FIRST PART.
INTERPRETATION OF THE MEXICA CALENDAR.
A variant diagnosis of the Mesoamerican Calendar and the Precession Phenomenon.
by Marcos Adrián Villaseñor. © 2005.
The following text is a work in progress. If you wish to contact me please send an email to villas@nyphotostudio.com
CHAPTER I.
When the Eagle saw the Mexica, it bowed its head.
Fernando Alvarado Ixtlixochitl.
THE PEOPLE OF THE SUN
Eight Aztlanteca tribes, misnamed Azteca1 by the sons of Castille, went forth from Aztlan in the year 1168. One tribe, the Mexica (MehShEEKa) guided by their deity or regent2 Huitzilopochtli (Hummingbird of the Left3), separated from the rest. In the year 1377, after their pilgrimage of 208 years or two Mexica centuries of 104 years each, they settled in the Valley of Mexico or Anahuac4 and founded their city, Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Under the rule of the Tepaneca, the most powerful group living Anahuac, the Mexica conquered various populations in and around the Valley of Mexico. In the year 1428, after forming a military aliance with the neighboring cities of Tezcoco and Tlacopan, the Mexica rebelled against the Tepaneca and conquered the city of Azcapotzalco, the capital of the Tepaneca nation. After vanquishing the Tepaneca, the Mexica conquered Coyoacan, Tacubaya, Cuajimalpa, Acolhuacan, Chalco, Tlatelolco and many more cities. During the following 93 years, the Mexica directed the expansion of the their nation, Cem Anahuac5 . In the process of absorbing other people into their dominion, the Mexica adopted other regents, some of them over a thousand years old, such as Tlaloc, the ancient rain regent of the agricultural people that lived in the Mexican southeast and the Golf of Mexico. The Mexica led numerous excavations of the ancient Toltec city of Teotihuacan (City of the Gods), and dedicated themselves to recreating different aspects of Toltec culture, and specially its calendar.
Nearing what would become the end of the Mexica empire, there was a shift in the official discourse toward a gentler and more peaceful rulership. Had the Spaniards not arrived6, the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan could have become the capital of a great civilization illuminated by knowledge, the arts, poetry, a just government and science. Witness to this are not only the paintings, sculptures, pyramids, and codices that survived the effort of the Spanish Crown to rob the Mesoamerican people of their treasures and destroy their nations and cultures, but the written accounts of the astonished invaders, who had never seen or could possibly have imagined a city as impressive as Mexico-Tenochtitlan. It was the most populous city in the world, with over 200,000 inhabitants. The city possessed a magnificent aqueduct, with two canals to facilitate its cleaning, that brought potable water from Chapultepec (Grasshopper Hill) . Its chinampas (man made islands) built on lake Texcoco made the city agriculturally self-suficient. The citys market in Tlatelolco was the bussiest in the world, and was very well organized with its own police force and tribunal to keep order and solve disputes among merchants. The Mexica had a government in which dishonesty and corruption were practically non existent; any violator of the public trust was severely punished, particularly if they were members of the royal family. Religious and civil authorities were separate and the Huey Tlatoani (Great Speaker) who governed the Mexica empire, was advised by the Huehuetque (Council of Elders), whose members had demonstrated courage in battle and wisdom in life. The Huhuetque functioned as an electoral college, they elected the next Huey Tlatoani when the previous one perished. In 1492 at the arrival of the Spaniards, The Mexica, People of the Sun, were in the process of developing a culture to rival any of its time.
After the Spaniards defeated the Mexica and destroyed the city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan in 1521, the religious authorities of New Spain, under the auspices of the Spanish Catholic Church, rescued some indigenous documents and created others through interviews with some Mexicas who survived the war. Although these scarce documents are full of contradictions, they offer a much greater treasure than any the invaders could have ever conceived: The knowledge of the unfolding of the universe.

CHAPTER II.
Who arranges how the year falls,
How the Count of Destiny follows its path and the days and each one of the months
this is what they do, they can speak of the gods.
Coloquios.
THE TONALPOHUALLI OR COUNT OF DESTINY
The Tonalpohualli or Count of Destiny7 was created by the Olmecs8, and was adopted by most civilizations that followed. It was reverently used as a mantic or divination system. It is the key to the mechanism of the Mesoamerican calendar 9, of which, there were over twenty versions kept by different indigenous nations at the arrival of the Spaniards. The Mexica priests devoted to its reading and maintenance were called Tonalpouhques and belonged to the goddess Tlazolteotl, a Mexica regent of the planet venus, and an avocation of Tezcatlipoca10. (Smoking Mirror). The Count of Destiny is based on a series of 20 named days. The Mexica version of these 20 days is called the Fixed Round of Days (fig. 1).
.
| FIXED ROUND OF DAYS | |
| 1 Cipactli (Crocodile) East | |
| 2 Ehecaltl (Wind) North | |
| 3 Calli (House) West | |
| 4 Cuetzpallin (Lizard) South | |
| 5 Coatl (Serpent) East | |
| 6 Miquistli (Death) North | |
| 7 Mazatl (Deer) West | |
| 8 Tochtli (Rabbit) South | |
| 9 Atl (Water) East | |
| 10 Itzcuintle (Dog) North | |
| 11 Ozomahtli (Monkey) West | |
| 12 Malinalli (Grass) South | |
| 13 Acatl (Reed) East | |
| 14 Ocelotl (Ocelot) North | |
| 15 Cuauhtli (Eagle) West | |
| 16 Cozcacuautli (Buzzard) South | |
| 17 Ollin (Movement) East | |
| 18 Tecpatl (Flint) North | |
| 19 Quiahuitl (Rain) West | |
| 20 Xochitl (Flower) South |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| 1 | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl |
| 2 | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli |
| 3 | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl |
| 4 | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli |
| 5 | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl |
| 6 | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl |
| 7 | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli |
| 8 | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin |
| 9 | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin |
| 10 | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli |
| 11 | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli |
| 12 | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli |
| 13 | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl |
| 15 | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl |
| 15 | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli |
| 16 | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli |
| 17 | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli |
| 18 | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl |
| 19 | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl | cipactli | ehecatl | calli | cuetzpallin | coatl | miquiztli | mazatl |
| 20 | tochtli | atl | itzcuintli | ozomahtli | malinalli | acatl | ocelotl | cuauhtli | cozcacuauhtli | ollin | tecpatl | quiahuitl | xochitl |
| Names of the 18 Months or Veintenas in a Xiupohualli or | Count of Fire. The Civil Calendar of 360 Days | ||
| 1 | Atlacahualo (Whats left by the waters) always starts ten days before equinox | 10 | Xocotl Huetzi (The Fall of the Fruits) |
| 2 | Tlacaxipehualiztli (The Change in People) | 11 | Ochpaniztli (Sweeping of the Roads) |
| 3 | Tozoztontli (The Small Abstinence) | 12 | Teotleco (Arrival of the Generating Priciples of Nature) |
| 4 | Hueytozoztli (The Big Abstinenece) | 13 | Tepelhuitl (The Feast of the Mountains) |
| 5 | Toxcatl (The Dry Things) | 14 | Quecholi (Flamingo) |
| 6 | Etzacualiztli (Eat Etzalli [a special meal made from young beans and corn]) | 15 | Panquetzaliztli (Raising of the Flags) |
| 7 | Tecuilhuitontli (Small Feast of the Lords) | 16 | Atemoztli (Fall of the Waters) |
| 8 | Huey Tecuilhuitontli (Big Feast of the Lords) | 17 | Tititl (Recollect) |
| 9 | Tlaxochimaco (Offering of Flowers) | 18 | Izcalli (Resurgance) |
| Years | Development of the 18 Counts of Destiny in one Tlalpilli | Days |
| 1 | 1(260) + 2 (100) | 360 |
| 2 | 2 (160) + 3 (200) | 360 |
| 3 | 3 (60) + 4 (260) + 5 (40) | 360 |
| 4 | 5 (220) + 6 (140) | 360 |
| 5 | 6 (120) + 7 (240) | 360 |
| 6 | 7 (20) + 8 (260) + 9 (80) | 360 |
| 7 | 9 (180) + 10 (180) | 360 |
| 8 | 10 (80) + 11 (260) +12 (20) | 360 |
| 9 | 12 (240) + 13 (120) | 360 |
| 10 | 13 (140) + 14 (220) | 360 |
| 11 | 14 (40) + 15 (260) + 16 (60) | 360 |
| 12 | 16 (200) + 17 (160) | 360 |
| 13 | 17 (100) + 18 (260) | 360 |
| RABBIT |
REED
|
FLINT
|
HOUSE
|
|
|
1 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
1 Acatl (Reed)
|
1 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
1 Calli (House) Leap
|
|
|
2 Acatl (Reed)
|
2 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
2 Calli (House) Leap
|
2 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
|
|
3 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
3 Calli (House) Leap
|
3 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
3 Acatl (Reed)
|
|
|
4 Calli (House) Leap
|
4 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
4 Acatl (Reed)
|
4 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
|
|
5 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
5 Acatl (Reed)
|
5 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
5 Calli (House) Leap
|
|
|
6 Acatl (Reed)
|
6 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
6 Calli (House) Leap
|
6 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
|
|
7 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
7 Calli (House) Leap
|
7 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
7 Acatl (Reed)
|
|
|
8 Calli (House) Leap
|
8 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
8 Acatl (Reed)
|
8 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
|
|
9 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
9 Acatl (Reed)
|
9 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
9 Calli (House) Leap
|
|
|
10 Acatl (Reed)
|
10 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
10 Calli (House)
|
10 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
|
|
11 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
11 Calli (House) Leap
|
11 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
11 Acatl (Reed)
|
|
|
12 Calli (House) Leap
|
12 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
12 Acatl (Reed)
|
12 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
|
|
13 Tochtli (Rabbit)
|
13 Acatl (Reed)
|
13 Tecpatl (Flint)
|
13 Calli (House) Leap
|
|
| Series of 5 synodic cycles in 13 groups of 8 years each. |
Days for series Crocodile |
Days for series Serpent |
Days for series Water |
Days for series Reed |
Days for series Movement |
| 1 | 1-Crocodile | 13-Serpent | 12-Water | 11-Reed | 10-Movement |
| 2 | 9-Crocodile | 8-Serpent | 7-Water | 6-Reed | 5-Movement |
| 3 | 4-Crocodile | 3-Serpent | 2-Water | 1-Reed | 13-Movement |
| 4 | 12-Crocodile | 11Serpent | 10-Water | 9-Reed | 8-Movement |
| 5 | 7-Crocodile | 6-Serpent | 5-Water | 4-Reed | 3-Movement |
| 6 | 2-Crocodile | 1-Serpent | 13-Water | 12-Reed | 11-Movement |
| 7 | 10-Crocodile | 9-Serpent | 8-Water | 7-Reed | 6-Movement |
| 8 | 5-Crocodile | 4-Serpent | 3-Water | 2-Reed | 1-Movement |
| 9 | 13-Crocodile | 12-Serpent | 11-Water | 10-Reed | 9-Movement |
| 10 | 8-Crocodile | 7-Serpent | 6-Water | 5-Reed | 4-Movement |
| 11 | 3-Crocodile | 2-Serpent | 1-Water | 13-Reed | 12-Movement |
| 12 | 11-Crocodile | 10-Serpent | 9-Water | 8-Reed | 7-Movement |
| 13 | 6-Crocodile | 5-Serpent | 4-Water | 3-Reed | 2-Movement |
| Table of 6,500 synodic cycles | 1-1,300 | 1,301-2,600 | 2,601-3,900 | 3,901-5,200 | 5,201-6,500 |
|
Each square is composed of 4 groups of 65 synodic cycles of Venus of 583.92 days to total 260. |
1-Cipaktli (Crocodile) 9-Cozcacuauhtli (Buzzard 4-Ozomahtli (Monkey) 12-Miquiztli (Death) |
1-Ollin (Movement) 9-Malinalli (Grass) 4-Mazatl (Deer) 12-Ehecatl (Wind) |
1-Acatl (Reed) 9-Tochtli (Rabbit) 4-Calli (House) 12-Tecpatl (Flint) |
1-Atl (Water) 9-Cuetzpallin (Lizard) 4-Quiahuitl (Rain) 12-Ocelotl (Ocelot) |
1-Coatl (Serpent) 9-Xochitl (Flower) 4-Cuauhtli (Eagle) 12-Itzcuintli (Dog) |
| Each vertical column is 1,300 synodic cycles of Venus or 2,078.3359 Tropic years. |
7-Cipaktli (Crocodile) 1-Cuauhtli (Eagle) 9-Itzcuintli (Dog) 4-Coatl (Serpent) |
7-Ollin (Movement) 1-Ozomahtli (Monkey) 9-Miquiztli (Death) 4-Cipaktli (Crocodile) |
7-Acatl (Reed) 1-Mazatl (Deer) 9-Ehecatl (Wind) 4-Ollin (Movement) |
7-Atl (Water) 1-Calli (House) 9-Tecpatl (Flint) 4-Acatl (Reed) |
7-Coatl (Serpent) 1-Quiahuitl (Rain) 9-Ocelotl (Ocelot) 4-Atl |
|
The total number of Tropic years represented in five columns is 10,391.68 |
12-Xochitl (Flower) 7-Cuahtli (Eagle) 1-Atl (Water) 9-Cuetzpallin |
12-Cozcacuauhtli (Buzzard) 7-Ozomahtli (Monkey) 1-Coatll (Serpent) 9-Xochitl (Flower) |
12-Malinalli (Grass) 7-Mazatl (Deer) 1-Cipaktli (Crocodile) 9-Cozcacuauhtli (Buzzard) |
12-Tochtli (Rabbit) 7-Calli (House) 1-Ollin (Movement) 9-Malinalli (Grass) |
12-Cuetzpaliin (Lizard) 7-Quiahuitl (Rain) 1-Acatl (Reed) 9-Tochtli (Rabbit) |
| In 10,400 years the synodic cycles of Venus have completed 8.33 backward rounds around the solar calendar |
4-Quiahuitl (Rain) 12-Ocelotl (Ocelot) 7-Atl (Water) 1-Calli (House) |
4-Cuauhtli (eagle) 12-Itzcuintli (Monkey) 7-Coatl (Serpent) 1-Quiahuitl (Rain) |
4-Ozomahtli (Monkey) 12-Miquiztli (Death) 7-Cipaktli (Crocodile) 1-Cuauhtli (Eagle) |
4-Mazatl (Deer) 12-Ehecatl (Wind) 7-Ollin (Movement) 1-Ozomahtli (Monkey) |
4-Calli (House) 12-Tecpatl (Flint) 7-Acatl (Reed) 1-Mazatl (Deer) |
|
9-Tecpatl (Flint) 4-Acatl (Reed) 12-(Tochtli) 7-Calli (House) |
9-Ocelotl (Ocelot) 4-Atl (Water) 12-Cuetzpallin (Lizard) 7-Quiahuitl (Rain) |
9-Itzcuintli (Dog) 4-Coatl (Serpent) 12-Xochitl (Flower) 7-Cuauhtli (Eagle) |
9-Miquiztli (Death) 4-Cipaktli (Crocodile) 12-Cozcacuauhtli (Buzzard 7-Ozomahtli (Monkey) |
9-Ehecatl (Wind) 4-Ollin (Movement) 12-Malinalli (Grass) 7-Mazatl (Deer) |








CHAPTER V.
(insert poem).
The Mayan Long Count.
The Mayan calendar consists of three different calendars: The Tzolkin (Count of Days); a calendar of 260 days, is the Mayan equivalent to the Mexica Count of Destiny. Second the Haab, often called the vague year, is a historic count44 of 365 days, without any leap days45 , made by 18 months (Uinal) of twenty days (Kin), plus 5 empty days (18X20+5=365), and the third is the Long Count.
The year 2012 marks the end of the Mayan Long Count . This is of significant importance not only to the study of Mesoamerican calendaric systems, but also for modern astronomy. The Long Count ends on December 2012, and consists of 7,200 uninterrupted counts of the Tzolkin. The basic cycle of the Long Count is the Tun. One Tun consists of 18 months of 20 days that add up to 360 days, these Tuns of 360 days, are counted repeteadly in cycles of 20, known as Katun (20 Tun). Each Katun consists of 7,200 days (19.7 years). Katuns are grouped in two different counts, one consists of 13 Katuns of (93,600 days, 256.27 Tropic years) known as a Round of Katuns, and the other consists of 20 Katuns, this cycle is known as a Baktun (400 Tun) it consists of 144,000 days or 394.26 Tropic years, one cycle of 13 Baktuns is called an Ixtabaktun (13 Baktun). The Long Count is counted in the Ixtabaktun group. And to be precise it is a count of 1,872,000 solar days, or 5125.3661 Tropic years.
The Long Count was created by the ancient Olmec civilization, the oldest Long Count stelae dates back to 236 b.C.46 It functions as a chronometer that counts the number of solar days between two dates. There are two versions of its starting and ending dates: 11 August 3114 bC. and 21 December 2012 or 13 August 3114 bC. and 23 December 2012. According to modern day calculations in the year 3114 b.C.the Pleiades were within a few degrees of the vernal equinox , but most importantly 13 August is the date of the zenithal passage of the sun47 in the latitude of the Mayan city of Izapa, where one of the oldest Long Count Stelae was found.
Lets examine four astronomical events that take place in the year 2012. (All of these events are local and they will be seen only from the earth.)
The first one, a celestial alignment (sun-stars) will occur on 20 May 201248 at midday, when the Pleiades and the sun are in the acme of their conjunction in the zenith of the celestial dome as seen from the latitude of the Ancient Toltec capital city of Tula (Tollan). The Transit of the Pleiades through the zenith of the sky at midday on the 20th of May lasts approximately 70 years.
The second one is an annular eclipse (when the moon almost covers the entire sun), while eclipses are fairly common this one is important because it falls precisely on 20 May 2012, and will be visible from the mexican southeast around 5:56 PM (23:56 UT) . Two days later on 22 May 2012, we can see that mercury and jupiter align very close to the sun49.
(insert illustrations)
The third event is a planetary alignment, a transit of venus. Because transits of venus occur in pairs, it has two parts. the first was on 8 June 2004, the second, eight years later, will occur on 6 June 2012. As we have seen above, this phenomenon is due to the fact that 13 Tropic revolutions of venus (2921.035 days) are practically 8 earth Tropic years (2921.9375 days), the transits of venus are a celestial phenomena with a pattern of 243 years.
The fourth important astronomical event is a galactic alignment (sun-galaxy); on 21 December 2012 we will witness the conjunction, of the solsticial sun with the center of the Dark Rift of the Milky Way Galaxy . This is also a long term event, for a period of approximately twenty years the solsticial sun transist the Dark Rift of the Milky Way.
Both the celestial and galactic alignments that we will see in 2012; the May 20th Pleiades transit through the zenith of the sky at midday, and the solsticial suns transit through the Dark Rift of the Milky Way. are long term events that are already happening. Curiously, the celestial and galactic alignments are invisible to the human eye, since the brightness of the sun obscures the stars. Only the annular eclipse on 20 May 2012 and the transit of Venus on 6 June 2012 will be visible to the human eye. The transit of venus will repeat in a just over a century in the year 2117, as part of the transit pair cycle of 243 years. The solar eclipse will repeat in 54 years and 34 days, according to the saros cycle of solar and lunar eclipses50 . But as the constelations march eastward on the eagles path, the galactic and celestial alignments will run their course, and will recur only at the end of the next precession cycle.
Recently the theory that the end of the Long Count was created to synchronize with these celestial and galactic alignments proposed by a Maya researcher, has gained in popularity. But this theory has several problems: Neither alignment is verifiable by plain sight, and even though there has been some speculation as to whether the Maya had constructed a camera oscura, we cant assume that it was the case with the Olmecs. These two alignments have long transit spans, about twenty years for the dark rift-solsticial sun galactic alignment, and 70 years for the pleiades-sun celestial alignment, within those periods of time, the centers of both alignments have a life of at least five years, particularly as seen with the naked eye, mainly these two alignments will look essentially the same on the same dates in the year 2011 or 2013. The fact that these alignments happen has to be understood from the perspective of the Olmecs, and we lack the necessary knowledge to do so.
This leaves us with two important astronomical events at the end of the Long Count: the annular eclipse on 20 May 2012, and the visible planetary alignment that causes a sun-venus transit on 6 June 2012.
Lets take a closer look at the 2012 transit of venus. The Long Count consists of 1,872,000 solar days. In that period of time, there are 3205.9186 synodic cycles of venus (3205 synodic cycles plus 536.38 days). Very importantly, starting from the 21 December 2012 date we can see that, in an additional 48 days, we will have completed 3206 synodic cycles of venus. This calculation takes us from 21 december 2012 to 7 February of 2013. In other words, If we consider that on 6 June 2012 we witness a descending node transit of venus (an inferior conjunction), then on 7 February 2013 (246 days later), venus begin its disapperance as the Morning Star, and starts its journey through the superior invisibility period (behind the sun). As we have seen in the previous chapter, the nodeline of venus moves prograde at a rate of 2.3 days every 243 years. In the period of a Long Count the number of days that the venus nodeline has moved forward in the calendar is precisley 48 days. In other words, if the orbital plane of venus didnt torque, on 21 december 2012 we sould witness venus begining its journey behind the sun (superior invisibility period).
To determine what phase venus was in, on the date of the beginning of the Long Count, 12 August 3114 bC. (the middle date between the two posible dates of the creation of the long count), we take the venus transit of 9 December 1874 (an inferior conjunction), and subtract four periods of 1247 years (venus synodic cycles complete one backward round of the calendar in 1247 Tropic years), to arrive at the date 9 December 3115 bC. Since we know that there was an inferior conjunction on December 9, 1874, we can then affirm that on 9 December 3115 bC.. there was an inferior conjunction, but not a transit. The difference between 9 December 3115 bC. and 12 August 3114 bC. is 246 days, so we can determine that at the begining of the Long Count, venus was also beginning its journey through the superior invisibility period (behind the sun).
This researcher can safely say that the Olmecs who created the Long Count, were attempting to precisely frame their Long Count calculation between two superior invisibility periods of venus. They also must have known that transits occur in a 243 year cycle to accurately predict a transits of venus in 2012. This researcher concludes that, the Long Count was designed to end on the solstice day of a year; in which a transit of venus would occur, and in which, the solstice day would coincide with a superior invisibility period of venus.
The Long Count is one fifth of the measure of the precession of the equinoxes established by its creators. As we know there are five Suns in the Mesoamerican calendars, and by multiplying the Long Count by five we can see that the Olmec Great Year was estimated at 25,627.84 Tropic years and its value of precession is 50.57 arcseconds a year, which is about three tenths of a arcseconds more than todays accepted value of precession of 50.26 arcseconds a year. Due to this difference (which is equal to 3I years, in one Long Count), this researcher can safely assume that the celestial and galactic alignments that the Olmecs were aiming for at the end of the Long Count, will occur 31 years after to 2012. Mainly on 20 May 2043, the pleiades will be ending their transit through the zenith of the sky, and on 21 December 2043, the solsticial sun will also be ending its transit through the Milky Way.
In other words, at the end of the Long Count; its precession of the equinoxes calculation is short by 31 years51 ; while its venus calculation is short by 48 days.
CHAPTER VI.
This will be our fame: As long as the world remains, there will be no end to the renown, the glory of Mexico-Tenochtitlan.
Netzahualcóyotl.
Cem Anáhuac
The ancient Mexicans didnt know Newtons Theory of Luni-Solar Precession; its an invention of modern astronomy. Yet the Mesomerican people made extremely accurate measurements of venus cycles, venus transit periods, and precession of the equinoxes using Tropic years. They measured the passage of time based on the equinoxial movements of the earth and the synodic cycles of venus, and with these measurements calculated a value of precession that aproximates the modern value of precession within 0.32 arcseconds a year.
It needs to be pointed out that no one knows the exact duration of a Great Year. Diferent values have been used at different times, and even modern observations in the last centuries have rendered different values producing estimates ranging from 25,786 to 28,218 years. In addition the Luni-Solar Precession Theory used by modern astronomy to explain the phenomena of the Precession of the Equinoxes has many problems. While it explains astronomical movements outside the solar system, it has considerable shortcomings in explaining movements within the solar system52, of which venus and its cycles is just part of a list that includes eclipses, meteor showers, comets, moon phases and planetary node movements53 . Perhaps when modern astronomers free the Sun from the fixed position, dictated by Copernicus historical context and Newtons religious concerns, and set it in its orbital motion around an as yet undetermined center of gravity, we will join the rest of the stars in the universe and will learn the true lenght of the Great Year.
Some researchers who have realized that the Mexica Calendar is a 26,000 year cycle, often cite this period as a aproximate measure of the Great Year. But we have seen that the Long Count (X5) gives us the precise measure of precession used by the ancient Mexicans, 50.57 arcseconds/year. The question that remains to be answered is why the ancient Mexicans developed a calendar of exactly 26,000 years. The answer can be understood in the context of the relationship between Tropic years, venus synodic cycles, venus Tropic revolutions, venus transits and a 260 day count.
We have learned that the Mexican Solar calendar counts 36,524.23 Counts of Destiny in 26,000 years. It is interesting to note that if we start the Mexica calendar the day of a venus transit and venus nodeline didnt prograde 32.44 arcseconds a year in reference to the Tropic year (see venus nodes. pg. 40) we would witness 107 venus transit cycles of 243 years in exactly 26,001 Tropic years. Once we take the nodeline movement into account we can see that 18.5 days after the 26,000 year cycle we will witness an earth-venus conjunction (beginning of a heliacal risiing), and 583.92 days after that conjunction, we will witness the first of two transits pairs. Considering this, we can safely assume that the period of 26,000 years was chosen, so that in time, and by using careful observations, and the cycles of 13, 52, 104, 416, 520, 1040, 1300, 5,200, and 26,000 years one can precsiely calibrate the calculations of the different celestial movements in the eagles gourd, in relation to the Tropic revolutions of earth and the synodic cycles of venus, the sister planets.
As the Mexica and Maya calendars show, ancient Mexicans, in order to explain their careful observations, achieved a heliocentric view of a solar system, with planets orbiting in it and a sun moving in a huge revolution of 25,627.84 Tropic years. Or perhaps astronomers would like to suggest thatin order to make such accuarte calculations, the Mesoamerican people, also created a theory of lunisolar precession with its concommitant wobbling.
The question of how the Mexican Calendar extended the reckoning of time beyond one 26,000 years cycle indicated by the Sun Stone can only be speculated. But it becomes very easy to project cycles of 52,000 and 104,000 years, and more.
The Mexica calendar is a living calendar, started in the year 1116 by the Toltec in Teotihuacan. Throughout time it has had several modifications. Lost in the sieve of history are theknowledge of the count of its Suns or Toantiuhs (5200 year epochs) and their different markers we know that the Mexicas flourished during the Fifth Sun. But the count of the tlalpillis has continued due to the knowledge of the Mexica date of the surrender of Mexico-Tenochtitlan to the Spanish invaders.
This researcher believes that the numerical value attached to of each of the five Suns represented in the Sun Stone, indicate that the current MagnoTonalpohualli is the fourth one, since each of the five suns has the number four attached to it. This means that we are at the end of a 104,000 year count and that are about to start not only a new Magno Tonalpohualli of 26,000 years with its five suns, but a new count of 104,000 years. Following this line of reasoning one can only think that a larger count would consist of 20 Mexican Solar Calendars, that measure 520,000 years. Perhaps the glyph 13-Acatl, on top of the Sun Stone is indicative of a 520,000 year cycle. Since the Count of Destiny is a fractal count that can measure the movement of the earth as well as the stars with an absolute precision, and encodes them in a calendar of 26,000 years, we can, by knowing the numeric relations between the earth and the different celestial bodies that populate our skies, readily multiply back and forth through time and just as readily establish the dates for any astronomical event. including, lunations, eclipses, planetary synodic cycles, transits, orbital node movements, meteor showers, comet cycles and the movement of the constellations in the celestial sphere.
In this calendar that not only measures our movement through space, but is able to project it in important magnitudes of time, we can observe the ingenuity with which ancient Mexican people touched the face of the cosmos and painted it in a fractal system, in which an immutable count of 260 days is multiplied into a concert of infinite harmony.
Today we know that the time of the Fifth Sun, Nahui Ollin, 4-Movement, is coming to an end, if it hasnt already. We recognize this because of the traditional narratives of Indigenous America, from the Native Americans in the USA, to the indigenous people of South America, their traditions foretell them the same thing; the fifth sun is ending. Yet until now we have been unable to understand the meaning of these traditions.
The question of when to start the First Sun of a fifth Magno Tonalpohualli of 26,000 years needs to be resolved. The choices are limited by the traditions. The tools provided by the calendaric reconstruction offered in this book can prove useful to determine if a single correlation is possible between the different dates in the historical documents, and even between the different calendars kept by the varied Mesoamerican nations that lived in Cem-Anawak. Once this is accomplished we can restart a count that mainatins the continuity of, and gives renewed meaning to, the Toltec Count of Destiny.
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1 Because Azteca is a spanish distortion, I use the word Mexica which is the correct name of the people known as Aztec.
2 It is important to note that the Judeo-Christian concept of a trascendent god was foreign to the Mesoamerican nations as their conception of god(s) was an immanent one in which the gods are representatives of cosmic, natural and cultural forces. Thus I will use the term regent and god or deity interchangeably.
3 The Hummingbird of the Left refers to the sun at midday since the suns left in its apparent movement is the south.
4 It means; surrounded by water in Nahuatl..
5 Great Anahuac.
6 Or any other european armies.
7 From the Nahuatl word Tonal, which means day and also destiny , and Pohualli, which means count. It is also known as the Count of Days, Divination Calendar and Ritual Calendar.8
9 The mysterious mother culture of Mesoamerica that flourished in the Golf of Mexico between 1300 bC. and 600 bC.
10 The term Mesoamerican calendar , refers the calendars in Mesoamerica that are based on the mechanism of 360 days in 18 months of 20 days each, that is based on a repeating count of 260 days. (i.e. the Olmecs, Toltec, Maya, Zapotec and Mexica calendars).
11 Tezcatlipoca is one of two regents locked in an eternal battle out of which the universe is created. The other regent is Quetzalcoatl. Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoare two of the most important regents in Mesoamerica, Tezcatlipoca has multiple names, meanings and atributes. In his different avocations he represents the world, the moon, the night, the night wind, the stars and even venus
12 The following chapter deals in detail with the different astronomical cycles observed by astronomers. You can find most astronomical definitions used in this book there.
13 The Mexica established these 130 year period by dividing their millennium of 1040 years into 8.
14 128 years is how long it takes for a calendar of 365.25 days (like the Julian calendar) to accumulate a one day error.
15There are several proposals for Gregorian calendar reform to make it more accurate with in relation to the Tropic year, one of them eliminates the leap day every 4,000 years, and in this way, acumulates an error of one day for every 50,000 Tropic years. A similar adjustment to the Mexican Solar calendar in which avoiding the 128 rule every last year house in every 77 periods of 130 years (10010 years) would allow the Mexican Solar calendar to accumulate an error of one day for every million Tropic years. The Mexican Solar calendar would then average a year of 365.2422 days.
16 The Mesoamerican week was five days long, there are four weeks in a veintena and exactly 73 weeks in a year of 365 days.
17 I use the 21st of March as the day of the vernal equinox. Due to the oscillation of the Gregorian calendar the vernal equinox can fall on the 19th, 20th and 21st of March for extended periods of time, but most spring equinoxes occur on the 21st of March.
18 As we will study later the leap day rules allow for an exception to a leap day once in evry 130 years cycle.
19 In the section Mexican Solar Calendar of this chapter, I explain why the order of the tlalpillis isnt the same as the order of years.
20 Placing the rule in the year House only makes sense if the order if the tlalpillis is kept in concordance with the order of the years: Reed, Flint, House, Rabbit. Placing the 128 rule in the third year of the group of four allows for the leap day to be skipped on the 127th and 129th years alternately to average one skipped leap day every 128 years, which is the time it takes for the leap year system to accumulate a one day error. On the other hand placing this rule on the fourth year means the leap day is skipped on the 126th and 128th years of the 130 year period averaging one skipped leap day every127 years.
21 As was mentioned earlier a simple rule of avoiding the 128 rule every last year House in every 77 periods of 130 years(10,010 years) means the Mexican Solar Calendar would accumulate an error of1 day every million years!
22 This is a cycle in which venus appears as the Morning Star, dissapears behind the sun, appears as the Evening Star and dissapears infront of the sun.
24 With a real lenght of 103.9168 Tropic years or about 30 days less than 104 Tropic years of 365.2422 days.
25 37985.18867312
26 25.18867312
27 .81132688
28 .40566344
29 202.83172
30 Atomic time adds a layer of complication to the measure of time. It is based on an Atomic clock that runs fast in relation to Solar time. The reason Atomic time is used is due to its precision as a time keeper, it just doesnt keep time to 86,400 solar seconds, but to 86,399.008 solar seconds (86400 Atomic seconds). The Atomic clock is adjusted to solar time by virtue of using atomic leap seconds almost every year. There were 22 leap atomic seconds added in the 27 years to January1999.
31 The rate of earths rotation slowdown is due to complex movements of the earths oceans and the moons gravitational forces. Some of which can only be guessed at.
32 To avoid confusion, I will refer to this day as Tropic day only because the Sidereal denomination can cause confusion.
33 Quasars are extremely stable celestial bodies billions of light years away in the universe.
34 The duration of the Sidereal year is determined by the accepted value of precssion.
35 arcseconds are the unit of measurement for a circle. A circle measures 360 degrees; and each degree cosists of 60 arcminutes and each arcminute is 60 arcseconds. 50.26 arcseconds is the currently accepted value of precession. This value was established by Simon Newcomb in the late 19th century, and is based on a difference of .00915 seconds between the Tropic day and the slightly longer Galilean day. In 1955, the reported measurement was .00912 seconds In 2004, the measured difference between a Tropic day and a galilean day was .00836 seconds.
36 The following equation is used to determine the period of a Great Year: 1,296,000 arcseconds divided by 50.26 arcseconds equals 25,786 Tropic years.
37 For several historic and religious reasons, that go back to Copernicus, Galileo Galilei and the Catholic Church, Newton was obliged to explain the precession of the equinoxes using a model of a fixed sun at the center of the universe.
38 Such movements could very well be eliptical and that would completely alter the calculations.
39 (.00912 x 366.2422 = 3.34)
40 The earth cannot move 50.26 arcseconds (or 45.93 arcseconds) without rotational movement.
41 The 32.44 arcseconds prograde movement of the nodes in relation to the vernal equinox represents a 17.88 arcseconds retrograde or backward movement of the nodes in relation to the fixed stars (and Sidereal year) under Luni-solar Precession Theory. Luni-solar precession theory cannot explain this retrograde movement, so astronomers attribute it to unknown forces. To better imagine this movement, paint a line on a coin, then stand the coin on its side holding it between your right thumb and your left index and give it a counterclockwise spin. You will notice the line you painted moving in a counterclockwise manner in the same direction as the coins spin, as it woobles to a standstill. Luni-solar Theory would have you see that line move clockwise against the direction of the spin.
42 2.29 days every 251 years
43 Using the coin example used in the previous footnote: Imagine the force necessary to counteract the inertia of your cpoins spin (asides from regular friction and gravity) that would cause your coin to spin clockwise multiply that force by the order of magnitude needed to counterac