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Date: Mon, 18 Dec 1995 22:31:53 -0800
From: kahib@ix.netcom.com (John Major Jenkins ) Subject: Re: count, part 2 To:yari@studio2013.com You wrote:
Dear John, Yari
Dear Yari, part 2, 
It occurred to me to share some more things regarding my evolving
understanding of Mesoamerican cosmology and calendrics. I have a great
respect for the work that many Mayanists are doing, and have found that
the stereotypical image of scholars as fuddle-brained and basically
clueless bibliophiles is inaccurate, especially in Mayan Studies. There
are many clued-in, insightful and empathic Mayanists doing
groundbreaking work, contributing substantially to our understanding of
the complexities of Mayan culture both as it exists today and as it was
in the past.
One thing that I've learned recently has to do with the unique conditions defined by living within the tropics. At latitudes closer than 23 degrees to the equator, the sun passes through the zenith - the center of the sky - on certain days. A study of tropical astronomy is necessary to understanding some fundamental features of Mesoamerican cosmology. It now appears that the 4-directional system of the Maya was not oriented to the four cardinal direction (the abstract arrangement of four sections around the 360 degree circle of the horizon). This is a bias of western astronomy, a science not born in the context of tropical observations. As such, in following this academic debate as it unfolded in the pages of "American Antiquity" in the 1980's - a journal any small college should have - it seems clear that the north-south axis of the Mayan directional system refered primarily to the zenith and the nadir. This is just an example of how carefully reading through academic studies is like a detective story, and ultimately helps us understand the fascinatingly complex and unusual knowledge of ancient Mesoamerica.These sources are freely available and are necessary for a full understanding of this amazing field. At the same time, my library searches are driven by trying to get to the bottom of the meaning of the end-date alignment, a scenario that seems patently clear to me, yet is not discussed in the academic literature. This is really the focus of my work, have you read the Mayan Cosmogenesis document? Or my Mountain Astrologer article posted on Terence McKenna's site? What do you think of this information? Has Arguelles ever talked directly about this alignment? I know he talks of a "galactic alignment" and I wouldn't be surprised if he was aware of it - I mean it should be common knowledge since "Hamlet's Mill" broke the story in 1969. But connecting the alignment to the Mayan end-date came later. What do you think? To me, the implications of this alignment being highlighted by the end date of the Mayan Long Count is more mind-blowing than Pleiadians and Galactic Masters, [John is referring to posings on the private Victory-Net roundtable site] but that's just my opinion. I have conducted many research ventures to Central America, and I have friends among the Tzutjile Maya, the Quiche of Chichicastenango and in the Yucatan. These people are just great and I love to be with them. I should mention before closing that the dates I gave in my previous letter, regarding the imagined daykeepers in 858 A.D. and 1988 A.D.were just hypothetical. You won't find that the 6 Akabal date corresponds with any specific count - it was just off the top of my head as an illustration. I feel that any new revelations into the nature of Mayan cosmology are not going to derive from modern renaming or reinventing of the ancient calendar tradition as Arguelles has done, but from reconstructing the full complexities of the ancient cosmo-conception, and us slowly gaining an appreciation of the vast multidimensional genius of the Maya. Merry Solstice. The Great Goddess gives birth, once again, to our Sun. John (John Major Jenkins)
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