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1. Maya history

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|=| History
The Maya are probably the best-known of the classical civilizations of
|=| Mesoamerica. Originating in the Yucatбn around 2600 B.C., they rose to
prominence around A.D. 250 in present-day southern Mexico, Guatemala,
northern Belize and western Honduras. Building on the inherited inventions
|=| and ideas of earlier civilizations such as the Olmec, the Maya developed
astronomy, calendrical systems and hieroglyphic writing. The Maya were
noted as well for elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture,
including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal
tools. They were also skilled farmers, clearing large sections of tropical rain
forest and, where groundwater was scarce, building sizeable underground
reservoirs for the storage of rainwater. The Maya were equally skilled as
weavers and potters, and cleared routes through jungles and swamps to
foster extensive trade networks with distant peoples.

Around 300 B.C., the Maya adopted a hierarchical system of government with
rule by nobles and kings. This civilization developed into highly structured
kingdoms during the Classic period, A.D. 200-900. Their society consisted of
many independent states, each with a rural farming community and large
urban sites built around ceremonial centres. It started to decline around A.D.
900 when - for reasons which are still largely a mystery - the southern Maya
abandoned their cities. When the northern Maya were integrated into the
Toltec society by A.D. 1200, the Maya dynasty finally came to a close,
although some peripheral centres continued to thrive until the Spanish
Conquest in the early sixteenth century.

Maya history can be characterized as cycles of rise and fall: city-states rose
in prominence and fell into decline, only to be replaced by others. It could
also be described as one of continuity and change, guided by a religion that
remains the foundation of their culture. For those who follow the ancient
Maya traditions, the belief in the influence of the cosmos on human lives and
the necessity of paying homage to the gods through rituals continues to find
expression in a modern hybrid Christian-Maya faith.

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Timeline

B.C.
11,000
The first hunter-gatherers settle in the Maya highlands and lowlands.
3113
The creation of the world takes place, according to the Maya Long
Count calendar.
2600
Maya civilization begins.
2000
The rise of the Olmec civilization, from which many aspects of Maya
culture are derived. Village farming becomes established throughout
Maya regions.
700
Writing is developed in Mesoamerica.
400
The earliest known solar calendars carved in stone are in use among
the Maya, although the solar calendar may have been known and used
by the Maya before this date.
300
The Maya adopt the idea of a hierarchical society ruled by nobles and
kings.
100
The city of Teotihuacan is founded and for centuries is the cultural,
religious and trading centre of Mesoamerica.
50
The Maya city of Cerros is built, with a complex of temples and ball
courts. It is abandoned (for reasons unknown) a hundred years later
and its people return to fishing and farming.

A.D.
100
The decline of the Olmecs.
400
The Maya highlands fall under the domination of Teotihuacan, and the
disintegration of Maya culture and language begins in some parts of
the highlands.
500
The Maya city of Tikal becomes the first great Maya city, as citizens
from Teotihuacan make their way to Tikal, introducing new ideas
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2. Maya gods
Religion

God K, the god of lightning

Like the Aztec and Inca who came to power later, the Maya believed in a cyclical nature of time. The rituals and ceremonies were very closely associated with
celestial and terrestrial cycles which they observed and inscribed as separate calendars. The Maya priest had the job of interpreting these cycles and giving a
prophetic outlook on the future or past based on the number relations of all their calendars. They also had to determine if the heavens were propitious for
performing certain religious ceremonies.

The Maya practiced human sacrifice. In some Maya rituals people were killed by having their arms and legs held while a priest cut the person's chest open and
tore out his heart as an offering. This is depicted on ancient objects such as pictorial texts, known as codices.

Much of the Maya religious tradition is still not understood by scholars, but it is known that the Maya believed that the cosmos had three major planes, the Earth, the underworld
beneath and the heavens above.

The Maya underworld is reached through caves and ball courts.[citation needed] It was thought to be dominated by the aged Maya gods of death and putrefaction. The Sun (Kinich Ahau)
and Itzamna, an aged god, dominated the Maya idea of the sky. Another aged man, god L, was one of the major deities of the underworld.

The night sky was considered a window showing all supernatural doings. The Maya configured constellations of gods and places, saw the unfolding of narratives in their seasonal
movements, and believed that the intersection of all possible worlds was in the night sky[citation needed].

Maya gods had affinities and aspects that caused them to merge with one another in ways that seem unbounded. There is a massive array of supernatural characters in the Maya
religious tradition, only some of which recur with regularity. Good and evil traits are not permanent characteristics of Maya gods, nor is only "good" admirable. What is
inappropriate during one season might come to pass in another since much of the Maya religious tradition is based on cycles and not permanence.

The life-cycle of maize lies at the heart of Maya belief. This philosophy is demonstrated on the belief in the Maya maize god as a central religious figure. The Maya bodily ideal is
also based on the form of this young deity, which is demonstrated in their artwork. The Maize God was also a model of courtly life for the Classical Maya.

It is sometimes believed[attribution needed] that the multiple gods represented nothing more than a mathematical explanation of what they observed. Each god was literally just a number or
an explanation of the effects observed by a combination of numbers from multiple calendars. Among the many types of Maya calendars which were maintained, the most important
included a 260-day cycle, a 365-day cycle which approximated the solar year, a cycle which recorded lunation periods of the Moon, and a cycle which tracked the synodic period of
Venus.

Philosophically, the Maya believed that knowing the past meant knowing the cyclical influences that create the present, and by knowing the influences of the present one can see the
cyclical influences of the future.
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Even in the 19th century, there Maya culture influenced the local forms of Christianity followed in Chan Santa Cruz.

Among the K'iche' in the western highlands of Guatemala these same nine months[clarification needed] are replicated, until this very day, in the training of the ajk'ij, the keeper of the 260-
day-calendar called ch'olk'ij.

Ah muzencab - God of Bees and Honey - intimately associated with the four bacabs
Ah Puch - also known as Hun ahua is a God of Death and dwells in the underworld; normally epicted as a human skeleton with an awl head.
Bacab - The Four Guardian Deities (see above article) they related to the Cardinal points, carrying the sky in the center of them is the sacred tree of life "Ceiba". Holly bees
are associated with these four deities as well as the armadillo, spider web, snail, and the turtle.
Chaac - God of Rain, it is one god and manifold gods including the God of Thunder (God K) and the four Chaacs in relation to the four Bacabs. In Chichen Itza and Uxmal,
Chaac was a highly venerated God.
Chak Chel – Wife of Itzamnaaj, a red rainbow warrior young goddess with jaguar ears and claws; she is thought to be the young version of Ixchel, a weaver and patron of
women in the underworld.
Camazotz - Bat god, tries to kill the mythological Mayan Hero Twins (PV). The bat-like god is also a monster deity of the underwold.
Gukumatz - Feathered Snake God and one of the God Creators of humanity (PV) this God is intimately associated in Yucatec Maya as Kukulkan – Messenger of Venus;
the Sovereign Feathered Serpent Deity revered in Chichen Itza and Mayapan (believed to be Quetzalcoalt for the Aztecs).
Hun-Hunahpu – also known as Jumnajpu (PV) Hun Nal Ye- Father of the Mayan Hero Twins and of the patrons of artisans and writers in Mayan mythology. He is the
Sacred Maize Deity according to the most popular academic theory of today. He is the Mayan ideal of beauty and youth.
Hunahpu - (One of Popol Vuh’s mythological Mayan Hero Twins, . A ballplayer deity characterized as a hunter of birds; he is more important than his twin brother in Mayan
calendar iconography.
Huracan - God of Storm (extreme bad weather) Wind and Fire, one of the creator deities (PV); one of the God Creators of humanity always depicted with one snake foot
and a long nose. Nowadays our Atlantic weather storms are Hurricanes word that comes from this Maya God’s own name.
Itzamnaaj - The Supreme God Creator (God D) ruled the skies and invented writing; associated with the Sun, this god is depicted with sun goggles. He is also known as the
God of Kakaw or Cacao
Ixchel - Aged jaguar goddess of midwifery and medicine, also known as Ix Chel; she is associated with the Moon (L) water, fertility and childbirth. The patron of healers and
J-Men and Ix’Men as well as those that work in the sacred healing arts.
Ixtab - Goddess of Honorable Suicide (L). depicted as the “rope woman” for hanging was to the Maya an honorable way to die; she will take the brave soul to paradise,
Ixtab is depicted in the Desdren Codex as a symbol of Lunar and Sun Eclipses.
K’awiil (God K) – a God of Lighting; he is characterized by a snake foot often seem on kings’ scepters. The is also the Jaguar God of the underworld.
Moon Goddess – depicted as a woman sitting in the edged of a crescent moon holding a rabbit. In Maya mythology, the moon phases symbolize women’s life cycles. She
is associated with water, rainfall, rainy season and deep fresh cenote water (underworld version of the goddess).
Xbalanque - One of the mythological Mayan Hero Twins (PV) a ballplayer deity whose name means Jaguar Son or Hidden Sun.
Xochiquetzal goddess of Xocolatl – a sacred godly beverage prepare only for the upper Maya royalty; its sound comes form the Maya Chocol ha meaning “bitter water” a
beverage dedicated to the Maya Goddess of Kakaw and fertility; the Nahualt language adopted the sound to Xocolatl and the Spaniards created the term chocolate when
they brought this precious bean to their monarchs.
Zipacna - Underworld Demon Deity with great sexual appetite symbolized by his favorite food: crabs (PV); son of Seven Macaw and brother of the Earthquake God. A very
arrogant and powerful deity believed to have created the mountains; he is depicted often as an alligator; he is a mythological figure related to the legend of the Twin Heros
in the Popol Vuh.

3. Maya cities

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Mayan cities and the ruins are one of the most inspiring journeys you'll ever make.
Visiting these ancient Mayan cities is a great way to spend your vacation. Places
like Chichen Itza, Palenque, Merida, Tulum, Tikal and Uxmal are just some of the
great ruins in the Southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala areas. The Mayan ruins of
central America are from cities that fell into decline long before Columbus. But
many of the traditions reflected in the architecture and art from these sites live on
in the modern Mayan world.

Many of the Mayan sites are located near the Yucatan Peninsula, spilling over to the lowland rainforests of Mexico to the east and Belize in
the west, some of Guatemala and eastern part of Honduras.

Chichen Itza translates to mean "mouth of the well of Itza." Chichen is the best known, best
restored, and arguably most impressive Mayan ruin. It's also not entirely Mayan. Chichen got off
the ground around 550 AD. Like most Mayan cities, Chichen was abandoned in the 10th century,
then resettled around 1000 AD. Abandoned again in the 14th century, but it remained the site for
pilgrimages for many years. Chichen had two principal wells, or cenote: one sacred and the other
for everyday needs. The sacred well, a largish 195 feet across by 120 feet deep, was used in
worship, and offerings were continually made to it.

Palenque
Beloved by many who declare it to be the most beautiful Mayan ruin, Palenque sits proudly
in Palenque National Park in the state of Chiapas. The region around Palenque has the
highest average rainfall in Mexico, watering a chokingly dense rainforest. The site covers
15 square miles. Set against a hill, the city was built in such a way that it could be seen for
days as one ventured through the rain forest from the coast. Other spectacular sites are
Tulum, Copan and Uxmal, just some of the hundreds of ruins.

GUATEMALA CITY - An entire city, including a massive Mayan palace, has been rediscovered beneath dense jungle in northern Guatemala. The
forgotten site was originally found and dismissed as worthless almost a century ago, because explorers didn't come across any artifacts. Even looters
left it alone, because they assumed there were no treasurers underneath. But on Friday, the National Geographic Society said the lost city of Cancuen
boasts one of the most grandiose Mayan structures ever unearthed a 25,000 square-metre palace, with three 20-metre high levels. Archeologists predict
it will take at least 10 years to dig out the entire 13-kilometre square community of stone buildings. Cancuen, a Mayan word for "Place of the Serpent"
was a key trading post in Central America 1,200 years ago. Since it was built for commercial and not religious reasons, the city does not have
spectacular temples like those found in Tikal and other Mayan sites. But that fact may have saved it from being plundered by looters when it was first
discovered by modern explorers under thick mud and foliage in 1905
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 Chichen Itza, though crowded, is a Jewel!
This area is known for the vast history of the Maya, their advanced mathematical knowledge, their incredible understanding of the solar
system, and Fernando Valenzuela, at least I am pretty sure that he is Mayan (ha ha).

The hard working people who still inhabit the Yucatan Peninsula have quite a few testaments left to their once awesome civilization. Of
these, Chichen Itza is as good as it gets. Many people avoid the crowded ruins of Chichen Itza, and there is reason for that. But if you visit
the ruins the right way, you will avoid being roasted at high noon like a cochinita pibil and have a memorable experience.

Get There Early!

Chichen Itza gets crowded THIS IS NO JOKE! Yes it is one of the more impressive pyramids in the world With the popularity of Cancun and vicinity for both tourists, and cruise
ships, well, there are only so many places to go, and Chichen Itza is on the top of the list. So would you believe it if we said you could be on that pyramid, (the one you see on every
third TV commercial in the US) all by yourself? In April even? You can. Get there at 8am. Park in the empty lot just after the gates go up and run straight to El Castillo run up the
tiny steps, and there is a good chance you will be there alone. How do you get there so early? Try the Valladolid for the night, Chichen and Rio Lagartos do it yourself tour.

Aerosaab will fly you to the ruins by airplane, you get there early and it only takes half a day. Caribbean Coast Travel can set you up with tours and transportation to all the popular
Mayan Riviera destinations.

Snake Eyes
For those of you who run with the bulls in Pamplona and samba in the streets of Rio for Mardi Gras, the Yucatan offers the spring and autumn solstice at Chichen Itza. Twice each
year, during the vernal (March 20 or 21) and autumnal (September 21 or 22) equinox as the sun rises the shadows that it casts actually make the form of a serpent on the steps
leading to the top of the Castillo, seriously folks. You will know if you are going to see it, because you will be there with 10,000 of your closest friends. A worthwhile jaunt if your
trip date happens to coincide.

The Superdome
Chichen Itza, not only has one of the best preserved and rebuilt pyramids of the Mayan world, El Castillo, but it is home to
many other impressive groups. The Temple of the Warriors that houses the famous Chaac-Mool, where heads used to roll, is
located amidst the group of 1,000 columns, Kodak must love this place. Bring film and some more film.

The awe inspiring ball court can only be truly appreciated by those who have visited other ruins. Coba, for example, one of
our recommendations, has well reconstructed ball courts that are quite impressive. But these seemingly impressive fields
look like the grapefruit leagues compared to the Superdome right there at Chichen This was obviously where the big boys
came to play. Though the losers shared the sad fate of a horrible death, they had a chance to play in the Big Show!

Don't forget to walk down the path to the Sacred Cenote in the Jungle. A huge gaping hole contains water about 70 feet
below the ground level. Peer in, but please leave the diving to the professionals in Acapulco! This was the resting place for

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not only lovely young virgins, but apparently bad children, some sick, and other seemingly healthy men and women of all ages. Artifacts of gold and jade found here can be traced
from as far away as Colombia demonstrating the vast international dealings of the ancient Maya

Chichen Itza

The Pyramid of Kukulkan

Recently voted as one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, the ruins of Chichen Itza lie about midway between Cancun and Merida, so that the
journey from each city takes around 2 or 3 hours via the toll highway. It is possible to see the main structures on a day trip from Cancun, and
many tour buses do just this resulting in a large influx of visitors around 10-11am. Chichen Itza is the most visited site in the Yucatбn and it
can get very crowded here, so if at all possible try to arrive soon after the 8am opening. This will give you time to explore the site before it gets
too hot. Alternatively, leave your visit until later in the day and stay overnight nearer the site, returning in the early morning. Ideally, you will
need two days for a good understanding of the site, which covers 4 square miles.

A large Mayan community thrived here between 700AD and 900AD

Admission charge to the ruins is around 10 US dollars. The evening sound and light show costs around 4 dollars (add another 3 dollars for
headphones if you want to listen to the commentary in English). The show usually starts at around 7.00pm, but we'd suggest you re-confirm
the time when you arrive. Your ticket permits re-entry on the same day only.

At the entrance to the site is a large visitors’ complex, with cafeterias, restrooms, bookshops and a small museum. There are also models of
the layout of the site. It's useful to remember that there is a second refreshment shop with toilet facilities by the cenote.

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skulls relief
Chichen Itza has been widely studied, and excavated and restored more than any of the other Mayan cities. Yet its history is still clouded in
mystery and there are many contradicting theories and legends. It is clear that a large Mayan community thrived here between around 700AD
and 900AD, and built most of the structures in the southern area. However, the main buildings in the central area, including the Pyramid of
Kukulkan, the Temple of the Warriors and the Ball Court, are Toltec in design and influence.

The Toltecs originated from Central Mexico, and one respected theory suggests that the Toltecs invaded Chichen Itza and imposed their
architectural style on new constructions. Alternatively, we know that the Maya traded extensively and it is possible that they were influenced by
the Toltecs in their own architecture. Another more recent theory claims that Tula, capital of the Toltecs, was actually under the domination of
the Maya, resulting in a transfer of style from one city to another. There are fragments of evidence to support each line of thought, but no
conclusive evidence for any single theory.

At the spring and autumn equinoxes, the sun's shadow creates the illusion of a snake moving down the pyramid
Compounding the mystery are ancient legends passed down through the Mayan tribes and also the Toltecs. According to Toltec history, in
987AD the legendary ruler Quetzalcoatl was defeated and expelled from Tula. He was last seen leaving from the Gulf coast on a raft of
serpents. However, in the same year, Mayan stories recorded the arrival of a king named Kukulkan, the Serpent God, whose return had been
expected. Kukulkan defeated the Mayan city tribes, and made Chichйn Itzб his capital.

The Pyramid of Kukulkan Towering above the other buildings at 79 feet (24 m) high, the Pyramid of Kukulkan has a structured feel about it.
Two of its sides have been completely restored, the other two were left to show the condition before work commenced. Each side had originally
91 steps, adding the platform at the top as a final step there are 365 in total one for every day of the year. Further evidence that this building
was linked to the Mayan interests of astronomy and the calendar is demonstrated at the spring and autumn equinox. On these days the shadow
of the sun playing on the stairs causes the illusion of a snake processing down the pyramid in the direction of the cenote. Naturally, it’s an
impressive sight, and there are usually thousands of people on the site at these times. It’s quite a climb to the top, but once you’re there you’ll
have a terrific view of the rest of the ruins. The temple at the top of the pyramid has carvings of Chac, the rain god, and Quetzalcoatl, the
serpent god. As at Uxmal, this temple was built over the top of an original structure and at limited times of the day (check at the entrance) you

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can enter the old temple via a passage under the northern stairway. Inside you’ll see a sculpture of a jaguar, painted red and with jade eyes,
exactly as it was discovered.

The Ballcourt
The Ball Court (Juego de Pelota) From the Pyramid of Kukulkan, head north-east to the Great Ball Court, the largest of its kind in the Maya
world. There are eight other much smaller ball courts at Chichen Itza and more in other Maya cities, but this one was deliberately built on a
much grander scale than any others. The length of the playing field here is 40 feet (135 m) and two 25 feet (8 m) high walls run alongside the
field.

The game itself involved two teams, each able to hit the ball only with elbows, wrists or hips, and the object was to knock the ball through one
of the stone hoops on the walls of the court.

Look at the carvings on the lower walls of the court and you will see that this was not a casual sport there are clear depictions of one team
member with blood spurting from his headless neck, whilst another holds the head aloft. Some people think the captain of the losing side was
executed by the winner; others suggest that the winners earned an honorable sacrifice. No-one knows for sure. It is said that the game was
used either as a method of settling disputes, or as an offering to the gods, perhaps in times of drought. Only the best were selected to play,
and to be sacrificed in this way was a great honor.

Imagine, then, the significance of this giant court, where the goals are 20 feet (66 m) high and the court is longer than a football pitch. The
acoustics here are superb - a low voice at one end of the court can be heard clearly at the other end and the atmosphere during a game must
have been electrifying. It is said that only the noblest could attend the court itself, the general population having to listen from outside.

Games in the Ball Court were used to settle disputes or as an offering to the gods. Many believe the losers were put to death
Temple of the Jaguars and the Tzompantli. From the ball court, head east across the central area towards the Group of the Thousand columns.
On the way, you will see the Temple of the Jaguars with its friezes of the Toltec jaguar emblem, and the Tzompantli or Platform of the skulls. It
is believed that the Tzompantli (a Toltec word) was the platform used for the sacrifices resulting from the ball game.

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 The Palace of the Jaguars and Eagles
Sacred Cenote. Before you reach the Group of the Thousand Columns, you will see a pathway heading north,
just by the Platform of Venus. This is actually the route of an ancient sacbe, and leads to the Sacred Cenote. A
cenote is a sinkhole in the limestone bed, accessing an underwater river. These cenotes were very important to
the Mayans as their main source of water and had great religious significance. Here you will see a deep almost
circular hole with steep sides and murky green water beneath.

There are stories of sacrificial victims being thrown into the cenote, along with offerings of treasure. In 1901 an
American, Edward Thompson, bought the land around the site and proceeded to dredge the cenote. He found
jewelry, pottery, figurines and the bones of many humans, mostly children. An international dispute arose when
he shipped the findings to the Peabody Museum at Harvard, where some still remain (the remainder have since
been returned to the Mexicans). The evidence, however, was inconclusive as it was feasible that children were
most likely to fall into the cenote during play rather than as a deliberate act of sacrifice.

A stroll to the cenote is a pleasant diversion from the ruins and makes an ideal refreshment stop there is a small
cafй/shop nearby and restrooms are available.

Group of the Thousand Columns. After visiting the cenote, head back towards the Group of the Thousand Columns. This complex incorporates
the Temple of the Warriors and a series of columns, some of which feature carvings of Toltec warriors. It is believed that the columns originally
supported a thatched roof which may have been used as a market place.

The massive Kukulcán pyramid called "El Castillo" (the castle) is roughly
at the center of the site. Climbing it is quite a challenge and those who
make it are rewarded with a spectacular view of the city and surrounding
country side. A trip inside the pyramid is quite the opposite. The dark,
unbearably humid corridors and chambers are too much for some people.
Early morning, before the onslaught of tourists, Chichén Itzá is a magical
place. I had the opportunity to wander around the site for two hours before
the gates were opened one day. Watching the massive pyramid take shape
through the lifting fog is an experience I will not soon forget

Above: view towards the Great Pyramid, with the Platform of Venus in
foreground

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Our next stop is south of the
Carocal and is a unique
collection of ruins that has
been called:
The Nunnery

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 The Nunnery, in
The the southern
group of ruins,
contains some of
the best preserved
structures at
Chichén Itzá.
They appear to be
the living quarters
of the elite
Mayans. Every
square foot of
wall has reliefs
and paintings decorating it.

construction of the Kukulcán Pyramid at Chichén Itzá was planned so that

each Vernal Equinox the dying sun would cast a shadow of a serpent
writhing down the steps of the pyramid. Every year over 40,000 people
make the trek to the great pyramid to watch in awe as the snakes diamond
backed body slowly appears. (Sorry don't have that picture but I'll try and
locate one)

If you stand
facing the foot
of the temple
and shout the
echo comes
back as a
piercing
shriek. Also, a
person
standing on
the top step
can speak in a
normal voice
and be heard by those at ground level for some distance. This quality is

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also shared by another Mayan pyramid at Tikal.

The intense
interest of the
Maya in the
annual travels of
the sun across
the sky is
evident in many
structures at
Chichén Itzá and
other Mayan
Sites. South of
the Castillo is a
strange round
building known
as the Carocal. Several of its windows point towards the equinox sunset
and the southernmost and northernmost points on the horizon where Venus
rises.
One of the nice things about Chichén Itzá is that you can go in almost all of
the ruins. Many have the musty smell of the past, still present after over
1000 years. Dark portals await those that dare walk through. After walking
into one pitch black room a startled meter long iguana charged through my
shaking legs and out into the jungle. It felt like a seen from "Indiana Jones"
It's nice that despite all the reconstruction and tourists, the place can still
grab hold of you like that.

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Like most of the other ruins,
entry is allowed so I explore
some of the hidden recesses.
Around the back of a large
staircase I discover and
ominous black opening.
Although it's been
thoroughly explored I'm
sure, it feels like I'm the
first, so with visions of
buried treasure I step into
the darkness.
.

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 As I probe deeper the walls get tighter and
tighter. There are several intersections and turns
before it leads to a dead end. A solid wall of
limestone blocks the way. In the darkness I reach
out to touch it and instead feel something furry
and multi legged run across my hand. That does
it, I bolt out, back to the 20th century .
Back out into the sunshine, I see the last major
section of the site that I haven't explored.

The Great Ball Court

The Ball Court at Chichén Itzá

The Mayans were great sportsmen and

build huge ballcourts to play their
games. The Great Ballcourt of
Chichén Itzá is 545 feet long and 225
feet wide overall. It has no vault, no
discontinuity between the walls and is
totally open to the sky.
Each end has a raised "temple" area. A
whisper from end can be heard clearly
at the other end 500 feet away and
through the length and breath of the
court. The sound waves are unaffected
by wind direction or time of day/night.
Archaeologists engaged in the
reconstruction noted that the sound
transmission became stronger and clearer as they proceeded. In 1931 Leopold Stokowski spent 4 days at the
site to determine the acoustic principals that could be applied to an open-air concert theater he was designing.
Stokowski failed to learn the secret. To this day it has not been explained.

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It is not hard to imagine a Mayan King sitting here
presiding over the games. Legends say that the the
winning captain would present his head to the losing
capitan, who then decapitates him. While this may seem
a strange reward, the Mayans believed this to be the
ultimate honor.The winning captian getting a direct ticket
to heaven instead of going through the 13 steps that the
Mayan's believed they had to go through in order to
reach heaven..

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 This concludes the tour of the Chichén Itzá ruins. Just down the
road from the Chichén Itzá ruins, however is a natural formation
as spooky as the ruins themselves.
Come enter the Cenoté

(claustrophobics should turn back now)

Cenoté
As you approach the pool you notice
roots of trees hanging before you. In
their search for water they've
penetrated the ceiling, dropping 50
feet to the pool below. It's like an
eerie underground forest.
After you've crawled under some
especially low hanging stalactites
you're greeted by an incredible scene.
A beautiful blue green pool of
unknown depth stretches out before
you. A massive stalagtite hangs
down, just inches from touching the
surface, and above a piercing beam of light streams in from the ceiling, illuminating the pool
and the entire chamber.

East of the major Chichén Itzá ruins is a dark underground world the
Mayans called Cenoté. They are deep water filled sinkholes formed by
water percolating through the soft limestone above. Since the porous
soil held little water, these underground bodies were extremely
important to the city. A visit to one is a spine chilling experience.
Entry is through a vertical hole with narrow stair steps carved by the
Mayan's themselves. The air is thick and musty. One misstep on the
slimy ledges threatens to send you falling over 20 feet.
Once your eyes get used to the light level a bizarre world takes shape.
Stalagtites of blood red limestone seem to ooze from the dripping
walls. Ahead is a strange green pool of glowing water.

18
 By pure luck I was at the Cenoté for a rare event. Once a
year, in April, the beam of light touches the tip of the
stalagtite. There are many instances of ancient peoples
building monuments to take advantage of events like these
but this is something that is totally natural and unplanned.
There is a darker side to this and other Cenoté , however. In
the wells around Chichén Itzá have been found scores of
skeletons. Mayan petroglyphs depict human sacrifices at
these sites. What lies under this Cenoté is not known, no one
has ever been able to reach it's depths.

4. Maya misteries
Mayan Mysteries
Galactic Alignments in Ancient Traditions & the Future of Humanity

BY JOHN MAJOR JENKINS

In March of 1987, I witnessed a dramatic all-day fire ceremony in the highland Maya village of Chamula, Mexico. It was a ritual of purification, burning the dross of
the old year and making way for the new.

I had been traveling through Mexico and Central America for almost three months, and on that warm March day I vowed to live and work with the Maya and study
their culture. During the next seven years I returned to Mesoamerica four times. I helped build a school in San Pedro, Guatemala. I delivered relief supplies to
Quiché Maya villages in the Guatemalan highlands. I traveled the remote out-backs, made friends among the Maya, learned some of their language, and developed
a great appreciation for their innate wisdom and strength of character. Throughout this period, I studied the cultural history of the Maya, which brought me to an
understanding of their millennia-old calendars, cosmologies, mythologies, and religious life.

19
I have always been interested in pushing back the fringes of knowledge. Mesoamerican studies is a relatively young field. The Mayan hieroglyphic writing has only
recently been decoded enough that we can reconstruct detailed histories of specific Mayan kingdoms. In researching and writing seven books, I have focused on
decoding the ancient Mayan calendar and its associated cosmology, and I have been drawn to address one unanswered question: Why does a large cycle of time in
the Mayan Long Count calendar end in the year that we call AD 2012?

First, on what basis do we know that 2012 is the correct year? Mayan scholars have spent almost a century deciphering the Mayan calendar’s relationship to our
own. It is well known that the basic 260-day calendar was augmented by the use of another calendar, called the Long Count.

Utilising nested cycles of 20, 360, 7200, and 144,000 days, the Long Count culminates in a World Age cycle of 13 baktuns, which equals 5,125 years. On hundreds
of carved monuments spanning over 1,000 years, the dot-and-bar dating system of the Long Count was found to correlate consistently with moon phases and other
astronomical phenomenon. After decades of interdisciplinary analysis, Mayan scholars Joseph T. Goodman, Juan Martínez, and J. Eric S. Thompson determined
that the 13-baktun cycle of the Long Count calendar could be confidently located in real time, and its end-date would occur on 13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count, which
corresponds to December 21, 2012. This correlation of the Mayan and Western calendars has been in place since the 1930s, and is not the product of recent New
Age speculation. It has been challenged, tested, and discussed exhaustively and remains the best candidate.1

Because the end-date of the 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan Long Count calendar occurs on a winter solstice, I felt that the ancient Maya may have intended to
indicate something with that end-date. Fixing a time period by its end-date may seem counter-intuitive, but the Maya actually preferred this perspective. For example,
periods of time within the Long Count are named by their end-date; we are currently in the 4 Ahau katun of the Long Count calendar because the last day of this
katun falls on 4 Ahau.

Generally, Mayan metaphors draw from nature. The processes of birth and growth feature prominently in the Mayan conception of time, and childbirth is considered
to occur at the end of a nine-month term of embryogenesis (which is believed to be the foundation of the 260-day calendar). In this way, we can understand that it
would not be unusual for the end of the 13-baktun cycle to have some significance in Mayan thinking.

After nine years of research into the 2012 question, in 1998 I published my book Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 [available from New Dawn Book Service], presenting an
astronomical explanation for the Mayan 2012 end-date. In 1998-1999 I was able to workshop my ideas at the Esalen Institute, Naropa University, and the Institute of
Maya Studies, with affirming feedback.

My findings can be summarised quite simply: The Maya chose 2012 to end their calendar cycle because in the years around AD 2012 the solstice Sun will be
aligning with the Milky Way (the white band of stars that can be observed arching overhead in late summer). This alignment is not something that happens in every
era, for the precession of the equinoxes slowly shifts the position of the solstice Sun in relation to the “background” position of the Milky Way.

The precessional phenomenon that is responsible for bringing the solstice Sun into alignment with the Milky Way is caused by the slow wobbling of the Earth on its
axis. One complete wobble takes approximately 26,000 years. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus is credited with discovering precession in 128 BCE. The
conventional description refers to it as the precession of the vernal point (the March equinox), thus “the precession of the equinoxes.”

However, the phenomenon also equally applies to the solstices, and evidence at the site of Izapa indicates that early Mayan astronomers were concerned with
tracking the precessional movement of the December solstice Sun toward the Milky Way.

20
This awareness is affirmed by the fact that the Long Count calendar starts appearing in the archaeological record during the era of Izapa’s heyday, in the first
century BCE. Izapa – a progressive ceremonial site containing astronomical alignments and monuments portraying the Mayan Creation Myth – is evidently where
the Long Count calendar was instituted.

My research shows that the ball court at Izapa is ground zero of the knowledge that a future alignment of Sun and galaxy would occur. Most significantly, according
to calculations by the US Naval Observatory, it is in our era that the alignment of the December solstice Sun with the Milky Way galaxy culminates. This “solstice-
galaxy” or “galactic” alignment has great significance within Mayan mythology and cosmology. In my books, especially Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, I show how this
alignment scenario was encoded into basic Mayan institutions such as the Creation Myth, the sacred ballgame, and king accession rites.

My reconstruction of the true intention of the Mayan calendar end-date, though seemingly quite novel, gains support in my subsequent research, for I have
discovered that such “galactic” concepts were recognised in other ancient cosmologies (e.g., Egyptian, Islamic, and Vedic).

My new book, Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions (Inner Traditions International, 2002 –
available from New Dawn Book Service), examines evidence that the alignment of the solstice Sun with the Milky Way galaxy (the “galactic alignment”) played a
significant role in Old World and Eastern religious iconography and metaphysical traditions. Tracing the galactic knowledge back to ancient Vedic India, it appears
that its manifestation in Islamic, Greek, Mithraic, Celtic, and Medieval Hermetic traditions is merely a nascent resurgence of a knowledge that is very ancient indeed.

It must be emphasised that this ancient “galactic cosmology” is based in empirical astronomy. The periodic alignment of the solstices with the galactic plane is basic
astronomy, although discussion of it is largely absent from astronomy text books (Jean Meuss’s 1997 book Mathematical Astronomy Morsels is an exception).

Much could be explored along the lines of how such an alignment is encoded into ancient mythologies and religious symbolism, which is the primary concern of my
new book. However, its basis in empirical astronomy elicits a concern for whether the eschatological ideas of world transformation that inevitably attend an
awareness of such alignments are empirically valid. This opens up an avenue of enquiry that modern thinkers who wish to integrate science and spirit should
address. I don’t have a definitive answer, and in fact I suspect that a cause-and-effect model that would empirically “solve” this problem is ultimately unnecessary for
the alignment to have meaning.

As a researcher of ancient traditions, I can point to certain interpretations and reconstructions that are implied or are even unavoidable given the facts – for example,
I can say with confidence that solstitial alignments to the galactic plane were significant players in ancient traditions that addressed questions of eschatology,
cosmology, human salvation, and the nature of time. But I wouldn’t argue why or how such alignments might be empirically shown to have demonstrable effects on
life on Earth – although I have some suspicions about how such empirical concerns might be approached.

For example, a chapter in my new book explores Oliver Reiser’s work that suggests the Galactic Centre is a major factor in the evolution of life on Earth. Four years
ago Paul Clark, a correspondent in Australia, pointed me to the book Cosmic Superimposition by Wilhelm Reich which presents evidence that two Orgone streams
defined by the galactic equator and the celestial equator (the planes of the Earth’s rotation and the galaxy’s rotation) generate certain phenomena on Earth such as
hurricane trajectories. These are certainly fascinating scientific areas to explore, but for myself it is fascinating enough to encounter a previously unrecognised
galactic level within ancient philosophy, science, and metaphysics.

If empirical interests are granted precedence, it remains for a collaborative think tank of intellectuals who are comfortable exploring the fringes to sort out the
possible models that might apply. My own path of discovery suggests the following: Beyond the insatiable quest for empirical physical evidence lies the transcendent
challenge of metaphysics, and our materialist paradigm could benefit greatly from a serious look at the profound insights of traditional metaphysics.

21
I believe that many researchers are currently focusing overmuch on ancient technologies. This stance is clearly a projection of our own culture’s fascination with
technology and assumes that the presence of recognisable technology is the best barometer of how advanced an ancient culture was. However, my surprising
discoveries of an advanced Mayan cosmological science suggest that what is more important to explore, and what speaks clearly to a void in modern values, is the
spiritual insight we find in ancient traditions. Many of us have studied and practiced various spiritual disciplines derived from ancient Hindu, Mayan, or even Egyptian
teachings. However, even with this as a foundation, new insights open up when we understand the galactic underpinnings of such traditions.

The ancient Mayan civilisation understood the universal principles that create and sustain the world. These “first principles” underlie the physical laws that modern
science has used to create technological miracles, but the first principles of Mayan sacred science embraced a much larger universe in which human beings were
seen to be multidimensional and capable of traveling beyond time and space, beyond the confines that limit modern science with its “laws” that are valid only in the
physical three-dimensional plane. But human beings, with our capacity for supra-sensory spiritual vision, are more than three-dimensional.

We are amazed by the ancient Maya and their baffling, complicated calendar science, and how they built their huge stone cities without using beasts of burden.
Writer Colin Wilson chastises them for creating toys with little wheels while failing to build wagons and harness animals into slavery for the benefit of hauling stones.
But does this really indicate inferiority? Maybe it was a choice. We sift through their documents, carvings, and fragmented traditions looking for something that our
modern mentality can grab hold of and appreciate. We look for a bolt, or a gear, or something that would prove to us that the Maya did indeed have a civilisation.

However, we are being ethnocentric if we look for evidence of what our own culture values. Perhaps the value of ancient civilisations lies not in a hope that they, at
times, struggled up to the same technological level that we recognise as evidence of being civilised. Perhaps for the Maya, as with the Kogi Indians of Columbia and
the Australian aborigines, material technology was briefly flirted with, but was then recognised as an ego-dominated deathtrap and was quickly abandoned to pursue
the higher yearnings of the human spirit in realms that we might call metaphysical or imaginal.2

Among the ruins lies buried an inner technology of personal transformation that our civilisation lost long ago, leaving us cast adrift in a reduced world ruled by matter,
machines, and marketing gimmicks peddling pre-fab paradigms. And perhaps this is what we really seek, and need to find, among the debris of ancient civilisations.

The ancient Vedic civilisation is not particularly celebrated for material achievements and yet, like the Maya, they enjoyed a sophisticated understanding of celestial
cycles as well as a deep understanding of human spirituality. In fact, the Hindu-Vedic sages mastered magical techniques called siddhis with which their
consciousness could be projected into animals, inanimate objects (which also contained a soul), and into distant times and places. We can only hope that someday
we might be able to create a cultural context in which human beings might once again cultivate this kind of “inner” technology. In the light these achievements, the
so-called “miracle” of television appears to be an unnecessary joke, useful only to those whose consciousness has been seriously downsized.

Modern historical investigation continues to push back the dating of the origins of civilisations and the advent of material technologies. The arguments of modern
independent researchers for advanced technology in ancient times is important, as it increases respect for these ancient cultures among those who value these
kinds of achievements, but I believe it misses the point – it is like celebrating Einstein because he worked in a patent office.

The problem is similar to the quest for lost Atlantis or the Himalayan Shambhala that disappeared into the shadows as humanity descended into an increasingly
dense and materialistic age. It’s not that Atlantis or Shambhala lies hidden in some remote valley or underwater grave. The point is that humanity has forgotten how
to be in that place where Atlantis/Shambhala once did and always will reside. In other words, the Primordial Tradition symbolised by these semi-mythical locations is
a state of mind rather than a distant Golden Age or ancient location.

The deeper truth of our search for lost “artefacts” is our desire to make visible a knowledge or mindset which is more comprehensive and fulfilling. As with
Shambhala, which faded into invisibility as humanity lost the ability to see it, the Primordial Tradition fades but reemerges in places conducive to discovering and
appreciating its profound depth and wisdom. This explains the ancient Maya’s isolation and independent genius which nevertheless had tapped into the same
22
doctrines also found in ancient Vedic and Egyptian cosmology. Trans-oceanic voyages are not required for this simultaneous non-local emergence; rather, tapping
into the transcendent galactic source of wisdom is all that is required.

We may find engines in the sands of Egypt, stone computers in the jungles of Guatemala, and gears in Paleolithic encrustations of lava, and this may – indeed,
should – create awe and wonder among scientists and the interested public in general. But it shouldn’t distract us from laying aside our own civilisation’s faulty
assumptions so that we can truly learn from the high metaphysical teachings offered by ancient civilisations, including the Egyptian, Vedic, and Mayan.

In part 3 of my new book Galactic Alignment, I explore the metaphysical ideas of the Traditionalist school, in particular the writings of esteemed scholar Ananda
Coomaraswamy and symbolist philosopher René Guénon. These writers pioneered the resurrection of the Primordial Tradition, or Perennial Philosophy, and a major
idea in this school is that the current cycle of history is ending amid a proliferation of inverted spiritual values and rampant materialism – we are approaching the end
of Kali Yuga.

In the Vedic doctrine of World Ages, Kali Yuga is the final age, the age of greatest spiritual darkness, and its end signals the shift to a new World Age. Clarifying
some undeveloped areas within Traditionalist thought, and drawing from the insights of various Vedic commentators, I identify the galactic alignment of era-2012 as
the key to the timing of this transition, anchoring the Vedic yuga doctrine to a real astronomical event. In addition, my analysis of the parameters of the alignment
phenomenon indicates it is best to think of an “alignment zone” between 1980 and AD 2016.3

To say that the Mayans, Hindus, and Egyptians were aware of the Milky Way galaxy should surprise no one – after all, the Milky Way is dramatic and prominent in
the night sky. But to demonstrate, as I do in my new book, that they also knew about the Milky Way’s centre and believed that our periodic alignments to it have
something to do with the transformation of consciousness, should stand the history of science and religion on its head.

And what if the common sense conclusion to be drawn from all the evidence I’ve gathered together here is true? What if ancient civilisations were aware of the
Galactic Centre and the precession of the equinoxes, and that they believed that eras of galactic alignment – like the one we are struggling through right now –
somehow contribute to the unfolding of consciousness on Earth? Furthermore, could global weather changes as well as the intensification of synchronicities and
anomalous experiences that many people are increasingly reporting be an effect of our alignment with the Galactic Centre? I explore these questions, as well as the
unforgettable refrain: “Will the world end in 2012?” Is it about cosmogenesis or catastrophe? From the book:

It may be unpopular to say it, but it’s true: what 2012 was intended to target is not about 2012, it is about a process-oriented shift. It’s really about an open
door, a once-in-a-precessional-cycle zone of opportunity to align ourselves with the galactic source of life. There are forces already set in motion propelling us
through a crucible of transformation unlike anything experienced in millennia. The process is occurring on the scale of decades, even centuries – but it is
occurring on a global level! The sober and humbling fact is that what we are being called to create, to nurture, to help unfold, something that will not flower
until long after we, as individuals, have died. The larger life-wave of humanity is at stake. The Algonquin teaching to look ahead seven generations before
decisions are made should be our guiding maxim.

Birth-growth-death-renewal – this process does follow a universal law that appears “predictable” but if it’s part of the natural cycles of change, then what do we have
to worry about? We will worry to the extent that we are incapable of letting go. Cycle endings are attended by the destruction of everything belonging to the previous
cycle, and like the Phoenix the new world will be born out of the ashes of the old. The metaphor is about birth and death. Not everyone believes in rebirth
(reincarnation) but no one can deny the inevitability of death. Unfortunately, few spend much time reflecting on death – the Great Transformer. Meditations on
mortality can lead to profound insights and realizations about our humanity, and the denial of death – which is what Western civilization is about – drives us more
quickly and less elegantly to it.4

23
New vistas have opened up while researching and writing Galactic Alignment, ones that elevate “metaphysics” to its traditional place as a superior framework for
understanding the nature of time, reality, and consciousness. This brings me full circle back to my earliest philosophical preoccupations. Metaphysics is the answer
to the limitations and dead-ends of the physical sciences, for as a “meta” physics it takes a “higher” view than conventional physics. And this is not semantic slight-
of-hand; the sacred sciences of antiquity, closely allied with metaphysical ideas that are now largely misunderstood, were the multidimensional and holistic
precursors to our modern profane sciences that today amount to nothing more than a kind of short-sighted thingism.

As we narrow down our search and venture into metaphysical territory, we dig into the unpublished work of art historian turned academic metaphysician Ananda K.
Coomaraswamy and emerge with a Vedic teaching that addresses our end-of-cycle concerns, connecting us right into the Galactic Centre. That teaching is encoded
into the Vedic theft of soma myth, and in pursuing its underlying wisdom regarding the transformation of consciousness, all of the book’s themes are integrated into
the metaphysical importance of the solstice-galaxy alignment.

This brief introduction invites readers to explore more deeply the source material that contributes to my conclusions, including studies in sacred cartography, Mithraic
symbolism, the Chaldean Oracles, Islamic astronomy, Vedic and Egyptian metaphysics, Hermetic studies, South American traditions, Christian architecture and
iconography, and Mayan astronomy.5

For empirical scientists, astronomy is the central key that connects these questions to hard science, and the metaphysical concepts relating to these eschatological
questions are, in fact, closely related to astronomy. Yet beyond empirical concerns, the role of galactic alignments in spiritual transformation is revealed as a core
concept found in all of the major ancient traditions – in both the Old World and the New World. By recovering this core wisdom form the deep past, we open a little
doorway that can lead us into a new era of growth and renewal.

5. Timestar Solar Predictions

Predictions are necessary proofs for theories, facts and laws based upon observation arranged as science. Einstein observed this saying, "The whole of science is
nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking." On the other hand, technologies are systematic methods pertaining to mechanical or industrial arts which are
derived from the observations of science. Predictions made with observations derived from science contribute to developing technologies.

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME)

A violent discharge of electrically
charged gas from the sun's
outer atmosphere April 24, 1999
In earlier centuries classical physics worked with elemental observations that led to the technology of electron microscopes that revealed none of
the classical laws applied to subatomic physics. The complete failure of classical physics to predict the behavior of subatomic particles called for
quantum physics that gave way to post-quantum physics. The ability to predict behaviors endows value to science, so when a science reaches its
limits of prediction new observations and theories are mandated.

Prolific solar changes since 1992 have sent NASA scientists back to making basic observations for predicting solar behavior. On a world
completely dependent on solar behavior this capability is essential, and, fortunately, these observations exist in the most ancient calendars on
Earth. In February, 1999 NASA announced its scientists had learned to predict solar flares with an "S" configuration on the sun's surface
preceding flares.

Many models of the solar magnetic field used prior to Ulysses assumed that the solar magnetic field was similar to that of a
dipole; field lines near the solar equator were thought to form closed loops whereas field lines from the poles were dragged far
24
into interplanetary space by the solar wind. For a dipole, the field strength over the poles is twice that at the equator. Ulysses found that the amount of
outward magnetic flux in the solar wind did not vary greatly with latitude, indicating the importance of pressure forces near the sun for evenly
distributing magnetic flux. (MAG experiment, A. Balogh, Imperial College; E. Smith, Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

Modeling the sciences of ancient astronauts, the astronomy encoded in pyramid centers is as valuable as it is capable of predicting celestial events. The TimeStar's
unparalleled ability to predict solar behavior constitutes proofs for an extraordinary astronomical model endowed by ancient astronauts who are modernly known as
UFO crews and crop circle makers. Like ancient Sumerian star charts that showed Earth as the seventh planet traveling from the outer limits of the solar system
towards the center, the ancient astronaut's astronomy showed Earth as part of a whole system only now being recognized. Radical solar changes that have resulted
in the sun's magnetic fields changing were predicted with the long-unrecognized astronomy encoded in pyramid centers by ancient astronauts.

Egyptian symbols in cave

drawing at Heavener, OK
identified Thoth & Hermes
double click for more on this
The oldest pyramids on Earth were dedicated to solar observations which invited attack by Christian armies claiming they were
heathen centers of sun worship. This faulty perception was based on the social consciousness developed with awareness of
religions rather than the nature of the supreme being. As social consciousness changes the religious context of expression
changes as well so that religions are learning a new respect for the sun as the Vatican builds its own observatory, the Pope
Scope, in Arizona. The Vatican ultimately conceded that the sun is the center of our system which, in turn, orbits the larger star
Sirius ad infinitum through galaxies orbiting galaxies.

Van Tassel explained

solar flares with geometry of cube
double click for more on this
Fortunately, the solar sciences embedded in ancient pyramids several thousand years ago were constructed with proportional
measures of the cosmos. Even after fine-detail equations in facings and balustrades were stripped to build cathedrals, the
inherent proportions of the pyramids still depicted the cosmic order with the sun governing conditions at our home address. The
18th dynasty literature clearly described the Sphinx representing three gods in one: The rising Sun (Harmakhis); the sacred
scarab which recreates itself out of its own substance and symbolized the brain (Khepri); and the god-king who was the
progenitor of the human race who symbolized the setting sun and the sun before its rising (Atum). This trinity symbolized the
resurrection, or the sun-like cycle of human birth, death and rebirth. The Sphinx was the polar opposite of gods worshiped in
Egypt's Old Kingdom who displayed human bodies with animal heads. Never considered capable of movement or action, the
Sphinx was a symbol rather than a deity.

Animation of cube
embodied in Timestar
double click for more on this
Like Quetzalcoatl's Codex, the Sphinx explicated the relationship of human evolution with the sun to initiates of the wisdom
schools who gathered around it, now scattered through the ages. Basic science to the star masters who designed the monuments, the codes
have been disseminated anew in extraterrestrial contacts to decipher ancient structures when needed for the Sixth Sun.

Egyptian Anubis symbolized

Thoth circa l580-l090 B.C

25
 The TimeStar's 13-day windows reflect the rate that light circles the sun's equator in 26 days (2x13=26) based on lunar eclipses when Earth, moon
and sun are conjunct as a solar-lunar timing factor. Predictions are made for 13-day windows projected from the date of each lunar eclipse for a
total of 260 days. After identifying the 13-day windows projected from each lunar eclipse, the calendar glyph for the first day of each window is
associated with a corresponding triangle in the TimeStar grid. Predictions are based on the combination of characteristics identified with the glyph
and triangular grid.

Anubis with Egyptian flail

in Heavener, OK drawing
On February 2, 1996, I announced that Native America's ancient calendar predicted that a solar phase shift was in process on Art Bell's Coast-to-
Coast radio. This was ten months before the sun unexpectedly entered a minimum cycle in December, 1996. Art asked about a major series of
earthquakes in the Landers, California area that a psychic diviner had predicted for the summer. I forecast that the earthquakes would not happen
but high winds and storms would be dominant for at least 18 months. He asked for something more specific, and I predicted there would be
tremendous storms with high winds on the weekend of May 25, 1996, three months after the interview. In fact, ferocious storms with microbursts
occurred across the United States over the May 25 Memorial Day weekend, along with a surprise snow storm in Denver. The earthquakes did not
happen but El Nino appeared 14 months later when scientists issued the first warnings in April, 1997.
Figure on cube explaining
solar physics in
Heavener cave drawing
The TimeStar's first set of predictions for the April 3, 1996 lunar eclipse forecast that events leading to islands rising in the Pacific would begin
with that eclipse. The forecast specifically named July 16, 1996 for the beginning of planetary change that will settle out around 2006 when island
continents will be emerged in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. On July 16 the first of more than 2,000 earthquakes recorded in Hawaii, of which at
least 40 were 4.0 or higher. An underwater volcano collapsed on the Loihi Seamount which scientists say will ultimately give birth to a new island.
These predictions were mailed to five individuals and my own address to provide evidence of the March postmark, four months before the
underwater volcano collapsed.

Cube star geometry

Between April, 1998 and May, 1999 the TimeStar predicted every period of high solar activity while no significant activity occurred that was not
predicted. The signal that solar activity was taking a new turn was an April 19, 1998 crop circle almost identical to the Moon glyph depicting an
eclipse in the Dresden Codex. This glyph corresponds with earlier versions of Skull in Quetzalcoatl's Codex. Tradition related that the god for this
day jumped into the fire to become the Moon. He blazed as brightly as the Sun but the other gods didn't want a second Sun, so they smashed his
face, dimming it, and giving him a place as the Moon. Skull's eye was commonly formed with the symbol for "star" which was depicted as Moon
for the same day in some later versions. The TimeStar triangle containing Stonehenge is identified with the Sun glyph which completes the
sequence of 20 glyphs. The combination of the Moon glyph appearing with an eruption from a disk in the final triangle of the TimeStar indicated
that the final phase of the solar shift was beginning.

In 1998, NASA forecast massive solar storms with coronal mass ejections that impact Earth's magnetic fields between 1998 and 2001. March 15, 1999 scientists
announced discovery of an S-shaped structure that appears on the sun in advance of a violent eruption. The S is called a sigmoid, a twisting of the sun's magnetic
field. "Early warnings of approaching solar storms could prove useful to power companies, the communications industry, and organizations that operate spacecraft,
including NASA," said a statement from George Withbroew, a NASA scientist. "This is a major step forward in understanding these tremendous storms."

26
 TIMESTAR PREDICTIONS FOR SOLAR ACTIVITY & MAGNETIC STORMS
FIRST CROP CIRCLE OF THE SEASON
REAL TIME DANCE OF SUN, MOON AND EARTH
The Missing Link Newsletter - June, 1998

Moon glyph -
Dresden Codex
From the Great Pyramid in Egypt around the world to Native America's oldest pyramids in Mexico, solar and lunar cycles are measured with
astounding skill. The pyramid builders were clear that the sun and moon are key players in life bearing systems on Earth. Now, as wild weather
patterns and radical solar changes dominate headlines, the first crop circle of the year is nearly identical to the Moon seal in the ancient calendar
of the Maya. Pyramid builders in Central America, the Maya were the most accurate timekeepers who ever existed on this planet.

The crop circle discovered at Andover, Hampshire, England was in the area outlying Stonehenge that has served as the primary staging ground
for crop formations for three decades. The two crop formations made in a field of oil seed rape (canola) about 6' high astonished researchers who
had never seen a crop circle appear so early in the year. A field report from Stuart Dike's investigation of the formation was published on the Crop
Circle Connector web site.

In the 13 days before the crop circle formed, one of the most severe storms to strike England this century caused snow, rain, and gale-force windows throughout the
country. An unseasonable snowstorm had fallen on large parts of England following floods. Although the canola was wet when the crop circle formed, the crop was
standing 6' high.

In April, The Missing Link predicted that the precocious growing season would be accompanied by early crop circle formations. Despite the early calendar date, the
canola crop was clearly mature so the formation was properly timed within the crop's natural cycle of maturity. This points back to the underlying issue of how and
why time is changing.

Of the two crop circles, the southern-most formation clearly depicted an alignment that by definition is an eclipse. With the moon orbiting the earth and the earth
orbiting the sun, an eclipse occurs when the three bodies come into alignment. In a solar eclipse, the moon passes between the sun and earth to block the sun's
light from the earth. The moon casts a shadow, called the umbra, on the earth in a solar eclipse. In a lunar eclipse, the earth comes between the sun and moon to
block the sun's light from the moon. The earth casts a shadow on the moon in a lunar eclipse. Eclipses occur only because the moon orbits the earth, either blocking
or being blocked from the sun's light. If the moon did not orbit the earth, no other body would be close enough to block the sun and cast a shadow on the planet.

Depicting the moon with an eclipse offered a look into the Native American perspective, the window they used to view the world. Rather than a single, isolated
object, the compound symbol reflected a dynamic interaction. Perception of the universe as an organic system of sentient energies in dynamic relationships
pervaded Native America.

The northern-most crop circle in the field consisted of a large circle attached with smaller circles researchers called "thought bubbles". The thought bubbles are
especially interesting because they look a lot like the unprecedented solar flare that erupted from the sun at an estimated 30,000 mps on May 2, thirteen days after
the crop circle was made.

Together, the two crop circles properly depicted the relationship of the sun and the earth orbited by the moon which produces eclipse cycles central to Stonehenge's
design. The crop circle's timing pointed to the natural timing of the field in contrast to the calendar date. Similarities of the crop circle to the Moon seal in the Mayan
calendar pointed to the coming year.
27
Within the larger design of the perpetual Mayan calendar, each year is designated with one of four possible names. In the modern Dreamspell adaptation of the
calendar, the four possible names for years are Storm, Seed, Moon, and Wizard. The coming year from July 26, 1998 through July 26, 1999 is Red Rhythmic Moon
which is centered at the Antarctic in the TimeStar grid.

The TimeStar predicted major changes at the Antarctic during the coming year in November, 1997, several months earlier than scientists announced heavy melting
of the Antarctic melting before 2000. This prediction was based on the occurrence of three lunar eclipses focused at the Antarctic during a year designating the
Antarctic with the Moon seal. The message of changes in the earth and sun measured with sequences of eclipses, the basis of TimeStar predictions, was clearly
portrayed in the ancient calendar and hinted in the first crop circle of 1998.

HYPOTHESIS

The concept of zero invented by the ancient calendar's creators is vital to interpreting the TimeStar because it subtly pervades the calendric system. The beginning
of each 13-day window following a lunar eclipse corresponds with a Void-of-Course moon relative to the sun for a virtual zero point state. This zero point harmonic is
encoded in a gestalt of lunar eclipses as a timing factor relative to the sun, since eclipses always involve conjunctions of the sun, moon and Earth; it is identified with
the combination of a 13-day week and 12-house zodiac; and it requires knowledge of celestial courses in order to recognize a void course.

Among 300 TimeStar windows identified with 15 different lunar eclipses, the first day of ALL corresponds with a Void of Course moon +/- 12 hours of sunrise. This
preponderance of alignments surpasses any possibility of coincidence but obviously reflects a calendric element Euro-American science has not yet identified. Since
astronomers recognize the astrological condition as a void (zero) course and zero is fundamental to the ancient calendar, it probably corresponds with conditions
that represent a virtual zero point for brief periods. Void courses can last from several hours to several days and compare to the Sun Stone's recesses contrasted
against visible images.

Since solar activity is predictable within the matrix of 13-day windows relative to lunar eclipses the 260-day calendars reflects measures of an unidentified factor that
affect the both the sun and Earth. That this factor corresponds with void courses identified with an abstract 12-house calendar for the sun, the zodiac, suggests the
possibility that it relates to the sun's orbit with Sirius. Since our sun is vital to Earth's condition it is feasible that the Sirius star system that Sol orbits is equally
important.

The ancient Egyptian calendar was based on Sirius' cycles which are reflected in the background of the Teotihuacano calendar. Briefly, the entire array of calendars
included a vague solar year of 365 days contrasted with the true solar year of 365.2 days which was also used. One of the great mysteries of the calendar is why the
ancients counted a 360-day tun with the 365-day vague solar year and the 365.2-day solar year. The annual period for Sirius is 365 days compared to Sol's 365.2
days, so the Sothic count for Sirius contains 1,460 days in four years compared to Sol's 1,461 days in the same period. The 365-day vague solar year provided for a
simultaneous count of Sirius and Sol with an accrued difference of 13 days in 52 years, representing the ancient calendar's full cycle.

The TimeStar count represents 1,461 13-day windows in the calendar's 52 years, showing that the same numbers array in various ways to reflect the same universe
observed from various perspectives. Bear in mind that timekeepers were selected as children and trained throughout their lives in the calendar, which was used by
the entire culture but thoroughly studied by only trained timekeepers. The knowledge conveyed to timekeepers with initiation was lost when the calendar was burned
and the pyramid centers destroyed.

Knowledge of the central role Sirius occupies relative to the solar system was lost in post-conquest colonialism when the native calendar was interpreted with
EuroAmerican astronomy. But the ancient Maya observed a July new year corresponding with Sirius' helical rising and July 26, 1992 date approximating Sirius' new
year rising indicated with the July 11, 1991 solar eclipse. In the absence of reliable information, wild speculation has arisen that the secret government orchestrates
ritual to satisfy Sirian overlords of this planet. There's no way to ignore Sirius' astronomical relationship with this solar system and there's no substantial evidence
28
that astronauts perform rituals to Sirius albeit astronauts have read Biblical passages in orbit.

Since we know that solar activity affects the Earth's magnetic fields it is feasible that Sothic cycles reflect Sirius' influences on the sun and subsequently this planet.
The correspondences of 13-day lunar eclipse windows opening with void of course moons found with the zodiac relative to an unidentified cycle indirectly implicates
Sirius. Indications of the January 4, 1992 alignment of Sirius with an eclipse in the Hazley Farm crop circle underscores this implication.

6. Mayan Calendar

El Castillo. Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico.

This Mesoamerican step pyramid’s platform, along with its four stairways of 91 steps, totals 365, or the number of days in a calendar year.

29
Aztec Calendar.

The Aztec calendar was an adaptation of the Mayan calendar. It consisted of a 365-day agricultural calendar, as well as a 260-day sacred calendar. (This is a
digital composite. Color added for visibility.)

Among their other accomplishments, the ancient Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity. At right is the ancient Mayan Pyramid

Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. The Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá, constructed circa 1050 was built during the late Mayan period, when Toltecs from Tula

became politically powerful. The pyramid was used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent

to the number of days in a calendar year.

The Maya calendar was adopted by the other Mesoamerican nations, such as the Aztecs and the Toltec, which adopted the mechanics of the calendar unaltered

but changed the names of the days of the week and the months. An Aztec calendar stone is shown above right.

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The Maya calendar uses three different dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). Of these, only

the Haab has a direct relationship to the length of the year.

A typical Mayan date looks like this: 12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi 4 Zotz.

12.18.16.2.6 is the Long Count date.

3 Cimi is the Tzolkin date.
4 Zotz is the Haab date.

 What is the Long Count?

 When did the Long Count Start?

 What is the Tzolkin?

 When did the Tzolkin Start?

 What is the Haab?

 When did the Haab Start?

 Did the Mayas Think a Year Was 365 Days?

What is the Long Count?

The Long Count is really a mixed base-20/base-18 representation of a number, representing the number of days since the start of the Mayan era. It is thus akin

to the Julian Day Number.

The basic unit is the kin (day), which is the last component of the Long Count. Going from right to left the remaining components are:

uinal (1 uinal = 20 kin = 20 days)

tun (1 tun = 18 uinal = 360 days = approx. 1 year)
katun (1 katun = 20 tun = 7,200 days = approx. 20 years)
baktun (1 baktun = 20 katun = 144,000 days = approx. 394 years)
The kin, tun, and katun are numbered from 0 to 19.
The uinal are numbered from 0 to 17.
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 The baktun are numbered from 1 to 13.

Although they are not part of the Long Count, the Mayas had names for larger time spans. The following names are sometimes quoted, although they are not

ancient Maya terms:

1 pictun = 20 baktun = 2,880,000 days = approx. 7885 years

1 calabtun = 20 pictun = 57,600,000 days = approx. 158,000 years
1 kinchiltun = 20 calabtun = 1,152,000,000 days = approx. 3 million years
1 alautun = 20 kinchiltun = 23,040,000,000 days = approx. 63 million years

The alautun is probably the longest named period in any calendar.

When did the Long Count Start?

Logically, the first date in the Long Count should be 0.0.0.0.0, but as the baktun (the first component) are numbered from 1 to 13 rather than 0 to 12, this first

date is actually written 13.0.0.0.0.

The authorities disagree on what 13.0.0.0.0 corresponds to in our calendar. I have come across three possible equivalences:

13.0.0.0.0 = 8 Sep 3114 BC (Julian) = 13 Aug 3114 BC (Gregorian)

13.0.0.0.0 = 6 Sep 3114 BC (Julian) = 11 Aug 3114 BC (Gregorian)
13.0.0.0.0 = 11 Nov 3374 BC (Julian) = 15 Oct 3374 BC (Gregorian)

Assuming one of the first two equivalences, the Long Count will again reach 13.0.0.0.0 on 21 or 23 December AD 2012 - a not too distant future.

The date 13.0.0.0.0 may have been the Mayas’ idea of the date of the creation of the world.

What is the Tzolkin?

The Tzolkin date is a combination of two "week" lengths.

While our calendar uses a single week of seven days, the Mayan calendar used two different lengths of week:

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  a numbered week of 13 days, in which the days were numbered from 1 to 13

 a named week of 20 days, in which the names of the days were:

0. Ahau 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 14. Ix
15. Men 16. Cib 17. Caban 18. Etznab 19. Caunac

The diagram at left shows the day symbols, in the same order as the table above.

As the named week is 20 days and the smallest Long Count digit is 20 days, there is synchrony between the two; if, for example, the last digit of today’s Long

Count is 0, today must be Ahau; if it is 6, it must be Cimi. Since the numbered and the named week were both "weeks," each of their name/number change

daily; therefore, the day after 3 Cimi is not 4 Cimi, but 4 Manik, and the day after that, 5 Lamat. The next time Cimi rolls around, 20 days later, it will be 10

Cimi instead of 3 Cimi. The next 3 Cimi will not occur until 260 (or 13 x 20) days have passed. This 260-day cycle also had good-luck or bad-luck associations

connected with each day, and for this reason, it became known as the "divinatory year."

The "years" of the Tzolkin calendar are not counted.

When did the Tzolkin Start?

Long Count 13.0.0.0.0 corresponds to 4 Ahau. The authorities agree on this.

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What is the Haab?

The Haab was the civil calendar of the Mayas. It consisted of 18 "months" of 20 days each, followed by 5 extra days, known as Uayeb. This gives a year length of

365 days.

The names of the month were:

1. Pop 7. Yaxkin 13. Mac

2. Uo 8. Mol 14. Kankin
3. Zip 9. Chen 15. Muan
4. Zotz 10. Yax 16. Pax
5. Tzec 11. Zac 17. Kayab
6. Xul 12. Ceh 18. Cumku

In contrast to the Tzolkin dates, the Haab month names changed every 20 days instead of daily; so the day after 4 Zotz would be 5 Zotz, followed by 6 Zotz ...

up to 19 Zotz, which is followed by 0 Tzec.

The days of the month were numbered from 0 to 19. This use of a 0th day of the month in a civil calendar is unique to the Maya system; it is believed that the

Mayas discovered the number zero, and the uses to which it could be put, centuries before it was discovered in Europe or Asia.

The Uayeb days acquired a very derogatory reputation for bad luck; known as "days without names" or "days without souls," and were observed as days of prayer

and mourning. Fires were extinguished and the population refrained from eating hot food. Anyone born on those days was "doomed to a miserable life."

The years of the Haab calendar are not counted.

The length of the Tzolkin year was 260 days and the length of the Haab year was 365 days. The smallest number that can be divided evenly by 260 and 365 is

18,980, or 365×52; this was known as the Calendar Round. If a day is, for example, "4 Ahau 8 Cumku," the next day falling on "4 Ahau 8 Cumku" would be 18,980

days or about 52 years later. Among the Aztec, the end of a Calendar Round was a time of public panic as it was thought the world might be coming to an end.

When the Pleaides crossed the horizon on 4 Ahau 8 Cumku, they knew the world had been granted another 52-year extension.

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When did the Haab Start?

Long Count 13.0.0.0.0 corresponds to 8 Cumku. The authorities agree on this.

Did the Mayas Think a Year Was 365 Days?

Although there were only 365 days in the Haab year, the Mayas were aware that a year is slightly longer than 365 days, and in fact, many of the month-names

are associated with the seasons; Yaxkin, for example, means "new or strong sun" and, at the beginning of the Long Count, 1 Yaxkin was the day after the winter

solstice, when the sun starts to shine for a longer period of time and higher in the sky. When the Long Count was put into motion, it was started at 7.13.0.0.0,

and 0 Yaxkin corresponded with Midwinter Day, as it did at 13.0.0.0.0 back in 3114 B.C.E. The available evidence indicates that the Mayas estimated that a 365-

day year precessed through all the seasons twice in 7.13.0.0.0 or 1,101,600 days.

We can therefore derive a value for the Mayan estimate of the year by dividing 1,101,600 by 365, subtracting 2, and taking that number and dividing 1,101,600

by the result, which gives us an answer of 365.242036 days, which is slightly more accurate than the 365.2425 days of the Gregorian calendar.

(This apparent accuracy could, however, be a simple coincidence. The Mayas estimated that a 365-day year precessed through all the seasons twice in 7.13.0.0.0

days. These numbers are only accurate to 2-3 digits. Suppose the 7.13.0.0.0 days had corresponded to 2.001 cycles rather than 2 cycles of the 365-day year,

would the Mayas have noticed?)

In ancient times, the Mayans had a tradition of a 360-day year. But by the 4th century B.C.E. they took a different approach than either Europeans or Asians.

They maintained three different calendars at the same time. In one of them, they divided a 365-day year into eighteen 20-day months followed by a five-day

period that was part of no month. The five-day period was considered to be unlucky.

7. Mayan Astronomy Page

The Maya were quite accomplished astronomers. Their primary interest, in contrast to "western" astronomers, were Zenial Passages when the Sun crossed over the
Maya latitudes. On an annual basis the sun travels to its summer solstice point, or the latitude of 23-1/3 degrees north.

35
 Most of the Maya cities were located south of this latitude, meaning that they could observe the sun directly overhead during the time
that the sun was passing over their latitude. This happened twice a year, evenly spaced around the day of solstice.

The Maya could easily determine these dates, because at local noon, they cast no shadow. Zenial passage observations are possible
only in the Tropics and were quite unknown to the Spanish conquistadors who descended upon the Yucatan peninsula in the 16th
century. The Maya had a god to represented this position of the Sun called the Diving God.

Venus
Venus was the astronomical object of greatest interest. I think it possible that the Maya knew it better than any civilization outside
Mesoamerica. They thought it was more important than the Sun. They watched it carefully as it moved through its stations--it takes
584 days for Venus and the Earth to line up in their previous position as compared to the Sun. It takes about 2922 days for the Earth,
Venus, the Sun, and the stars to agree.

The pattern of Venus is usually reckoned at Inferior Conjunction, that time when Venus passes between the Sun and the Earth. A diagram of this situation can be
seen on the left.

During this period, Venus cannot be seen from Earth. It disappears for a short period that averages 8 days. When it first rises after inferior conjunction, that is when it
was first spotted in the morning sky, called heliacal rising because it is rising with the sun, was the most important position of Venus.

After rising, Venus will reach its greatest brilliancy then it greatest elongation west, moving quickly (in retrograde motion) away from the Sun. After that it will remain
visible for about 260 days in the morning sky until it reaches superior conjunction. At this point Venus is on the opposite side of the Sun as we view it from Earth. It
becomes dim, until it dips back under the horizon, only to appear on the opposite side of the sun an average of 50 days later. It then rises as a evening star and
remain in the night sky about 260 days until it goes through its eastern elongation point and greatest brilliancy before arriving at Inferior Conjunction again.

The Maya made daytime observations of Venus. Venus had a psychological effect upon the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures, it has been shown that the
Maya were timing some of their wars based on the stationary points of Venus and Jupiter. Humans were sacrificed on first appearance after Superior Conjunction
when Venus was at its dimmest magnitude but they most feared the first Heliacal Rising after Inferior Conjunction.

In the Dresden Codex, the Maya had an almanac that displayed the full cycle of Venus. They counted five sets of 584 days, that is 2,920 days is approximately 8
years or 5 repetitions of the Venus cycle.

The Sun
The Maya evidently thought quite a bit about the Sun and they watched it trace out a path along the ecliptic. They followed it year round, presumably following its
path along the horizon as well. At Chichen Itza, during sunset a sun serpent rises up the side of the stairway of the pyramid called El Castillo on the day of Spring
and Autumn Equinox. It tells us that the Maya noted, not only the extremes of the Sun at the Solstices, but also the Equinoxes when the Sun appeared to rise due
East or due West. In addition to the Zenial Passages mentioned earlier, ecliptic observations must have been a major portion of Maya solar observing.

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 The Moon
The Maya had a lunar component to their calendric inscriptions. After giving the pertinent information on the date according to the Maya calendar the typical Maya
inscriptions contain a lunar reckoning. The lunar count was counted as 29 or 30 days, alternating. The lunar synodic period is close to 29.5 days, so by alternating
their count between these two numbers the moon was carefully meshed into the calendric sequence as well. Their lunar knowledge was impressive for they also
made eclipse predictions, an almanac for predicting them is contained in the Dresden Codex.

The Ecliptic
The Maya portrayed the Ecliptic in their artwork as a Double-Headed Serpent. The ecliptic is the path of the sun in the sky which is marked by the constellations of
fixed stars. Here the moon and the planets can be found because they are bound, like the Earth, to the sun. The constellations on the ecliptic are also called the
zodiac. We don't know exactly how fixed constellations on the ecliptic were seen by the Maya, but we have some idea of the order in some parts of the sky. We
know there is a scorpion, which we equate with our own constellation of Scorpius, in this figure I believe they used the claws of Libra. It has also been found that
Gemini appeared to the Maya as a pig or peccary, (a nocturnal animal in the pig family.) Some other constellations on the ecliptic are identified as a jaguar, at least
one serpent, a bat, a turtle, a xoc monster--that is, shark, or a sea monster. The Pleiades were seen as the tail of the rattlesnake and is called, "Tz'ab."

The Milky Way

The Milky Way itself was much venerated by the Maya. They called it the World Tree, which was represented by a tall and majestic flowering tree, the Ceiba. The
Milky Way was also called the Wakah Chan. Wak means "Six" or "Erect". Chan or K'an means "Four", "Serpent" or "Sky". The World Tree was erect when
Sagittarius was well over the horizon. At this time the Milky Way rose up from the horizon and climbed overhead into the North. The star clouds that form the Milky
Way were seen as the tree of life where all life came from. Near Sagittarius, the center of our galaxy, where the World Tree meets the Ecliptic was given special
attention by the Maya. A major element of the World Tree include the Kawak Monster, a giant head with a kin in its forehead. This monster was also a mountain or
witz monster. A sacrificial bowl on its head contains a flint blade representing sacrifice, and the Kimi glyph that represents death. The Ecliptic is sometimes
represented as a bar crossing the major axis of the world tree, making a form that is similar to the Christian Cross. On top of the World Tree we find a bird that has
been called, the Principal Bird deity, or Itzam Ye. There is also evidence that shows the Sun on the World Tree as it appeared to the Maya at Winter Solstice.
During the months of winter, when the so-called "Winter" Milky Way dominates the sky, it was called the "White Boned Serpent." This part of the Milky Way passed
overhead at night during the dry season. It is not brilliant like the star clouds that dominate the sky North of the equator during the months of Summer, but observers
at dark locations will easily see the glow. Here the Ecliptic crosses the Milky Way again, near the constellation of Gemini which was the approximate location of the
Sun during Summer Solstice. It is possible that the jaws of the White-Boned Serpent were represented by the Kawak monster head.

8. Writing system
The Maya writing system (often called hieroglyphs from a superficial resemblance to the Ancient Egyptian writing) was a combination of phonetic symbols and logograms. It is
most often classified as a logographic or (more properly) a logosyllabic writing system, in which syllabic signs play a significant role. It is the only writing system of the Pre-
Columbian New World which is known to completely represent the spoken language of its community. In total, the script has more than a thousand different glyphs, although a few
are variations of the same sign or meaning, and many appear only rarely or are confined to particular localities. At any one time, no more than around 500 glyphs were in use, some
200 of which (including variations) had a phonetic or syllabic interpretation.

The earliest inscriptions in an identifiably Maya script date back to 200–300 BC.[19] However, this is preceded by several other writing systems which had developed in Mesoamerica,
most notably that of the Zapotecs, and (following the 2006 publication of research on the recently discovered Cascajal Block), the Olmecs.[20] There is a pre-Maya writing known as
"Epi-Olmec script" (post Olmec) which some researchers believe may represent a transitional script between Olmec and Maya writing, but the relationships between these remain
unclear and the matter is unsettled. On January 5, 2006, National Geographic published the findings of Maya writings that could be as old as 400 BC, suggesting that the Maya

37
writing system is nearly as old as the oldest Mesoamerican writing known at that time, Zapotec.[21] In the succeeding centuries the Maya developed their script into a form which was
far more complete and complex than any other that has yet been found in the Americas.

Since its inception, the Maya script was in use up to the arrival of the Europeans, peaking during the Maya Classical Period (c. 200 to 900). Although many Maya centers went into
decline (or were completely abandoned) during or after this period, the skill and knowledge of Maya writing persisted amongst segments of the population, and the early Spanish
conquistadors knew of individuals who could still read and write the script. Unfortunately, the Spanish displayed little interest in it, and as a result of the dire impacts the conquest
had on Maya societies, the knowledge was subsequently lost, probably within only a few generations.

At a rough estimate, in excess of 10,000 individual texts have so far been recovered, mostly inscribed on stone monuments, lintels, stelae and ceramic pottery. The Maya also
produced texts painted on a form of paper manufactured from processed tree-bark, in particular from several species of strangler fig trees such as Ficus cotinifolia and Ficus
padifolia.[22] This paper, common throughout Mesoamerica and generally now known by its Nahuatl-language name amatl, was typically bound as a single continuous sheet that was
folded into pages of equal width, concertina-style, to produce a codex that could be written on both sides. Shortly after the conquest, all of the codices which could be found were
ordered to be burnt and destroyed by zealous Spanish priests, notably Bishop Diego de Landa. Only three reasonably intact examples of Maya codices are known to have survived
through to the present day. These are now known as the Madrid, Dresden, and Paris codices. A few pages survive from a fourth, the Grolier codex, whose authenticity is sometimes
disputed, but mostly is held to be genuine. Further archaeology conducted at Maya sites often reveals other fragments, rectangular lumps of plaster and paint chips which formerly
were codices; these tantalizing remains are, however, too severely damaged for any inscriptions to have survived, most of the organic material having decayed.

The decipherment and recovery of the now-lost knowledge of Maya writing has been a long and laborious process. Some elements were first deciphered in the late 19th and early
20th century, mostly the parts having to do with numbers, the Maya calendar, and astronomy. Major breakthroughs came starting in the 1950s to 1970s, and accelerated rapidly
thereafter. By the end of the 20th century, scholars were able to read the majority of Maya texts to a large extent, and recent field work continues to further illuminate the content.

In reference to the few extant Maya writings, Michael D. Coe, a prominent linguist and epigrapher at Yale University, stated:

"[O]ur knowledge of ancient Maya thought must represent only a tiny fraction of the whole picture, for of the thousands of books in which the full extent of their learning
and ritual was recorded, only four have survived to modern times (as though all that posterity knew of ourselves were to be based upon three prayer books and 'Pilgrim's
Progress')." (Michael D. Coe, The Maya, London: Thames and Hudson, 4th ed., 1987, p. 161.)
Most surviving pre-Columbian Maya writing is from stelae and other stone inscriptions from Maya sites, many of which were already abandoned before the Spanish arrived. The
inscriptions on the stelae mainly record the dynasties and wars of the sites' rulers. Also of note are the inscriptions that reveal information about the lives of ancient Maya women.
Much of the remainder of Maya hieroglyphics has been found on funeral pottery, most of which describes the afterlife.

Writing tools
Although the archaeological record does not provide examples, Maya art shows that writing was done with brushes made with animal hair and quills. Codex-style writing was
usually done in black ink with red highlights, giving rise to the Aztec name for the Maya territory as the "land of red and black".

Scribes and literacy

Scribes held a prominent position in Maya courts. Maya art often depicts rulers with trappings indicating they were scribes or at least able to write, such as having pen bundles in
their headdresses. Additionally, many rulers have been found in conjunction with writing tools such as shell or clay inkpots. Although the number of logograms and syllabic symbols
required to fully write the language numbered in the hundreds, literacy was not necessarily widespread beyond the elite classes. Graffiti uncovered in various contexts, including on
fired bricks, shows nonsensical attempts to imitate the writing system.

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Mathematics

Maya numerals
In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya used a base 20 (vigesimal) and base 5 numbering system (see Maya numerals). Also, the preclassic Maya and their
neighbors independently developed the concept of zero by 36 BC. Inscriptions show them on occasion working with sums up to the hundreds of millions and dates so large it would
take several lines just to represent it. They produced extremely accurate astronomical observations; their charts of the movements of the moon and planets are equal or superior to
those of any other civilization working from naked eye observation.[citation needed]

In common with the other Mesoamerican civilizations, the Maya had measured the length of the solar year to a high degree of accuracy, far more accurately than that used in Europe
as the basis of the Gregorian Calendar. They did not use this figure for the length of year in their calendars, however; the calendars they used were crude, being based on a year
length of exactly 365 days, which means that the calendar falls out of step with the seasons by one day every four years. By comparison, the Julian calendar, used in Europe from
Roman times until about the 16th Century, accumulated an error of only one day every 128 years. The modern Gregorian calendar is even more accurate, accumulating only a day's
error in approximately 3257 years.

9. Mayan Ruins

Belize - Mayan Ruins

An important part of Belize's history is the Mayan legacy of outstanding palaces and temples. The Mayan occupation began as early as 1500
B.C. and started to decline in 900 A.D., although some Maya cultural centres continued to be occupied until the arrival of the Spanish in the 15
century. Belize's population was thought to be over 1 million people during the classic period (250 A.D. to 900 A.D.) when Belize became the
heart of the Mayan civilization. To this day, there is still a significant Mayan population living in small villages throughout the country.

The government of Belize, through our Department of Archaelogy, is committed to giving tourists access to these sites.
39
 Althun Ha : Baking Pot : Blue Creek Cave : Cahal Pech :Caracol : Cerros : Chan Chich : Chechem Ha Cave : Cuello : El
Pilar :Lamanai : La Milpa : Lubaantum : Marco Gonzalez : Nim Li Punit : Nohmul : Pacbitum : Pusilha : Santa Rita : Uxbenka :
Xunantunich

Althun Ha (Water of the Rock)

The ruins of Altun Ha are famous for many reasons. Here they found a Jade Head - largest carved jade object in the whole Maya area -
representing the Sun God, Kinich Ahau. It is a national symbol of Belize, which you can see cornered on every Belizean banknote in circulation.
Altun Ha was a major ceremonial center in the Classic Period (250-900 A.D.) and functioned as vital trading center linking the Caribbean shores
with other Maya centers in the interior. Altun Ha is located 31 miles north of Belize City.

Baking Pot

Baking Pot is a small, potentially significant site on the south bank of the Belize River near Georgeville. The ruin is currently being excavated
and evaluated. The vegetation-covered mounds of these sites can be seen from the Western Highway.

Chan Chich

Just south of the Rio Bravo lies the Gallon Jug parcel, some 130,000 acres of tropical forest retained by Barry Bowen as a private reserve.
Intense farming is carried out in a small area and also, an unusual cattle project has got underway, using new embryo transfer technology from
English Hereford bloodlines to improve local stock. But the most curious innovation for travelers here is Chan Chich Lodge, a hotel situated in
the lower plaza of an ancient Maya site. As a private reserve protected from hunting, Chan Chich enjoys some of the most abundant
concentrations of tropical forest wildlife in Central America.

Lamanai (Submerged Crocodile)

Located on the New River Lagoon, this is one of Belize's largest ceremonial centers. It displays the more exotic features of ancient Maya art and
architecture. Lamanai had one of the longest occupation spans, dating from 1500 B.C. to the 19th century, which includes the contact period
with Spaniards. Historical occupation is represented in the remains of two Christian churches and a sugar mill.

La Milpa

La Milpa is the third largest Maya site in Belize. The ceremonial center is built on a high limestone ridge and, with more than 24 courtyards and
over 85 structures, is in the topmost rank of Maya sites. The Great Plaza is one of the largest public spaces in the Maya world. Beyond the
Great Plaza lie other plazas, pyramids and buildings, which gradually merge into the surrounding jungle. Located in the Rio Bravo Conservation
Area in northwestern Belize.

Cuello

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Cuello is located on private land, and permission is needed to visit this ancient site, a minor ceremonial center and settlement area about 4
miles southwest of Orange Walk Town. Although not well developed for visitors, Cuello is one of the most exciting recent discoveries in the
Mayan world. Before the exploration of this site in 1973 by Cambridge University, most experts believed the Mayan civilization had its start
around 1500 B.C., which was the earliest date of any previously known settlement . Applying state-of-the-art carbon dating techniques to
ancient maize fragments and wooden posts, it was determined that occupation by the Maya began here around 2600 B.C., possibly even
earlier. Thus, the "start date" of the civilization was pushed back by a full millennium.

Nohmul (Great Mound)

Nohmul is a major ceremonial center spread among private owned sugar cane fields near the village of San Pablo, about 7 miles north of
Orange Walk Town. The site - located on a limestone ridge and dominated by a massive acropolis atop which a pyramid has been built- consists
of two groups of buildings incorporating ten plazas and connected by a sacbe, or raised causeway. Nohmul was occupied first during the Pre-
Classic era (350 B.C. to A.D. 250) and again during the Late Classical period (A.D. 600 to 900). At the height, the community was the seat of
government for an area encompassing 8 square miles and including the nearby settlements now known as San Esteban and San Luis.

Cerros

Located on a peninsula across from Corozal Town and in the Bay of Chetumal, this site was important as a coastal trading center during the late
Pre-Classic Period. Cerros expressed in that period , new forms of art and architecture that proved to be crucial for the formation of classic
Maya art and architecture. Its tallest temple rises 21 meters above the plaza floor. Short boat ride from Corozal.

Santa Rita

The modern town of Corozal is built over the ancient Maya center of Santa Rita. This site was important during the late Post-Classic Period and
was occupied up to the time of Spanish contact in the 1500's. The largest building in the central core of Santa Rita has been excavated and
consolidated, and open to the public. Archaeological excavations there have shown Santa Rita to be the ancient province of Chetumal, where a
large part of the Post-Classic civilization once thrived.

Marco Gonzalez

The Marco Gonzalez site may be the largest ruin on Ambergris Caye. Located about two miles south of the town of San Pedro, it covers an area
of about 355 meters by 155 meters and has at least 53 buildings with a central plaza and several small courtyard groupings. The site's
excavators believe that during the Early Classic Period, the economy was based upon exploitation of the vast marine resources which the
Caribbean provides. The community saw continued success through the Late Classic Period as well. However, during the Post Classic Period,
when other sites on Ambergris were being abandoned, Marco Gonzalez underwent large scale expansion. Nearly every one of the structures
were added to or used at this time.

Pusilha

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Pusilha is on the Moho River in the Toledo District, about one mile east of the Guatemalan border. the ruins, built on top of a hill above the
river, can only be reached by boat. The plaza contains about two dozen carved stelae.

Blue Creek Cave

One of the most impressive natural sites in Toledo is the Hokeb Ha Cave at Blue Creek. The huge cavern entrance is carved from the summit of
a hill where the Blue Creek gurgles up form underground. After leaving the cave, the creek cascades over limestone boulders, under the
towering shadows of the surrounding rainforest. Archaeologists have found inside many Late Classic ceramics and an altar, leading them to
theorize that the cave was used specifically for ceremonial purposes.

Uxbenka (Old Place)

Local Maya have known about Uxbenka for many years. But the outside world first learned of the site's existence in 1984, when reports of
looting filtered back to Belmopan. On further investigation, officials learned that indeed this was a very ancient settlement. One of the seven
carved stelae found here dates from the Early Classic Period, the earliest archaeological date yet recorded in southern Belize, but most of the
sculpted stones are too badly eroded to read. An additional thirteen noncarved stelae have been unearthed at Uxbenka, which also features a
couple of unexcavated pyramids and a small plaza, plus some overgrown structural mounds. The site, which is not extensive, perches on a
ridge overlooking the foothills and valleys of the Maya Mountains. The nearby hillsides have been faced with cut terrace stones. This art form
has not been found outside the Toledo District.

Nim Li Punit (Big Hat)

Preliminary excavations at this ceremonial center, indicate it was important during the late Classic Period. It may have held a special
relationship with nearby Lubaantum. Of the more than 25 stalae found at the site, at least eight are carved. One remains the tallest carved
stela in Belize. Nim Li Punit is located off the Southern Highway about 25 miles north of Punta Gorda Town. The site is about fifteen minutes
walk from the road.

Lubaantum (Place of Fallen Stones)

This late Classic ceremonial center is noted for its unusual style of construction, distinctive of southern Belize. The large pyramids and terraces
are made of dressed stone blocks with no mortar binding them together. The buildings on top of the pyramids were made of perishable
materials rather than masonry and hence do not remain. Lubaantum is located northwest of Punta Gorda and is not accessible by public
transportation. There is a twenty-minute walk from the road to the ruins.

Caracol ( The Snail)

Discovered in 1938 and later explored in the 1950's,Caracol was thought to be little more than a Maya ceremonial center. It was not until more
extensive excavation efforts began in 1985 that the importance and expanse of Caracol became known. In 1986, a round elaborately carved
altar stone was uncovered which described a victory by Caracol over Tikal, once considered to be the most powerful Maya metropolis. This

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discovery filled an important missing piece of Maya History and positioned Caracol as the "supreme" Maya city. The largest pyramid, the Canaa,
rises 140 feet and is the tallest man-made structure in all of Belize. Caracol is located south of San Ignacio and is accessible by road.

Chechem Ha Cave

Several years ago, owner Antonio Morales stumbled on this cave while chasing some stray cattle through the rainforest. Going inside, he found
an extensive catacomb with niches full of ancient Mayan pots. Archaeologists from Belmopan removed a few of the most important pieces for
study, but decided to leave the rest intact.

Pacbitum (Stones Set in the Earth)

Two miles to the east of San Antonio, on private land, are the ruins of Pacbitun, one of the oldest Preclassical Maya sites. Local farmers knew
about Pacbitun's existence for generations, but it wasn't until 1971 that archaeologists made studies here. They found 24 pyramids, 8 stalae,
several raised irrigation causeways and a collection of Mayan musical instruments.

Xunantunich (Maiden of the Rock)

This major ceremonial center is located on a natural limestone ridge, providing a panoramic view of the Cayo District. The largest pyramid, "El
Castillo", has been partially excavated and explored and bears remarkable stucco frieze on its east side. Three carved stelae found at the site
are on display in the plaza. Xunantunich is located across the river from the village of San Jose Succotz, near the western border.

Cahal Pech ( Place of the Ticks)

Cahal Pech is a medium-sized Maya center located in the Cayo District. Situated along the west bank of the Macal River, Cahal Pech offers the
visitor a panoramic view of San Ignacio and the Belize River Valley below. The remarkable contrast between the town and the jungle, which are
in such close proximity, makes Cahal Pech a unique place to visit.

El Pilar

El Pilar, northwest of San Ignacio, is different in feeling. Its enormous area, still linked by narrow paths between the ruin, suggests a huge
agricultural center and market bigger than any that exist in the area today.

10. Mythology of the Mayas

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Bacabs
Mayans believed that four jaguars, called bacabs,
held up the sky. Each had a different
color.
Click on image for full size
Courtesy of Nova Development Corp.
The Maya believed
the Earth was flat
with four corners.
Each corner
represented a
cardinal direction.
Each direction had a
color: east-red; north-
white; west-black;
south-yellow. Green
was the center.
At each corner, there
was a jaguar of a
different color that
supported the sky. The
jaguars were called
bacabs.
View of the Milky Way from above. When
Mayans believed the
universe was divided
into thirteen layers,
each with its own god.
Mayans seem to have thought
of the Milky Way as the mystic
road along which souls walk
into the Underworld. Crossing
the Milky Way at the
constellation Scorpio is the
ecliptic, the apparent path of
the sun, moon, and planets as
they move against the
background of stars.
Mayans tracked their creation
stories in relation to the
movement of the stars across the
heavens. They believed that the
point at which the Milky way
appeared as a vertical band in the
night sky represented the moment
of creation.
viewed from above the Milky
Way looks like a spiral galaxy.
Click on image for full size
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Xib Chac

Xib Chac was the Mayan Ix Chel, the "Lady Rainbow," was the
rain god. He was a old Moon goddess in Mayan
benevolent god, and was mythology. The Maya people lived
represented by many around 250 AD in what is now
colors. During ceremonies, Guatemala and the Yucatan in
the priest was assisted by Mexico. Mayans associated human
four old men, called events with phases of the moon.
Chacs, in honor of his
name. Ix Chel was depicted as an old woman
wearing a skirt with crossed bones, and
An important part of the she had a serpent in her hand. She had an
ceremony was performed by assistant sky serpent, whom they believed
another person, named carried all of the waters of the heavens in
Chilam. This individual its belly. She is often shown carrying a
would reveal, while in a state great jug filled with water, which she
of trance, the messages sent overturns to send floods and powerful
by the gods to be interpreted rainstorms to Earth.
by the priests.
Her husband was the benevolent moon
god Itzamna. Ix Chel had a kinder side
and was worshipped as the protector of
This is an artist's depiction of Ix Chel. weavers and women in childbirth.
Pottery incense burner from a Click on image for full size
shrine at Mayapan Windows to the Universe original image
depicting the rain
god Chac. The Maya
god carries a small
bowl in one hand and
a ball of flaming
incense in the other.
Ht 54.6 cm (21.5 in).
Click on image for
full size
the Peabody
Museum, Harvard
University,
Cambridge, MA.

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Ix Chel

Kukulcan

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The ancient Mayans used the Mayans were sophisticated observers of
doorways and windows of their the sky. Mayans used their astronomical
buildings as astronomical sightings, knowledge to predict future human
especially for the planet Venus. events. They were aware of the
movements of Mars. In one of the ancient
At Uxmal, all buildings are aligned in Mayan books, Mars is represented by a
the same direction. Surprisingly, series of pictures of a long-nosed beast
Mayans knew the motions of Venus shown descending to varying depths from
with much accuracy. a sky band
Venus, the morning star, was the patron
planet of warfare. Many offerings were
made to Venus and the Sun.We know
from a historian that people would stop
up their chimneys so that no light from
Venus could enter their houses and
cause harm.

This picture shows a Mayan incense burner

that has a face carved on it. It
was made by the Maya people
over 1200 years ago and was
found in Palenque, Chiapas,
Mexico.
Click on image for full size
Museo de Sitio de Palenque “Dr.
Alberto Ruz L’Huillier” – INAH,
Mexico and the National Gallery
of Art

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