HISTORY Chichn Itz, la cultura maya, del Clsico Tardo, 11 y 13 dC El sitio se desarroll entre los siglos 6 y 14.

Los primeros habitantes (AD 600-900) fueron los Itz, un grupo maya. Chichn Itz parece haber sido abandonada durante el siglo 10, pero posteriormente reubicados en torno al ao 1000. El segundo grupo de colonos pudieron haber sido el original Itz, toltecas de Tula (cerca de la Ciudad de Mxico), o una fusin de ambos grupos. Los arquelogos han reconocido influencias mayas y toltecas en la arquitectura: la mayora cree que los toltecas influido en la Itza, pero algunos afirman que la influencia fue en la otra direccin. Fue fundada en el ao 514 de nuestra era por el sacerdote LAKIN CHAN tambin llamado Itzamn. Esta es la razn por su pueblo fueron llamados desde la fundacin, Chanes o Itzaes. El nombre de Chichn Itz, se deriva de la lengua maya: "Chi" - boca "Chen" - bueno y "Itz" la tribu que habitaba la zona. Cuando los espaoles llegaron a Chichn - Itz, que haba sido abandonada como consecuencia de la guerra civil que se desat con Mayapn. Entre 1196 y 1441 el colapso final de esta cultura tuvo lugar en el norte de la pennsula. Los conquistadores encontraron los edificios de Chichn Itz, parcialmente en ruinas y sus nombres y el uso real eran desconocidos, por eso los nombres actuales son suposiciones.

El Castillo, Chichen Itza. Charnay Desiree, 1860

Source >>

Cather's drawings of El Castillo

El Castillo (old photo)

El Caracol (old photo)

About 60% of El Castillo pyramid has been restored almost fully from the decaying condition in which it was re-discovered by John L. Stephens in 1841 although the eastern and southern faces are still partially eroded by the forces of time and erosion. There are no plans to restore these two faces of the pyramid as those that restored the other portions wish for future generations to see the condition in which it was originally discovered.

Drawings of the Nunnery

Artist's rendering of central Chichen Itza around the year AD 1,000. View is from the north with the Castillo Pyramid in the center, Temple of the Warriors to the east, and a sacbe to the Sacred Cenote in the foreground. Source:http://maya.csuhayward.edu/archaeoplanet/97GprGra/97Photos/Fig06.htm

Credits for the following segment: http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Americas/ChichenItza.CP.html Chichen Itza is the most impressive and intact ruins of Mayan civilization that the modern world has. This now popular tourist attraction is located on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico and has fast become the best restored record of the spiritual, domestic, and agricultural lives of these people. Mayan ruins in central America, such as Chichen Itza, are remnants of cities that were abandoned long before Columbus reached the area; yet this culture has influenced many areas of architecture, art, and astronomy, that live on even in our modern world. The Mayan people are most famous for their brilliant and advanced astronomical knowledge and their resiliency. Stone remnants of their civilization are currently being preserved at various sites in Mexico; in Tilkal, Guatemala; in Altun Ha, Belize; and in Copan, Honduras. Mayan civilization spread from their origin on the Yucatan Peninsula to the rain forests of Mexico eastward and the other surrounding countries. Today, mostly on the Yucatan Peninsula and in the state of Chiapas, Mayan culture is still thriving with four to six million people, over 30 languages, and many ethnic backgrounds represented. Modern Mayans still continue many of the traditions of their ancient culture, such as speaking their ancient dialects instead of Spanish, growing their traditional crops (corn, beans, chile, tomatoes, and squash) with the same techniques, and using herbal medicinal treatments instead of modern medicine. Many spiritual aspects of Mayan life, the purpose for their ancient cities, is still exercised with many offerings and pilgrimages to modern churches, sometimes fusing Catholicism with Mayan beliefs from antiquity. Around 550 AD, Mayans settled Chichen (translated "the mouth of the well") around two wells; one sacred and one "profane," used for everyday use. These underground wells and subsequent waterways, known as "cenotes", were the lifeblood of the community. Chichen Itza was primarily a rain forest area settled on flat, porous limestone that rain seeped through to became

trapped in the insolvent bedrock below. These cenotes were, therefore, the oasis of the society, full of rain and run off water for their living needs. Chichen Itza, like most Mayan centers, was primarily a spiritual, ceremonial site instead of a commercial area. The loose arrangement of decentralized farming communities came together for offerings, sacrifices, and ceremonies in the town. Some trade, education, and recreation were also performed there. Exhumed from the sacred well were many ceremonial objects, skulls, and entire skeletons. Evidence suggests that Chichen Itza was abandoned by the Mayans in the tenth century. This is concurrent with evidence of all Mayan cities being abandoned around this period. The abandonment has not yet been fully explained. The Mayans returned to and resettled their cities around 1000 AD. Chichen Itza's architecture is seen to have two distinctive styles; traditional Mayan architecture, and more recent Toltec architecture. The Toltecs were another more warlike tribe who invaded Chichen Itza around the year 800 AD. The Toltecs were much more fierce than the Mayans and human sacrifice was a large part of their rituals. It is quite easy to decipher which structures in Chichen Itza were built before and after 800 AD.

Chichn ItzArchitecture
The architectural characteristics ofChichen Itza have a direct relationship with the Mayan Toltec style. All of its buildings: "El Castillo", "El juego de la Pelota", "El Grupo de las Mil Columnas", "El tzompantli", El Edificiode las Aguilas", "El templo de los Guerrerros", and "El Mercado", have the same decoration motives found in Tula.
The archaeological site is divided into 3 areas: the Northern group (distinctly Toltec), the Central group (early period) and the Southern area known as the Old Chichen (located far away from the other buildings and its visit requires a guide).

El Castillo
"The Castle", aka "The Pyramid of Kukulkan", or the "Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl" (another name for Kukulkan from the Toltecs) believed to be built before 800 AD, is easily the most impressive and widely recognized of the structures in Chichn Itz or indeed anywhere in the Mayan region. A true masterpiece of the Toltec-Mayan architectural genius.

El Castillo (Photo World-Mysteries.com ) "El Castillo" ("castle" in Spanish) sheds light on the Mayans impressive astronomical knowledge. It is, in reality, a solar calendar. There are 91 steps on each side and 1 for the roof/altar. Each day's shadows fall upon a different step.
Learn more about El Castillo >>

It was surely the place where the ceremony of the descent of Kukulkan was held. The pyramid has special astronomical layout so that agame of light and shadow is formed. On March 21st the body of the serpent metaphorically descends from the temple on top of the pyramid and arrives at the heads at the foot of the staircase.
3View the 3D model of El Castillo and animation of the shadow >>

"El Castillo", western side of the pyramid.

For a thousand years, the slanting rays of the setting sun have played a spectacular shadow game with this great Mayan pyramid. At the appointed hour, the shadow of the Feathered Serpent, Kukulcan slides down the northern stairway...and vanishes.

The northern and eastern faces of El Castillo. The Northern stairs have the large stone heads of Kukulkan at the base and the eastern face (on the left) is the un-restored side. The main stairway is easily distinguished by the presence of two large serpent heads, representing the god Kukulkan, at the base. This is the northern-most staircase and faces towards the Platform of Venus as well as the Sacred Cenote.

This is a view of El Castillo on a sunny day. This photo is showing the symmetry of this structure. It shows several uniquely Mayan attributes that went into the construction:
1. It reveals the nine tiers, split by the stairway to give 18 smaller tier sections, the same as the number of months in the Mayan calendar. 2. It shows the twenty six rectangular panels on either side of the stairway (about three or four per tier). Adding to fifty-two panels, the same as the number of years in a Mayan cycle. 3. Though not feasable to show here, there are 91 steps on each of the four stairways leading up to the top of the structure with a common step at the top to all four sides, leading to a total of 365 steps... same as the number of days in a year. 4. An overhead view of the structure shows that it is skewed exactly 18 degrees, same as the number of months in the calendar.

There are 91 steps on each side of the pyramid of Kukulkan (Photo World-Mysteries.com ) El Castillo was primarily built to represent Snake Mountain, the mystic place where creation first occurred in Mayan folklore. Snake mountain is a design practice adopted in Teotihuican as well as the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan. Though brought to its full artistic maturity in Chichn Itz, the design is much older than any of these cities. There are examples of the Snake Mountain design at Waxaktun and at Cerros as early as 100 BC. The upright bodies of the snakes that act as supports for the upper temple are meant to represent the "Kuxan Sum" or "Living cord" that connected the rulers of the earth with their gods. Nowhere in the Mayan world is there a larger or more impressive representation of the Snake Mountain design than in El Castillo, nor one with as much functionality as is detailed below. Snake Mountain was also where Xmucane, the first mother, used maize dough to mold the first humans at the beginning of the fourth creation. The visible structure seen today is at least the second temple built at this spot. Beneath the huge outer structure is a smaller temple of similar design. A small doorway on the west face of the northern stairs is the only access up a small stairway to the inner temple beneath. In this inner temple is another Chaac Mool and a jaguar throne, sealed off to tourists by an iron gate. The Maya were known to be great mathematicians and are credited with the invention of the "zero" in their counting system. They were also great astronomers, and EL Castillo is a perfect marriage of their sciences with their religion. By far the most amazing aspect of the pyramid is the accuracy, significance, and relevance it has within the Mayan calendar and social system. There are many numerical details regarding the location of this structure that could not have all occurred by accident. Each side of the pyramid is made up of nine larger tiers or layers with a staircase in the center of each side leading to the temple at the top. Each stairway consists of ninety one steps, with one step at the top common to all four sides, for a total of three hundred and sixty five steps, the exact number of days in a solar year. Each side of the pyramid has fifty

two rectangular panels, equal to the number of years in the Mayan cycle (at the conclusion of which they typically constructed a newer structure over an older one). The stairways divide the tiers on any given side into two sets of nine for a total of 18 tiers which corresponds to the 18 months in the Mayan calendar. The "square" that makes up the overall base of the structure is exactly 18 degrees from the vertical. Every aspect of the structure relates in some way to the Maya and their culture. The very physical presence of this structure and the shadows it casts, are also significant within the Mayan culture and are more fully explained in here the section detailing the Shadow Of The Equinox. The Maya universe was comprised of 13 "compartments" in 7 levels with each compartment being ruled over by a different god. El Castillo reflects these beliefs as seen in the shadows it casts. 7 levels are shown in the 7 light triangles. 7 Triangles of light and 6 darker triangles give 13 triangles in all corresponding to the 13 overall levels of the underworld. Suffice it to sum up here and say, the pyramid casts unique and identifiable shadows on the exact days of the year that represent the solstice and equinox that occur twice a year. This shows the Maya were aware of the rotation of the sun and the exact length of a year. Indeed, we know that the Mayan Calendar was more accurate than the one we use today. On the west side of the base of the northern staircase there is an entrance to a smaller inner structure. This inner structure existed alone and was a pyramid similar to the main outer one that was covered over after the 52 year cycle was complete. This inner temple resembled the outer one in that it also was made up of a nine terraced pyramid with a temple at the top. There are only sixty one steps to this inner structure and the temple contains a stone statue of the reclining Chaac-Mool (which means"red claw") That can also be found at the portico of the Temple of the Warriors. Also with Chaac-Mool in this antechamber is a stone Jaguar, also worshipped by the Maya after the Toltec influenced them in this belief, that may have served as the throne for a leader or high priest. When first found, this throne had a delicately wrough Turquise mosiac disk sitting on it. The staircase leading up to this inner chamber is enclosed by the larger structure over top of it and it is a very small stairway by modern standards. Barely six feet high and three feet wide, with slick damp stones for steps, some may find it difficult to enter and it is not for the claustrophobic. The stairs are smooth and slick and are narrow enough that people going up may not be able to pass people on the way down. Apart from the religious and ceremonial significance to the structure, it is believed to have an additional, more sinister purpose to its design. It is believed that maya priests would sacrifice hundreds of captured enemy warriors at the top of its steps and, in some cases before the body had completely died, would throw the bodies down the steep steps. Now, before they were cast down they typically had their hearts cut out so ensuring their demise with such a horrific fall wasn't in question. More likely it was symbolic of the priests in casting the enemy away from the sacred temple atop of El Castillo, signifying that the unfortunate prisoner was not worthy to stand upon Snake Mountain. The base of the steps would be heaped with dozens of bodies after such a ceremony.
Learn more about El Castillo>>

Templo de los Guerreros / Temple of the Warriors

"Templo de los Guerreros" is a temple with the typical Toltec entrance columns. Another one of the buildings that has a Toltec seal without is the "Muro de los Craneos". These buildings were destined to be the mausoleums of the tying up the years. Every 52 years the ancient Mayans and other cultures would tie up a sheaf of years to end a cycle.

Temple of the Warriors and Group of the One Thousand Columns (Photo Shaun Tennant )

Temple of the Warriors (Photo World-Mysteries.com )

Group of the One Thousand Columns (Photo World-Mysteries.com )

El Caracol
Another important buildings is "El Caracol", an astronomical observatory. El Caracol (conch shell) is another astronomy-oriented structure. It is a giant observatory dome where many rituals and celebrations took place. The dome has many windows peppered throughout. Stars can be seen through different windows on specific dates. This structure is one of the pinnacles of Mayan architecture. Creating a stone dome is hard work, but creating it with windows at precise points takes an enormous amount of time and skill. El Caracol simultaneously displays the Mayans' expertise in both astronomy and engineering. This is one of the main attractions of Chichen Itza today.

El Caracol and Castillo from Nunnery. (Photo Copyright Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester )

El Caracol from NW (Photo 2006 by World-Mysteries.com )

El Caracol from N (Photo 2006 by World-Mysteries.com)

El Caracol - inside wall (Photo 2006 by World-Mysteries.com)

El Caracol - The dome (left) and windows 3 and 2 (right) (Photos Copyright Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester )

El juego de la Pelota / Great Ball Court

El juego de la Pelota, the largest Ball Court in Mesoamerica is found in Chichen Itza. It is 168 meters in length and 70 meters in width. In Mesoamerica, the Ball Game was an entertainment, but it also had a ritual side in which the losers were sacrificed. ___ Chichen Itza's Ball Court is the largest in Mexico. Ball Courts were part of almost every Mayan city. The courts were designed very much like today's soccer fields. Raised stone hoops were placed at each end. The Mayans would play a game very much like a cross between soccer and basketball. A hard rubber ball (the Mayans had rubber in this era) was used. The teams were supposed to keep the ball in play using everything but their hands, and score by putting the ball through the hoop. The Chichen Itza Ball Court measures 272 by 199 feet, about the dimensions of a football field. After the invasion of the Toltecs, the Ball Court took on a more somber note, with the losing team often being sacrificed. Chichen Itza must have been home to the finest athletes due to the size of their court. The size of it often indicates that many important games were played at Chichen Itza.
Text copyright 1998 by David W. Koeller.

"El juego de la Pelota", the largest Ball Court in Mesoamerica is found in Chichen Itza. (Photo World-Mysteries.com)

One of the two stone rings used during the game. (Photo World-Mysteries.com)

Nunnery

Eastern Annex of Nunnery facade. (Photo Copyright Clive Ruggles, University of Leicester)

El Osario - Tomb of the Great Priest

Tomb of the Great Priest owes its name to the tombs found inside.

The Tomb of the Great Priest (Photo Copyright 2006 by World-Mysteries.com)

El Chichancob - Colored House

One of the oldest and best preserved structures in Old Chichen.

Colored House - El Chichancob (Photo Copyright 2006 by World-Mysteries.com)

El Castillo - Computer Model

World-Mysteries.com

Computer Model of El Castillo - the shadow of the Feathered Serpent on the northern stairway on March 21 (different viewing angle)

World-Mysteries.com

Computer Model of El Castillo - the shadow of the Feathered Serpent on the northern stairway on March 21 - Detail (different viewing angle)

nd Dimensions

d 800 A.D. ( between 550-900 A.D. ) East from true North: 19 deg m - top platform (+6m with the temple)

s pyramid is essentially a nine-step structure culminating in a flat platform rts a two-story temple. The height to the top platform is 24 m, adding another 6 m.

Image Source: http://www.newodysseyart.co.uk/maya_art_kukulkan.html

's design is thought to relate to the Mayan calendar. Each of the four faces incorporates a broad, steep staircase consisting of 91 ascends to the top platform. Counting the top platform as an additional step gives a total of 365 steps: 1step for each day of t ases rise at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal, while the average inclination of the stepped pyramid itself is 53.3 degrees. T vidual steps are sloped at a greater angle, approximately 73 degrees.

main platforms of the pyramid are thought to represent the 18 months of the haab, and the 52 panels represent the number of ye calendar round date to recur.

Summary

ght: 24m - top platform (+6m with the temple) e temple at the top of the pyramid is 6 m high, 13.42 m wide, and 16.5 m long.

ircases rise at an angle of 45 degrees to the horizontal

e average inclination of the stepped pyramid itself is 53.3 degrees.

e faces of the individual steps are sloped at a greater angle, approximately 73 degrees.

Width Top

Meters 19.52

Zapal equivalent 13

Conversion factor 1.50

Base Temple Stairs

55.3 13.42 8.85

37 9 6

1.49 1.49 1.48

Kukulcn's pyramid is notable for the fact that at the spring and fall equinoxes (March 21 and September 22) the sun projects an undulating pattern of light on the northern stairway for a few hours in the late afternoona pattern caused by the angle of the sun and the edge of the nine steps that define the pyramid's construction. These triangles of light link up with the massive stone carvings of snake heads at the base of the stairs, suggesting a massive serpent snaking down the structure.

Additionally, when one looks at the western face during the winter solstice, the sun appears to climb up the edge of the staircase until it rests momentarily directly above the temple before beginning its descent down the other side. The orientation of the pyramid is approximately 17 degrees east of magnetic north, in an area where the declination is approximately 2 degrees east, so the actual orientation is around 19 egrees east of true north. Several other major structures on the site are oriented in approximately the same way. Read more about celestial alignments >>

Chichen Itza at Spring Equinox. Image Source >>

Vernal Equinox Animation. This animation can be viewed as: Flash Movie (452KB), or Animated GIF (424KB)

View our 3D Model of El Castillo>>

Chichen Itza Photos

Geometry of the sunset at Chichen Itza on the Vernal Equinox

he following images are the result of amazing hi-tech combination of satellite images with program called The Photographers phemeriswhich shows you the exact direction of where the sunrise and moonrise will be at any particular location and time using oogle maps.

Geometry of the sunset at Chichen Itza on the Vernal Equinox (March 21, 2010). Click to enlarge. Image generated by The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) - stephentrainor.com/tools

Geometry of the sunset at Chichen Itza on the Summer Solstice (June 21, 2010). Click to enlarge. Image generated by The Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) - stephentrainor.com/tools

OT The Photographer's Ephemeris

he Photographers Ephemeris (TPE) is a free application for Mac/Windows/Linux designed for landscape photographers. It shows you the xact direction of where the sunrise and moonrise will be at any particular ocation and time using Google maps. Landscape photographers typically wishing o plan their shoots around the times of sunrise/sunset or twilight, or alternatively hen the moon is in a particular place or a particular phase. Click on the logo to arn more and download this free program.

ephentrainor.com/tools

omparison of Khufu and Kukulcan

y Craig B. Smith, P.E., and Kelly E. Parmenter

he pyramids built by the pharaohs of ancient Egyptespecially the magnificent omb of the Fourth Dynastys Khufu, or Cheopshave prompted extensive nquiry through the ages. Not so the pyramids erected by other ancient peoples hose of the Maya, for example. But the pyramids of the MayaKukulcns mong themreveal much about the sophisticated skills of their builders.

hufu and Kukulcn: Read feature | Read Abstract

ecoding Kukulkan's Longitude

ukulkan Pyramid. When the world's pyramids were built, their longitudes were eckoned from a very ancient Prime Meridian (0/360 longitude) that ran from ole to pole across the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt, a full 31 degrees, 08 minutes, 00.8 seconds to the east of our modern Greenwich Prime Meridian.

n order to "read" our western pyramids this 31 08' 00.8" longitudinal variance must be factored in to our present-day longitudes for these western monuments.

arl Munck - Archaeocryptography

arl Munck's work is extensive! Here's but one pyramid decoded. (For the urposes of posting this on our Web page, Carl chose one of the simplest monuments to decode.) What follows is copyrighted Carl Munck 1996:

ike the other pyramids of the Western Hemisphere, the Kukulkan Pyramid at

hichan Itza was a terraced monument as opposed to being a true pyramid form such an we see in Egypt. There were clear reason or this departure from Egyptian architectural practice because in the West, pyramids convey specific numbers which can enable s to see why they were built where they were upon the earth.

he decoding process is generally quite simple, the only exceptions apparently having been at Tikal where the decoding process i ot without certain complexities, otherwise the decoding is a simple process. The Kukulkan is a classic example of this.

KUKULKAN PYRAMID at Chichen Itza on Mexico's Yucatan . Also known as the El Castillo (The Castle) and Quetzalcoatl, Kukulkan Pyramid has staircases on all four sides. With each staircase comprising 91 steps, the four show 364 steps with the upper platform being the 365th step.

CORNER VIEW FROM THE GROUND

n this 3/4 view from ground level., notice that the pyramid shows us nine terraces. This, the first number we use to assemble our ormula for the decoding process.

he second number is 365. Kukulkan has four staircases, one on each side of the monument, on each staircase are 91 steps. For th our., that totals to 364 steps with the top platform of the pyramid being the 365th step. We now have our second number - 365.

OVERHEAD VIEW

n the overhead view, we see that the pyramid has four sides, and four staircases. We now have all the numbers shown by the rchitect and can put the decoding formula together:

9 terraces x 365 steps x 4 sides x 4 stairways = 52,560

here are also other numbers which also multiply to 52,560. These are 119, 42 and 10.51620648. Two rational numbers and an rational, but these are not shown on the pyramid. These appear only on maps.

When the world's pyramids were built, their longitudes were reckoned from a very ancient Prime Meridian (0/360 longitude) tha an from pole to pole across the Great Pyramid at Giza, a full 31 degrees, 08 minutes, 00.8 seconds to the east or our modern reenwich Prime Meridian. In order to "read" our western pyramids this 31 08' 00.8" longitudinal variance must be factored in to ur present-day longitudes for these Western monuments, viz:

ence, those other three numbers of 119, 42, and 10.51620648 shown above, are the elements of Kukulkan's original longitude hich multiply to its GRID longitude which was left to us in the 4-4-9-365 message conveyed by the Kukulkan itself.

opyright 1996 - 2004, Carl Munck. All Rights Reserved. ource: http://www.pyramidmatrix.com/kukulkan_pyramid.htm

he Pyramid of Kukulcan - a Precessional Alarm Clock

When the Toltec people moved to Chichen Itza, they merged their own zenith cosmology with the Mayan system, and the result as the Pyramid of Kukulcan. This has been designed so that every year, on Spring Equinox, the afternoon sun causes a hadow play so that it appears that a huge serpent is descending from the sky, down the pyramid. However, John Major enkins shows that the pyramid is much more than an equinox indicator. It is a PRECESSIONAL CLOCK WITH ITS ALARM ET FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.

Photo from souvenir book

The Pyramid of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza. This image shows the Seven Triangles of Light and Shadow as they appear on the west face of the northern staircase of El Castillo between 4:30 and 5:00 PM during the Spring equinox on March 21st. Our computer model animation can be seen Here>>

enkins says that Kukulcan, (or Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent), was the symbol of a sun-Pleiades-zenith conjunction. Exactly 60 ays after the Spring Equinox, on May 20, the zenith passage of the sun takes place over Chichen Itza. The Crotalus rattlesnake, hose pattern is constantly used in Mesoamerican art, has a marking on it which is identical to the Solar Ahau glyph of the Maya, and its rattle was called tzab, which is the same word used for the Pleiades star cluster

From John Major Jenkins' essential book,

Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 - The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End-Date

he moving snake on the Pyramid is an annual reminder of a conjunction of the zenith sun with the Pleiades over Chichen Itza, bu his is an event which will only occur during a 72-year time window, from 1976 to 2048. Right at the centre of this time window i he year 2012, when the Great Cycle ends. On May 20 2012, the zenith passage combines with a solar eclipse, on the Tzolkin day 0 Chichan, which means serpent. The winter solstice end-point will be 4 Ahau in the Tzolkin calendar, meaning Lord/Sun, and 3 ankin in the Haab calendar, which means snake-day.

elated link: http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/5.htm

he Shadow of the Equinox

ummary of Events Reflected by El Castillo

he cycle of the sun and how it interacts with the pyramid El Castillo at Chichn Itz.

ey dates that are all approximately 91 days apart from each other.

ate/Event

uly 16

tart of Mayan new year. Add 52 days to this date (the same as the number of years in Maya "cycle" and you arrive at Sept 6th.

ept 6th ll nine triangles of light are visible between 5 and 5:30 PM.

ept 22 all equinox (Day and night equal length) when seven triangles are visible. This is 92 days from previous summer solstice of June 1.

ct 9th ix triangles visible between 4 and 4:30 PM.

ec 21 Winter solstice, longest night of the year. (91 days from Sept 22 fall equinox) North and East sides in total darkness while West nd South are in daylight. 91 Days from fall equinox

March 5 ix triangles visible between 4 and 4:30 PM.

March 21 pring Equinox. (Day and night equal length) Seven triangles between 4:30 - 5 PM. 91 days (same as stairs on the pyramid) from ecember 21 solstice.

pril 6 ine triangles between 5 and 5:30 PM All possible triangles visible at this time.

une 21 ummer solstice. Longest day of the year. (91 days from the March 21 show of seven triangles) South and West sides in total arkness between 7 and 7:30 AM.

eneral information on the phenomenon

he Mayans succeeded in an almost impossible mission with the completion of their structures at Chichn Itz. A poetic ombination of form, style, function, religion, philosophy, mathematics and geometry. A true symbiosis of all of their intelligence nd art in one location, to be studied and admired by all that visit. By far the most impressive aspect of the Pyramid of Kukulkan s relationship with the sun and how it reflects the equinoxes and solstices of our solar year with stunning accuracy. Before one an fully understand the workings of the Shadow of the Equinox, a few basics on astronomy need to be reviewed.

n equinox occurs twice each year when our sun, in its orbit around the earth in a fashion unique to these times of the year, passe irectly over the Earth's equator and the length of the daylight and evening hours is equal. Hence the word equinox is derived from he Latin for "equal" aequus, and nox meaning "night". The spring equinox occurs on March 21. Six months later, on Sept 22, we ave the Fall Equinox. The summer solstice occurs on June 21st. On this day earth sees the longest duration of daylight. Six months later is the winter solstice on December 22, when we see the shortest daylight and the longest night of the year. On these ays the sun almost seems to pause in its orbit before resuming its course, and it is why the word solstice is based on the Latin sol or "sun", and sistere or "to cause to stand". This cycle then repeats itself as the Earth continues to rotate around the sun. It is

nteresting to note that there are exactly 91 days between each of these events, and 92 days between the June 21 summer solstice nd the September 21 equinox. This adds up to a 365 day solar year with the 91 days between each event matching the 91 steps to ach side of the pyramid (described here).

ach of these solar events, the two solstices and the two equinoxes, can be measured and predicted using the patterns of light and hadow that fall on EL Castillo at various times of the year. It is believed that the Mayans used the various shadows and designs ormed by the Pyramid to signal the beginning of a harvest or of a planting, to predict the best dates to be married or to be buried, nd for other various ceremonial reasons. The cycles of the sun also play out to another Mayan tradition of the number 52. To us, is a coincidence that this is the number of weeks in our standard year. But to the Maya it represented, in years, the time of one cycle".

he Mayan Calendar began on on the first day of Pop month, or our July 16th. hey kept a count of 52 days (breaking down into 2 months with 20 days each, weeks with 5 days each, and 2 additional days. his count puts us in the 12th day of the 3rd month called Sip, or September 6th by our calendar. his was the day the Mayans held their most significant ceremonies at the base of the pyramid as September 6th (as well as April th) is when the complete nine triangles of shadow and light can be seen on the western side of the north staircase. Nine riangles being the most complete example of the phenomenon, with eight visible on the staircase and the ninth luminating the head of Kukulkan.

Photo from souvenir book

This image shows the Seven Triangles of Light and Shadow as they appear on the west face of the northern staircase of El Castillo between 4:30 and 5:00 PM during the Spring equinox on March 21st. Also visible just to the right of the illuminated serpent head is the entrance to the inner antechamber and the smaller structure over which the larger one was constructed.

rom the 12th day of Sip (or September 6th) count foreword three weeks (Mayan weeks with 5 days in each) and one additional ay (16 days total) and we arrive at the 9th day in the 4th month Zoodz (or September 22). On this date there are seven riangles on the same side of the main staircase which indicated to the Mayan astronomers that the Earth had completed its cycle round the sun. wo of the triangles seen on September 6th completely shift off the pyramid and are projected onto the ground at the floor of the

aircase. On the 6th day in the month of Tseek (October 9th or 17 days after September 22nd) there are 6 triangles visible.

here are several dates and variations of the shadows and triangles as the sun approached the positions for which the pyramid was uilt. They all had varying degrees of significance within the Mayan culture and I have only focused on the "main" ones. Source: http://www.isourcecom.com/maya/cities/chichenitza/shadowof.htm Related Link: Hypothesis of how the the location for the pyramid was derived

Chichen Itza at Spring Equinox.

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he Legend of Quetzalcatl

uetzalcoatl: "Feathered Snake." Quetzalcoatl is one of the major deities of the Aztecs, Toltecs, and other Middle American peoples. The ory goes that he descended to Mictlan, the underworld, and gathered the bones of e human beings of the previous epochs. Upon his return, he sprinkled his own blood pon these bones and thus fashioned the humans of the new era. After he banned mself from earth, and was burned while traveling on the ocean, the heart of uetzalcoatl became the morning-star. According to legend, Quetzalcoatl, described s light-skinned and bearded, would return one day to rule over his people and estroy his enemies (Tezcatlipoca). Thus, when the Spanish conqueror Hernn orts appeared in 1519, the Aztec king, Montezuma II, was easily convinced that orts was the returning god.

ccording to Aztec legend, Ometecutli, "Lord of Duality," and Omecihuatl, "Lady of uality," initially created all life and produced four sons, Quetzalcoatl, Tezcatlipoca,

uitzilopochtli and Tonatiuh, who represented different cardinal directions and who were associated with different colors. These sons became ery powerful, ruling gods.

uetzalcoatl was a benevolent god, and the founder of agriculture, industry, and the arts. Tezcatlipoca was the patron of evil and sorcerers, od of the night, omnipotent and multiform. Tezcatlipoca had transformed himself into the first sun, wanting to light the world. Because he wa vil, the other gods were not pleased, and Quetzalcoatl struck Tezcatlipoca down into the sea, causing Tezcatlipoca to assume the form of a ger. In the darkness that followed, the tiger Tezcatlipoca devoured all the giants and humans.

uetzalcoatl then became the second sun. He ruled until one day Tezcatlipoca reached up with his tiger paw from the ocean and pulled uetzacoatl down to earth. The fall of Quetzalcoatl caused a hurricane, which uprooted all growing things and destroyed man (again). The fe umans that survived were turned into monkeys.

he other gods then banished the two quarrelers, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, from the sky and made Tlaloc, god of rain and heavenly fire e third sun. But angry Quetzalcoatl caused a rain of fire to devastate the earth, drying up all the rivers and destroying man (yet again). Thos w men who did not perish were transformed into birds.

uetzalcoatl then made the goddess Chalchiutlicue, "She of the Jade-Green Skirts," the fourth sun. But jealous Tezcatlipoca sent a flood to estroy both the sun and the earth, and most of humanity perished(for the fourth time). Those who survived became fish.

response to the darkness, all of the gods assembled in Teotihuacan to offer sacrifice so that there might be light again. Two gods sacrificed emselves, such a large offering that, because of the sacrifice, a brilliant moon appeared. The gods, angered at the moon's nerve, threw a bbit at it, causing the dark holes in the moon that form the shape of a rabbit. The sacrifice was, after all, successful, and light returned to the arth.

uetzalcoatl then descended to the underworld and collected all of the bones of the humans who had been destroyed. He fashioned new umans by sprinkling the bones with his own blood. Thus the Aztec people are the direct descendants of Quetzalcoatl himself.

ezcatlipoca, still angry, laced Quetzalcoatl's drink with a poisonous mushroom, causing him to commit incest with his sister. Being a good od, Quetzalcoatl was so overcome with shame that he left Teotihuacan, never to return.

egend has it that Quetzalcoatl's raft caught on fire on the ocean when the sun was especially hot one day, and his ashes turned into birds nd carried his heart back into the sky. This is how Quetzalcoatl became the god of the morning star.

he Aztec people believed that one day, Quetzalcoatl would return to destroy his enemies and reign once again. In anticipation, every Aztec ng was named Quetzalcoatl. Unfortunately, this messianic belief was exploited by the Spaniards who, upon arrival in Mexico, spoke of peac nd prosperity, causing the Aztecs to believe that Quetzalcoatl himself had returned in the shape of the Spanish priests. Instead, the paniards took advantage of the vulnerability of the Aztecs and the Aztecs, despite their military might, were ruthlessly slaughtered. Source: http://pages.pomona.edu/~tlm02000/www/aztec_religion.html

The legend of Quetzalcatl is well known to Mexican children. It is the origin of how the plumed serpent god, originally from the Toltec region of central Mexico, came to be known to the Maya.
Quetzalcoatl ("feathered snake") is the Aztec name for the Feathered-Serpent deity of ancient Mesoamerica, one of the main gods of many Mexican and northern Central American civilizations.

tells of a man who was revered as a great mystical leader much in the same ilk as Britain's King Arthur. Though there is some evidence to suggest that Quetzalcatl was actually a living

man that ruled the Toltecs. He first appeared to the people of Teotehuican near current day Mexico City, and taught the Toltecs al f their arts and science and became their ruler and led thir city to great prosperity and importance. He eventually fell in disgrace or violating his own laws and set himself on fire. He rose in flames to become the planet Venus and vowed to return one day to is people.

fter this event, all priests in the Toltec cult were given the title of Quetzalcatl. One such priest by the name of Ce Acatl opiltzin rose to power and proclaimed himself as the second coming of Quetzalcatl returning as promised, and in 968 AD ecame king of the Toltec people once again. He reigned for decades and built the Toltec capital of Tula. Eventually he was isposed of by his enemies and this time sailed east on a raft of snakes, vowing, like the first Quetzalcatl, to return one day to rul is people. It is this snake reference that has caused the artwork depicting Quetzalcatl as emerging, or being "reborn" as he merges from the mouth of a serpent.

his raft of snakes carried Quetzalcatl east and south across the gulf of Mexico to a Yucatan beach. By coincidence, the Mayan eople were, at this time, expecting the return of their plumed serpent god Kukulkan. Kukulkan, in the same fashion as uetzalcatl, promised to return to rule his people after being forced to leave, and he was greeted as the returning Kukulkan by hose that discovered him. Topiltzin-Quetzalcatl-Kukulkan became the king of the Itz Maya and rebuilt the ancient capital of hichn Itz. Massive stone sculptures reflecting his image as the plumed serpent god were built in his honor and can be seen in a rge portion of their artwork.

is enemies eventually caught up with him again and he fled to Uxmal where he committed suicide and, according to legend, was uried under the Temple of the Dwarf where he remains to this day, though no burial plot has yet been discovered.

elated Link: http://weber.ucsd.edu/~anthclub/quetzalcoatl/que.htm

he Chirping Pyramid

ourists delight in the strange chirping echoes they produce when they clap their hands at the base of the steep staircases that weep up the face of Kukulkan, a 1,300-year-old Mayan pyramid in the Yucatan. While amusing themselves, the tourists may nwittingly be replicating an ancient Mayan ritual, says David Lubman, an acoustical consultant based in California. The echoes re eerily reminiscent of the call of the quetzal, a bird the Maya considered a representative of the gods.

he long-tailed quetzal of Mexico and Central America as associated by the ancient Maya and Aztecs with e plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl. hey used its magnificent tail feathers in religious ceremonies.

ubman recorded the enigmatic echoes while on vacation in Mexico and analyzed them when he eturned home. The echoes sound like chirps, he realized, because the sound from the tapping oesn't hit a solid wall but hundreds of small steps, producing hundreds of echoes. The difference n the distance traveled by echoes bouncing off lower steps is rather small, so the echoes follow ach other closely and make a high-pitched sound; the distances and intervals between successive choes returning from the higher steps, however, are longer, so their pitch is lower. When the choes reach a listener's ear, the change in pitch sounds like a chirping bird.

he dimensions of the steps, it turns out, are the key to the effect. Each step is tall, but the tread,

where the foot is placed, doesn't cut deeply into the pyramid. If the stairs were deeper and not so high, the effect on the echoes would not be as great, and they wouldn't sound like a chirp

That Lubman noticed the similarity between the echo and the quetzal's call was a "lucky hunch," he says, but the Maya, he thinks, knew exactly what they were doing when they built the staircase at Kukulkan. "For about 1,000 years before this, they had been building stone staircases in the open where you are going to get an echo," he says. "All it would take is one person in 1,000 years to notice that when you shorten the staircase tread, the pitch of the tone rises."

The Maya could have used the sound in ceremonies conducted at the pyramid, which was clearly linked to the sacred bird. Kukulkan i a Mayan deity whose name shares the same root as the Mayan word for "quetzal" and who is often depicted with the bird on his back.

Archeologists had always considered hand-clapping tourists a nuisance at Kukulkan, but now some ar admitting that Lubman's theories are possible. "The Maya were people of the

orest, where it was really important to listen," Lubman says. "The visual sense has been dominant in our culture, but there's much o be gained if historians learn that ears were more than mere pegs for jewelry."

OPYRIGHT 1999 Discover, COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group ource: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_2_20/ai_53631750

elestial Alignments

s with other ancient cultures, observatories, pyramids and temples were erected based on celestial alignments.

rior to the Maya rising to power circa 400 AD in Central America and Mexico, there is evidence that the Olmec people had ready begun to use astronomical orientations to direct the layout of several ceremonial centers, with the Pyramids of the New World oriented to observing and predicting the motions of the Sun and Mon. As with the Egyptians, we can deduce that Mayan stronomical endeavors, heavily relied upon the ritual and ceremonial worlds of the culture, however, here we have a wealth of vidence to substantiate such claims. Left behind are codices, or systems of hieroglyphic recordings of the Maya, and which nclude celestial sightings and how these sightings and predictions are woven into the entire cultural complex.

The Dresden Codex' has perhaps proved the most fruitful in helping to recreate the ancient environment, and containing an aborate calendar used to record the observations of Venus, which seems to be an object of utmost importance to them. Working ith both a solar calendar and a ritual calendar, the ancient Maya imparted much meaning in the helical rising of Venus, which is made evident in the structure of several ceremonial centers throughout the area. Unlike the Megalithic and Egyptian complexes, cientific observation can be better deciphered here, because of the elaborate records left behind, and because of the fact that so many of the deductions the Maya made so closely resemble recent calculations of the same recorded cycles.

ike the Egyptians, the Maya had devised two calendars, one solar and one ritual which interacted and depended upon one anothe for the dictation of certain ritual events to be carried out. The sky for the Maya was a seeming personification of Gods and deities who played important roles in the daily lives of the population. Most significantly, the relationship between the Sun and Venu (talked about previously in the helical rising, conjunction, phases) was representative of Kutaikcan, the God of Venus , and "symbolizes the cyclic myth of departure and return or death and resurrection." (Aveni 1984). In addition other objects may have been tracked in order to predict certain 'natural' phenomenon in accordance to seasona changes therefor placing major importance on the accurate predictions undertaken to better predict the earthly events thought to be under the control of the Gods.

great many structures are indicative of the devotion to and dependence upon Venus, to the Maya, and can be found in the architecture ceremonial centers throughout the region. Caracol, at Chichen Itza sits atop a large earthen mound and is a structure obviously intended for observing Venus at its most extreme points on the horizon. Just as famous, is the Governor's Palace at Uxmal, constructed so that it would center

n the helical rising of Venus at its southernmost point during the eight year cycle it follows. Such an alignment can be further ubstantiated by the fact that the Palace deviates from the remainder of the buildings at Uxmal by twenty degrees, indicating the are taken to insure the sight lines of the observation windows. The careful planning inherent in the design and building of such ructures is made evident in the precision of their alignments, however this precision was indispensable to the planning of ritual vents and the prediction of natural processes that so dictated the lives of the Maya.

n Chichen Itza, in Mexico there is a celestial observatory to the stars that was aligned along the line of the summer and winter olstice. It was built by the ancient Maya and / or their God Quatzequatl. The western orientation of the Castillo at Chichen Itza aces within a degree the zenith passage sunset. The east faces sunrise at the time of solar nadir.

he Upper Temple of the Jaguars and the Temple of the Warriors align to the zenith sunset. The Castillo has 365 steps. The aracol at Chichen Itza is recognized as an astronomical observatory (Milbrath 1988). The Caracol has three Venus alignments, ncluding the building's alignment to the northerly extremes of Venus. A pair of turret window alignments and a pair of base ignments point to Venus' western horizon standstills around 1000 A.D. The Caracol's platform, an irregular rectangle, has a iagonal directed toward the winter solstice sunset and summer solstice sunrise (Broda 1986). The platform staircase faces the enus extreme north position.

stronomical alignments are also obvious in Peru. One of Machu Picchu's primary unctions was that of astronomical observatory. The Intihuatana stone (meaning Hitching Post of the Sun') has been shown to be a precise indicator of the date of the wo equinoxes and other significant celestial periods. The Intihuatana (also called the aywa or Sukhanka stone) is designed to hitch the sun at the two equinoxes, not at the olstice (as is stated in some tourist literature and new-age books). At midday on March 21st and September 21st, the sun stands almost directly above the pillar, reating no shadow at all. At this precise moment the sun "sits with all his might upon he pillar" and is for a moment "tied" to the rock. At these periods, the Incas held eremonies at the stone in which they ?tied the sun? to halt its northward movement in he sky.

here is also an Intihuatana alignment with the December solstice (the summer solstice f the southern hemisphere), when at sunset the sun sinks behind Pumasillo (the uma's claw), the most sacred mountain of the western Vilcabamba range, but the hrine itself is primarily equinoctial.

hamanic legends say that when sensitive persons touch their foreheads to the stone, he Intihuatana opens one's vision to the spirit world (the author had such an xperience, which is described in detail in Chapter one of Places of Peace and Power, n the web site, www.sacredsites.com). Intihuatana stones were the supremely sacred bjects of the Inca people and were systematically searched for and destroyed by the paniards. When the Intihuatana stone was broken at an Inca shrine, the Inca believed that the deities of the place died or departed he Spaniards never found Machu Picchu, even though they suspected its existence, thus the Intihuatana stone and its resident pirits remain in their original position.

The mountain top sanctuary fell into disuse and wa abandoned some forty years after the Spanish took Cuzco in 1533. Supply lines linking the many Inca social centers were disrupted and the great empire came to an end. The photograph shows the ruins of Machu Picchu in the foreground with the sacred peak of Wayna Picchu towering behind. Partway down the northern side of Wayna Picchu is the socalled Temple of the Moon inside a cavern. As wit the ruins of Machu Picchu, there is no archaeological or iconographical evidence to substantiate the new-age assumption that this cave was a goddess site.

The Intihuatana Stone - The Hitching Post of the Sun Source: Machu Picchu >>