Foundations of Maya Cosmogony

"Here is the story of the beginning, when there was not one bird, not one fish, not one mountain.
Here is the sky, all alone.
Here is the sea, all alone.
There is nothing more - no sound, no movement.
Only the sky and the sea.
Only Heart-of-Sky, alone.
And these are his names:
Maker and Modeler, Kukulkan, and Hurricane.
But there is no one to speak his names.
There is no one to praise his glory.
There is no one to nurture his greatness. "
~ From the Popol Vuh (Translation by Dennis Tedlock)

The beginning of the recently completed last long count is founded on the date according to the best astronomical information and interpolation into the Gregorian calendar is the date of August 9^th, 3116 BCE. Others will tell you that it is August 11^th, 3114 BCE, but it does not match any astronomical event that would be considered as significant to the “Three Stones” or mountains of the Maya. Consider the concept of the “Heart of Sky” that links the axis that runs through the intersection of the solar system and galactic planes. “Heart of Sky” is located on the outward facing side of the galactic and solar system planes and is currently aligned with the intersection of the ecliptic across the constellation of that part of Orion jutting between Gemini and Taurus. The ecliptic and galactic plane cross here at a 55 degree angle as it does also at Sagittarius alpha. Further, the earth's own axis is inclined from the vertical in relation to the ecliptic by 23.6 degrees. The combined effect of the ecliptic – galactic plane and the earth's axis is a total of almost 79 degrees. Thus at various points of the year, the milky way appears to run almost true south to north and at other times to hug the horizon. To the Maya, this milky way axis represented the trunk of the “Tree of Life” as it exists in the heavens. The path of the sun as it crossed the galactic plane in the summer appeared to divide the heavens into four parts and create the four directions. This was the symbol superimposed on the milky way as it bisected the heavens south to north in the summer period with the sun and moon crossing it at almost right angles. When we consider the summer solstice, this would certainly be the truth, especially with the maize crop that was all important to the people as if figured prominently in their creation story. In fact, in the story of their creation, the third and successful attempt to create mankind was the result of water and maize (corn). To the Maya, heaven and earth were linked and thus they obsessed over the events in the heavens. Many great observational temples were erected at places like Copan, Tikal, El Mirador, Chitzen Itza and many other city states from their classical period on to the point of the conquest of the Conquistadors. Some, such as at Chitzen Itza produced spectacular effects during the equinoxes.

According to our current popular calendar, the last long count started when the moon was located in the “Heart of Sky” on August 9^th, 3116 BCE. With it were the sun and Venus, equally spaced apart and thus represent the setting of the “Three Stones” or mountains in the heavens. The moon lately ended the same way, but with a twist; a full lunar eclipse during the winter solstice of December 21^st, 2010 in the same “Heart of Sky”, right on the center of the “Tree of Life” as the first moon did 5,125 years earlier. The first day of the new long count thus initiated on the 22^nd day of the same month and year and will extend into the future for 5,125 years. The day of the eclipse is measured as the final day of the old count and the zeroth day of the new according to Mayan calculations. As the above poem suggests, the birth of Venus was the announcement of the birth of civilization according to the Maya account, which matches closely to accounts around the world, whether Egyptian, Christian, Hindu, Chinese or otherwise. We tend to round the start of the current phase of civilizations to 6,000 years ago. Before this, all was “quiet”, at least according to the consciousness of humanity. Geology tells a different account, but it would be a good fit after three world wracking catastrophes dated at 12,600, 11,703 and 8,400 years ago respectively would have provided the grounds for the account as many species were wiped out along with the first Clovis people. Indeed, the previous civilizations were inundated twice. Survivors had to build from scratch again.

Around the world, stones are important in religious and symbolic myth, especially if they fell from the sky. Some of these “stones” were large and were compared to mountains and are recounted in myth. Indeed, within our Bible in the Revelation we can read “Something like a mountain fell out of the sky”. These sky stones, no matter what their size were often enshrined in temples or otherwise revered and feared throughout history. The iron ones were viewed as the blood of the gods, so the Maya are far from alone in expressing what they saw as stones still in the sky.

The cosmic and world tree was a conduit for life, hence the “Tree of Life”. The gods were considered to live in the branches of the heavenly tree. The milky way formed the trunk and the branches were defined by the sun, moon, planets, comets, meteoroids and individually visible stars. There are four basic parts to the Mayan cosmology, the heavens, the earth, the world tree and the underworld. All of this and more is depicted in the few remaining codecies that were not destroyed and on stellae and temple inscriptions. The work of interpreting and deciphering is still ongoing. The recent “Heart of Sky” lunar eclipse has allowed us to bring our view in synch with their record. The great temples were all constructed to track the movements of the heavens and were observational sites so that their lives could be planned according to the mandate of heaven.

To the Maya, time was divided along several important guidelines. These were dictated by the sun, the moon, Venus, the galactic band and the sacred calendar all operating in combination. Having existed from as early as 1800 BCE, they had plenty of time to improve their time keeping according to the natural heavens and work out the most accurate calendar in the world. They were conscious of the precession of the equinoxes, the sidereal year, the lunar “year”, the metonic cycle and the cycles of Venus, all of which were tracked with incredible accuracy. These facts are demonstrated in their masterpiece of the long count that arises from their calendar system.

This is the position of the moon in the Heart of Sky at the day of the “Birth of Venus” some 5,125 years and 110 days prior to the December 21^st, 2010 lunar eclipse in the same Heart of Sky. Thus the two events are linked in the Maya concept of the cycles of time. These two pivotal events link the important celestial events that are the backbone of the Maya concept of time. These then are the signposts of the recently completed long count. Our calendar has to be linked to this and to events in the heavens in real time.

At the same time as above, Venus is in Cancer, while the moon in the Heart of Sky is located between Gemini, The Hero Twins and Taurus. Venus is thus posited as the morning star between the moon and the sun. According to the Maya, this is the moment of the creation of human beings out of water and maize and the beginning of civilization. The time span for the birth of civilization accords closely to modern concepts.

This is a peculiar celestial event is rare due to the inclination of the moon's orbit to that of the ecliptic. What has to happen is that the moon's node must line up with the particular patch of sky where Venus transits while it is the morning star. When these line up, the moon will occult Venus for a few hours as it passes in its path toward the sun and the new moon phase. The closeness of the moon's position to the sun suggest that there was a condition that was almost an eclipse. Indeed, in the lunation just before this occultation, there was a solar eclipse. At this time there is also a stellium in Virgo. This particular event, due to its rarity and the importance of the moon and Venus in Olmec and Maya cosmology, tells us that this is an important celestial marker for a transition of one age into the next. In Jerusalem, the Apostolic Church was usurped by Saul/Paul who then began the second church age, the first one lasting a mere seven years.

Close to the time of the winter solstice, the sun is located at the midpoint between Mercury and Venus. At this time, Mercury would have been the morning star and Venus the evening star. This alignment tells us that the Olmec/Maya looked for events like this as well and this one marks the transition from this age to the next. Looking to the sidereal we find that at this time almost 2,000 years ago, the sun would indeed be close to the solstice point.

This is the moment of the total lunar eclipse of Dec. 21^St, 2010 in the Maya “Heart of Sky”. Though difficult to see, the moon is there and is in the earth's shadow. If you either run a high quality video or an astronomical program, you can recreate this “Heart of Sky” eclipse. To the Maya, this is a particularly important celestial marker and marks the transition from the 4^thworld age to the beginning of the 5^th world age. The Maya were sky and time obsessed and marked their calendar on real celestial events. As this eclipse in the “Heart of Sky” occurs during 2010 and not 2012, then the real transition period is December 21^st, 2010 according to our calendar. The sun at this time, is lined up with the intersection of the ecliptic and galactic plain that is also lined up with the galactic center, or what the Maya refer to as the “Great Rift” from where darkness and evil come. Kukulchan is to do battle with the darkness and this is recapitulated in the solstice sun in the Great Rift and eclipsed moon in the Heart of Sky. From the point of the moon, the earth would occult the sun at this time. The winter solstice in the northern hemisphere marks the lowest point of the sun, after which it begins to increase in strength. This period according to Maya accounts is the time of the return of Kukulchan, their chief deity. For the Aztec, this would signify the return of Quetzalcoatl.