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"The 'key' to Mayan time
is the sacred cycle of 260 days, the Tzolkin, meaning count of days.
This cycle is a combination of 20-daysigns with a number from 1
to 13. So 13 and 20 are the critical numbers of the Tzolkin.
260 is a key number, which refers to processes in the heavens as
well as on earth. For example, the Maya say that it corresponds
to the cycle of human gestation - that's a biological reference.
It also corresponds to the time between the planting and harvesting
of corn at certain elevation in the highlands - that's agricultural.
It also times religious shrine ceremonies in the hills around Mayan
villages.
"Its celestial or astronomical
uses are astounding. It is used to track the phases of the moon.
Also, 2 cycles of 260 days equal 520 days and this equals 3 eclipses.
So the Maya predict eclipses by using the Tzolkin in this very simple
way. Likewise, they track Venus with the Tzolkin, and the time between
the evening star appearance of Venus and its appearance as the morning
star is 258 days.
"The other time cycle
used by the Maya is the vague solar year of 365-days known as the
'Haab.' While the Tzolkin is the mysterious multidimensional key,
you might say that the Haab is the mundane or 'secular' calendar,
primarily used to schedule secular holidays and so forth. The framework
of days created by the Tzolkin-Haab is like a loom on which the
movements of Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, even Uranus and Neptune can
be tracked. It is a sacred-secular or solar-lunar synthesis. The
full Tzolkin-Haab cycle is completed once every 52 years. This was
the Calendar Round and the Aztecs observed the Pleiades pass through
the zenith at the end of each one of these. The ceremony revolving
around this event was called the New Fire Ceremony.
"In general then, the
Tzolkin is the 'key' to both terrestrial and celestial processes.
It's kind of the common modulator or common denominator of the two
realms. This is how we can understand Mayan astrology. They discovered
the numerical and ritual key. Most important in the astrology is
the reference to the human gestation period.
As such, our own basic and
shared rhythm of unfolding is seen to be intimately related to the
cycles of the planets, moon and sun. This is more than just planets
'influencing' us - rather we share the same rhythms of unfolding
that the planets do because, ultimately, everything springs from
the same source. Everything, on some level, has been imparted by
the same rhythm of unfolding and is therefore related by a form
of synchronistic correspondence."
(Please note, the 260-day Galactic Spin cycle utilized in the 13-Moon
Natural Time Calendar is distinct from and should not be confused
with the Traditional Mayan Calendar Chol'qui/Tzolkin cycle.)
SOURCE ~ Adapted from 13
moon.com
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