quetzalcoatl represents the kundalini of propheticrealization.13. TV: What will happen in 2012 and what preliminary symptoms arevisible right now? Please give us a positive view on the future becauseofnegative and apocalyptic visions we have had enough!VV: In 2012, the Earth will be in a condition of rapid,unprecedented evolution and change due to the enlightenment of the humanspecies for having returned to living according to the natural 13:20cyclesof time. The Calendar Change of 1998 will be seen as the final turningpoint of Babylonian civilization. The oneness of humanity will be theresult of the universal telepathy reawakened by returning to the naturalcycles. Because of this fact, there will no longer be any need ofgovernment, and humanity will have abandoned industrial technology forthedevelopment of spiritual, telepathic fourth-dimensional technologies.Creature comfort needs will be supplied by applications of solar andtelepathic crystal technologies. The human race will be living andfulfilling UR, the Universal Religion on Earth. The order of realitywillbe known as the Dominion of Time. Everyone will be getting ready forthegreat moment of galactic synchronization, July 26, 2013, Yellow GalacticSeed, the completion of the telepathic construction of Timeship Earth2013and the advent of the Planetary Manitou, the galactic brain on Earth.14. TV: On what are you working at the moment?VV: With my wife, Lloydine, I am currently coordinating the WorldThirteen Moon Calendar Change Peace Movement and the creation of the NewWorld Calendar Reform Pact. This peace pact is being drawn up betweentheVatican, the author of the Gregorian Calendar, and the Nations of theEarth. The New World Calendar Reform is to be implemented by theCouncilfor the Theology of Peace, a planetary spiritual assembly of allreligionsand spiritual traditions to coordinate with the United Nations for thedestructuring of globalized human society and its creative tranformationinto peace on Earth.Thank you for the opportunity of clarifying many fine points.