What happened to GRACE?

 

I’d like to start with the best first and won’t save it for last… In the few months since my return home, I often smile remembering the friendship that was shared in the various cities I visited this summer. Although lyrics to Haitian music often accuse friends of backstabbing and double crossing, I will sing a different tune here and describe special multi-generational friendships that unite Haitians around the world. I would not be surprised if other Caribbean nations related to this precious cultural value.

It’s sometimes difficult to explain to friends in the US relationships back home. For Haitians, family is extended and goes something like this:

• Closest family (from both grandparents down) and
• Closer family (first, second and third degree cousins) and
• Close family (your parent’s childhood friends and their children – who often are your best friends).

Most people I know have close friends who are the children of their parents’ friends; I’m talking here multi-generational friendships.

The GRACE 2010 summer tour began with a bang.  Thanks to my Atlanta Douyons and the Atlanta HaitianAlliance, friendships like blasts  from the past multiplied guests lists and were essential in making events memorable. The first evening, cultural elements about our First Peoples as well as Caribbean racial characteristics  were shared and historical factoids were presented as points of interest. Translating Haitian proverbs from English back to Creole proved challenging and had been included for entertainment.

First Church is a spiritual family; this Atlanta institution with a longstanding tradition in the African American community opened the doors of their place of worship and accepted GRACE and Mystical Caribbean Mission. We presented the youth club music videos telling a story of the Caribbean through contemporary music with Bob Marley and reggae (Jamaica), Celia Cruz and salsa (Cuba), Wyclef Jean and hip hop (Haiti) and Tego Calderon and reggaeton (Puerto Rico).

 

Atlanta

Welcoming homes in Buckhead, inspiring rose-gardens in Snelville, delicious dinners and entertaining barbeques in Alpharetta and unforgettable boat rides were hosted by friends with open hearts and minds. That extra special care went into every book signing. Without a doubt, Atlanta’s warmth combined with Caribbean sunshine created a wonderful niche for GRACE and the CaribanStories Trilogy in one of the fastest growing cities in the USA.

My next stop was Boston. The cut-iron collection especially designed for the Grace Summer Tour was late for Atlanta and would be introduced in this New England state. I hung them all up before unpacking my suitcase. The mysteries crowded the walls of my room and the series’ symbols had found a home with our family in Boston.

Somehow, great cooking skills must be passed along with DNA and would be reason enough to overstay the family welcome. Getting in sync with ProfCover was crucial to optimize the writing and editing of the next book, Canela Turns. Paving the way for book two, Grace journeyed to meet friends in Boston and opened important doors for Canela. Mr Alix Cantave was friendly and interested in promoting GRACE and the CaribanStories collection at Boston University. Mr. Maurice Gordon, the Mattapan head librarian, kindly showed us the spacious and attractive youth room, presented the coordinator and invited the CaribanStories to give a presentation of book 2, CANELA Turns when in Boston next time.

Boston MA

Five (5) copies of GRACE, the Mystical Caribbean Mission are now available at the Mattapan Library.

Must have been my Lucky Star, a bus ride seat by the toilet and I landed in China Town, NY. That evening was spent climbing through the branches of the family tree and shaking down some skeletons that made my niece’s eyes pop out; part of the journey is to flick on switches…

However, Long Island NY’s shock and awe that weekend was the heat wave; at 110 degrees I watched the green melt off the grass! Yet so cool were the comforting presences of childhood friends and the wonderful surprise of having the Pikliz Art Show hosted in the home of a player I knew during my highschool volleyball days.

Pikliz Art Show N. Y.

A playful group effort provided the entertainment that day and my friends submitted their brains to the gymnastics of a crossword puzzle with Haitian riddles and English clues. The day ended with a weekend pool party and friends, friends of friends and their children and their friends eating grilled lobster and sipping the best daiquiris this side of Little Cuba.

The USA capital Washington D.C. was the icing on the cake of a great summer tour experience. Well-connected Caribbean Blue entrepreneurs marketing innovative technology in a biodegradable water bottle Caribbean Blue® sponsored GRACE, The Mystical Caribbean Mission at Zanzibar, a trendy D.C. club. A nice turn out of beautiful people made me look great in all the pictures Jonathan (NoRae Photography) took, and was an important measure of the success for the evening. Also noteworthy, the book was able to break out of the group of my captured readers - my friends and their friends, to reach people who did not know me before that venue. The trivia game invented for entertainment that evening was won by Judelande Hyppolite, a member of the Caribbean Professional Association that was hosting an event in another room at Zanzibar that evening.

Thank You for your participation

Last on my tour stops was “Bain de Culture”, a well-organized party hosted by Sandra Paul Blanc, a friend I knew in high school in Haiti who now lives in Laurel Md. Among other things, it was a pleasure to participate in this event with my sister Daniele who sold her original handcrafted jewelry. A packed crowd loaded with hearty energy broke the deck on the second dance. Spirits did not sink, however. Good thing the dj respected the uniformed men who asked that the volume remain lowered…

Washington D.C.

Exposure during that evening and in the many Facebook photo albums that followed spread the word about the book, the author and the adventure well beyond the American capital.

I could never have organized this summer tour without my family and friends. Many thanks to Madidi, Frantz, Zito, Guy, Karen, Saurel, Dominique, Maisha, Chad, Angélique, Steve, François, Jessie, Daphnée, Jean Marc, Alain, Paul, Danièle, Rudy, Guileine, Varek, Sandra and Chantou, we have connected three countries and four states and created a network for Lakou Grace, mystical messengers on a mission to spread the word about Caribbean vibes, First People and our take on 2012.

Canela has already begun her journey and I can now finally devote most of my time and energy to her adventures.

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GRACE blog video

Why GRACE and the Caribanstories series

What makes me Caribbean? I’m sure the roots lead to my parents, of course my upbringing and the exceptional people who braid color, aroma, and music into my life. Really, who doesn’t know what an incredible part of the world this is? Doesn’t the whole world dance to our music! Truth is, many children of Caribbean parents are mainstreamed in another dominant culture and have remote access to a distant heritage, such as in my family.

I watched my nephew Pierre Guy, for example, lock himself in his room for days to read Harry Potter; I don’t remember which one it was, there have been so many since… This American kid, son of two Haitian parents, had been captured by the well-written adventure and mesmerized by English magic. Would he ever be captivated by voodoo? Could he be turned on by his own cultural heritage? I wondered and started writing.

 To me, English comes naturally; my childhood and college education were made in the USA and it’s often my language of choice. However, I felt I needed better skills, so I logged onto WritersDigest.com and followed the yellow brick road. When I felt I was ready, I developed a plan. It’s a three-part matrix, Port Salut, Haitises and Borinquien, divided into four categories.

After months of research on the Net and information gathering from books by Ivan Van Sertima, Irving Rouse, Odette Roy Fombrun, Jean Fouchard, Hwee-Yong Jang and Patricia Mercier,I had a blueprint of the history of the Caribbean and a theory about 2012. But I needed deeper understanding of the spiritual and religious practices in the region, and Laenec Hurbon, Milo Rigaud, Deita, Rachel Beauvoir Dominique, Frank Fouché, Fridolin Saint Louis, Joseph Augustin, Frantz-Antoine Leconte are the names of authors who have steered my words.

I’m lucky to say that amazing people happenstance into my life; is it because I’m on a mission? Sometimes I think so. Meeting HEZA Barjon had a tremendous impact on the stories; after our first meeting, I understood it was important it to separate vodou and black magic. I would be following a trend set by Deita, and would contribute to a vodou mythology without anthropological references. I embraced authors like Gary Victor and discovered painters, such as Nancy T. Férère, who have also inspired my writing.

Authenticity was a concern from the beginning and I became more confident after I met Rosalène, a Haitian mambo; I knew then where to find guidance throughout the course of the story, in which she has come to play an important role. Three categories were thus clearly defined: Taino and other First People data, vodou and then black magic. The last information category in the caribanstories matrix is ecology, specifically plants and animals native to the region. Florence Sergile and Annabelle Stockton Dodd have produced works on birds; and Timoleon C. Brutus and Dr A. Honorat-Moisset are some of the more serious authors with books available on the island flora.

With a solid factual basis, my fictional adventure was ready to grow wings and so it did. The storyline often had a life of its own; regardless of what I had decided, once I went to type my imagination would take over and my fingers had to follow. The walls of our house on Kalmia Road were covered with paintings by Haitian artists well-known for their esthetical talent and the depth of the spiritual world revealed in their art, Wilson Bigaud, Néhémy Jean, Manès, Byron, Obas and Préfète Duffault pop up quickly into my mind. The images like seeds sprouted a desire to participate in the creation of a common vision; I sought the representations of many contemporary painters easily located on the Net. Artists like André Blaise, Levoy Exil, Magda, Brésil, Burton Chenet, André Pierre and Botex have tattooed my imagination and my mental collage has become the world-nations representations.

My dream was to finish book one and find a publisher who would be interested in the series. Far from my intent was to self publish, until I saw “A New Earth” with Eckhart Tolle and OPRAH. I knew then I couldn’t wait for the process to unfold, agent, publisher, rounds of editing and three to five years go by. I’m making it happen now, learning the ropes –along with the burns- and will have the three novels published by December 2011, God willing.

So here’s the scoop: Grace the Mystical Caribbean Mission flicks the switch on; the reader learns about 2012 through an adventure about the Caribbean that deepens understanding about the region. Book two, Canela Turns, allows the reader to discover prophecies for 2012 from various First Peoples’ mythologies; geology is investigated, black and white magic intertwine and come to life through the adventures of our well-known friends. Book three will deliver important personal revelations to prepare for the year to come.

This book series is called the CARIBANSTORIES; in the words of René Dépestre, the Caribbean sounds like a tourist destination where you enjoy an all-inclusive beach hotel package. The CARIBAN speak of a people, proud, inventive, and free; let us remember with those who knew how to live in harmony with the Earth.

Grace is here!

It felt as if invisible strings were pulling her from within, almost like a puppet. Her legs felt heavier and heavier. The drumbeat seemed to get louder and the pace quickened, her feet automatically shifted and moved one after the other edging her closer to the water. She lost control to a magnet located underground that connected to metal implants inside the soles of her feet, or so it seemed. The rhythmic thumps of the drums were communicating with her body and the automatic responses were beyond her control.

Grace thought the water would feel cold or at least wet… Nevertheless, when she put her foot down all she would feel was herself slide into oblivion and everything and everybody around her disappeared.

The Taino Would Know 2012

summer solstice 2009

Summer solstice, June 21, was on a Sunday this year. Grace Boulay’s blog began on winter solstice December 21, which was also on a Sunday.

“The winter and summer solstices mark off two extremes, the easternmost sunrise and the westernmost sunset. The summer solstice also marks off the sun’s highest point in the sky during the year.” ¹ The Taino, like many indigenous people, were aware of the change of seasons and observed the sun and how it moves in the sky.

Indigenous people lived at one with the Earth and acknowledged their connection to the Cosmos; their respect and appreciation translated into ceremony.

These people left behind civilizations we try to understand through the constructions and artifact that remain long after they have disappeared. Such as the pyramids, built from Egypt to Meso and South America, incredible structures that raise questions on how these so-called primitive minds could achieve World wonders.

We know that our modern way of reasoning and of learning formal logic did not bring these results. Therefore, it would appear that connections to the brain place of imagination, of music and poetry, intuition and dreams –the right brain- ² have favored man’s ability to realize incredible feats.

With this in mind, a group of friends in Haiti decided to celebrate this past summer solstice by paying tribute to the natives of the island with a ceremony and celebration. These spiritually inclined people explored the possibility of increasing awareness by consciously focusing activity connected to the right brain. The three thousand year old Healing Wheel was the tradition considered most appropriate to honor the native population of the island they named Ayiti, Kiskeya or Bohio.

In fact, the Taino were open to the concept of eras because their own concept of the Creation of the Universe included five eras. Furthermore, “For the Inka, Maya and Aztec philosophers, and the most learned caciques of the Antilles, time consisted of a succession of eras, each of which ended with events that radically changed the direction of humanity.”³  A well-known star of special significance to them was Anacacuya- from Annáka (center-middle) and cuya (star-constellation), the North Star which they associated with the Ursa Major constellation. 

Since the Taino knew about Polaris (North Star) and its alignment to the Earth’s axis, it is possible they were also aware of its changes of direction, due to precession; which is the astronomical basis of the calendars followed by the traders of a powerful MesoAmerican nation, the Maya. Recent evidence⁴ supports the idea of trade between the Taino and MesoAmerica, and tends to make the idea of exchanges between these pre Columbian people less inconceivable.

To construct our healing wheel, we used rocks and shells gathered from various places on the entire island, Fermathe, Port Salut, San Pedro de Macoris, Cabarete, Jarabacoa, and Petit Goave; and we followed the healing wheel method published by Sun Bear, Wabun Wind and Crysalis Muligan.  The authors explain that the twenty thousand Medicine Wheels that existed on this continent before the arrival of the Europeans were used as ceremonial centers of culture, astronomical laboratories, and places to mark time and changes. “They were places to meditate, pray, contemplate, strengthen your connection with nature and come to a higher degree of understanding of yourself and your relationship with all the creation.”⁵ 

Rhythmic and acoustic instruments were made from natural materials and prepared for the day to ground us spiritually, carry our musical vibrations to the Cosmos, bless the food and the offerings, and to carry the prayers we offered to the Universe.

In all, thirty six places were marked with stones, shells and authentic Taino artifact, respecting the traditions, to renew our love for life, for our land, and to honor our predecessors with whom we connected in ceremony and spirit.

We finished under a torrential rain that poured down for the next three hours, due to a localized storm system that interestingly affected only my neighborhood and the immediate surroundings. 

1. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1746148/the_amazing_changing_or_unchanging.html
2. Right Brain and Left Brain Inventory http://painting.about.com/library/blpaint/blrightbraintable.htm
3. Bercht Fatima, Brodsky, Estrellita, Farmer, John Alan and Taylor, Dicey, TAINO, Pre-Columbian Art and Culture from the Caribbean, El Museo del Barrio, The Monacelli Press, 1997. ISBN# 1-885254-82-2
4. http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/41/238.html Taino-Maya Contact
5. Sun Bear, Wabun Wind and Crysalis Mulligan, Dancing with the Wheel, The Medicine Wheel Workbook, Simon and Schuster, 1991. ISBN: 0-671-76732-1

Vodou, vodu, voodoo, one in the same?

Grace Boulay’s mystical adventure is also a spiritual journey into Caribbean beliefs and realities. Following the mythology described by Deita in the Legends of the Loas and inspired by Heza’s paintings featured in the book, the world of vodou: the belief system’s  ancient traditions, knowledge and practices shared with our protaganist is separated from the world of voodoo.Voodoo’s evil midgets, scarry zombies, and haunted places exist on land, back home where Grace’s family and friends are looking for her. 

Freedom of religion was declared in Haiti in 1804 and though the government signed a concordat with the Vatican in 1867,  for close to a century people freely practised their faith, whatever it was. For one hundred years African spirituality flourished and grew from the influences it encountered on the island.  The fascination with Haitian vodou took an international turn during the US occupation from 1915 to 1934 and that’s when it came to be known as voodoo.

The main deities or lwa (is also spelled loa) trace origins back and still exist in Dahomey, present day Benin. Scholars say that Haitian vodou was structured by the West African Dahomeans, who gave it its framework and was enriched and transformed by the Bantous of Central Africa. These specialists define the Benin word vodu as “what is mysterious for all, independently of time or place; that which pertains to the divine.” ¹

Far from these spiritual and religious definitions Hollywood began portraying voodoo with black magic, human sacrifices and other unspeakable horrors in the 1930’s. Beginning with White Zombi, 1932 and The Magic Island,  are a long list of movies that exploited the zombi theme. Books published in the early 1900’s like, Where Blacks Rule Whites, The White King of La Gonave helped disseminate the idea that Haiti must be isolated. It was important that the independent nation not spread the contagion to the neighboring states all, except the USA, still under colonial rule. Haitians were portrayed as “savages” and “canibals” and had to be controlled by any means.

The Harlem Renaissance movement tried to redeem us best they could. Langston Hughes helped translate, Jacques Roumain’s Gouverneurs de la Rosée. In answer to The Magic Island, William Grant Still, presented Troubled Island about Toussaint Louverture and the independence war. Perhaps one of the greatest literary figures of the time Zora Neale Thurston, conducted ethnographic research and painted quite a different picture of Haitian vodou in Tell My Horse, in 1938.

Yet many still use vodou and voodoo as synonyms, when in truth they are not the same. Although many groups in Latin American and in  the Caribbean have retained practices and spirituality handed down by African ancestors, in Haiti a unique syncretism process occured. It started with the first group of slaves brought in with Columbus in 1494. They took to the hills, joined with indigenous rebels and became the maroons, a pivotal group for the victory of the independence war three hundred years later. The Taino indians were reported to have been eliminated from the island called La Española by the invaders. During the wars for independence, the maroons knowlegde of the local flora, medicines and poisons, were indicative that all Taino culture had not been completely lost. More on the Tainos soon on this blog.

Another main component of Haiti vodou is Christianity. It’s presence is everywhere,  from prayers to effigies and even Haitian secret societies are influenced by Catholic practices. This includes the appearance of saints, who are the faces of the lwa and some coded language used in rituals. There is no contradiction for the practioners who belong to both religions.

An insiders’ description of Haitian vodou explains the practice of black and white magic to belong to two different hands. The houngan or mambo who is faithful to tradition and practices Dahomey or Guiné rituals is said to serve with one hand, that hand is vodou. Another figure, the bokor serves with both hands and will conjure whatever magic he can to reach his end; that other hand can be called voodoo.

^1. Abbaye Daoulas, Vaudou, Hoebeke 2004.

Take a visual tour of the seven world-nations in Grace, the Mystical Caribbean Mission,

Click on the presentation: inspiration-for-world-nations

Evil Clouds Black History

Evil clouds Black history

The Obama stupor held my brain on pause; carnival zoomed by and even the Pope didn’t jolt me out of reverie when he declared Africa borne down by evil. The first rainy days of spring tiptoed out of winter chilling Cibao Mountains to the bone.

Matter of fact, Mr. President set me back on track; he accepts to be judged on economic performance, considerations about the melanin in his skin lasted a day, he joked. Too happy to watch Black people in the USA symbolically overcome racial inequality, I lost touch with the story of mankind and slipped back to the World since 1492. Call it a school girl perception when just a couple of thousand years seems like ancient history. How more complex our World history many million years old…

Given time to focus, I clearly see the Holy See’s “cloud of evil” lingering over the African continent since European slavery and colonization, like a wicked spell of a recurrent hangover. Yet I dare set my eyes on a more distant past curious to understand blackness in other times. A period in history before the endless visit of the bad luck cloud exists, when the Caribbean basin and the Northern face of South America were visited time and again by man, after he conquered the sea.

The flow of the ocean current from Africa to America has made it possible since the Egyptians to sail from Africa to America. In fact, their knowledge of navigation and their sophisticated galleys would have made the voyage feasible in the first millennium B. C. On May 17, 1970 Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian marine biologist set sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II (built according the Egyptian specifications) to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean to Central America. Twenty years before him, Dr Alain Bombard a French biologist and medical doctor proved he could leave the Canary Islands in a zodiac dinghy and land sixty five days later in Barbados.

Solid evidence studied by recognized intellectuals mark the presence of Black people in Mesoamerica. Human remains found in South and Central America have been measured then classified, and markers of the Mandingo West African language were identified both in the Caribbean and on the American continents. Skin tattoos are a striking feature of some pre-Columbian terracotta head sculptures in museums like Vera Cruz in Jalapa; of course, this procedure can only be performed successfully on the skins of Black people. Many years later, did the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa Maria set sail…

Do we really know all of this? So, why do our minds stumble when we view our progress bogged down by the dark cloud that has sailed above the ocean blue forever since 1492? It must be the school girl programming that attracts us to fashion designer blinders that make it convenient not to look beyond that time in recent history. It could be interesting to compare the reference to the “dark cloud” to a rug pulled over our eyes. Much effort has been put into quieting all history of Black people that is not pertinent slavery. Lifting the rug from our eyes and the clouds from our pasts seems particularly relevant at this point in our time and for the sake of history.

OBAMA nation for good

These are time when we hear about change and transformational leaders. It is fitting now to question the notion of Armageddon and the dire 2012 predictions announcing the end of the world. Let’s be clear, until today the Mayans are more comfortable when time is visualized as threads that hold the potential of being woven into different patterns, depending on human choice.

 

Has the Earth really shifted from under our feet? I am wondering whether the Obama phenemenon can be considered a sign that humanity is choosing to close the Piscean cycle by saving the planet and will bypass threads leading to destruction and punishment, and hang on those of hope and renewal en route toward the 5^th creation, also called the Golden Age of Aquarius.

 

Prophets of doom warn of what lies ahead, water, the sustenance of life that covers 71% of the planet will rise and invade coastal landmass. Global warming causing the melting of glaciers and ice sheets can bring water levels up some 250 feet. The Earth will tremble from within and manifest in earthquakes, and volcanoes will awaken in uproars as if in concert with one another. Sinners can expect to pay while the Earth purges itself of evil-doers.

 

Where will you stand to survive these formidable times? Will you join the critical mass needed to turn the tide? The Mayans mention a crucial number of 144,000,000 awakened and conscious needed to succeed in “…casting a widening pool of light…”

 

Imagine the Taino vision of the Cosmos. One round Earth, atop the heavens, in the middle the life-slice of reality and ancestors who occupied the portion down below, the three Earth-parts were connected through the center and joined at the sacred-tree; Shamans alone could communicate in all worlds. While the Spirits held the Globe together with crisscrossing sacred lines weaving designs that symbolized their energy, the network of spirit logos connected the World and made it one. Will you be among those who grasp onto light-threads to secure the survival of mother Earth?

 

New consciousness is the common denominator cited by so many 2012 experts, the new creation that awaits us is a world where humans no longer focus on their belly buttons but defend life and their planet. “…love beyond marital, filial, national… ”, sang the prized poet. Just LOVE that starts in the soul pierces the heart and extends into the Infinite.

 

In truth it’s not about President Obama’s apparent race, the DNA chance that framed his destiny; rather, it’s about all of our skins that mold our hearts and conceal our true color: blood –red. We may question his coming as a sign, but can embrace the significance of his World-wide movement as a symbol of hope.

 

1.                              Elizabeth Alexander, Praise Song for the Day, 2009 Inaugural Poem:

Elizabeth Alexander’s Inaugural Poem

 

2.                              Antarctica not immune to warming, USA Today, January 22, 2009.

 

3.                              Braden, Greg, Russell, Peter, Pinchbeck, Daniel, Macy Joanna R., Jenkins, John Major and more, The Mystery of 2012, Predictions, Prophecies and Possibilities. Sounds True Inc. Boulder CO, 2007.

The Mayan Calendar simple as 1,2,3

To find simple answers to questions about the Mayan Calendar is like trying to see an ant’s belly button, you must use patience. To begin, consider at least two main concepts: a Long Count, lasting about 5125 years, and the Venus Round system which includes the tzolkin, the haab and Venus’ 584-day cycle.

 

The Long Count works with the Venus Round and are both found inscribed on hundreds of archeological sites in Meso-America. One complete Long Count is called a Great Cycle, calculated in the chart below as 13 baktuns or 1,872,000 days.

 

LONG COUNT PERIODS	NUMBER OF DAYS
1 day = 1 day	1
20 days = 1 uinal	20
18 uinal = 1 tun	360
20 tuns = 1 katun	7200
20 katuns = 1 baktun	144,000
13 baktuns = 1 Great Cycle	1,872,000

 

“Archeologists claim that the Maya began counting time as of August 31, 3114 B.C. This is called the zero year and is likened to January 1, AD. All dates in the Long Count begin there.”

 

The Long count is written using dots to indicate placement values, leftward placements have higher value. The end date in the Long Count is written 13.0.0.0.0. To make this concept real to me, I multiplied 5125 by 365, and the result was 1,870,625. Since there are leap years here and there in our own calendar (which we will return to later) it seemed worthwhile to dig deeper to into the complexities of the Mayan Calendar.

 

More useful to the living Mayan than the Long Count Calendar that stretched over thousands of years, were the Tzolkin and the Haab. The two together were more relevant to their every day lives because they predicted rainy seasons and pinpointed ritual times, festivals or auspicous years and unlucky days.

 

I.	Alligator	Death	Monkey	Owl
II.	Wind	Deer	Grass	Quake
III.	House	Rabbit	Reed	Knife
IV.	Lizard	Water	Jaguar	Rain
V	Serpent	Dog	Eagle	Flower

 

It’s been called the Earth Calendar or the Sacred Almanac, all terms that refer to the 260-day Tzolkin. The tzolkin cycle consists of 20 day-signs paired with a number from 1 to 13. Something like if our days of the week were paired with the numbers of the month; so each day has a name with a number. The references used in the day-signs are sometimes linguistic, astronomical, agricultural and mythical with cultural information embedded on various levels of the Mayan culture, and are reported universal thoughout Meso-America. Evidence shows that it has been continually followed for some 3000 years.

 

 

The 260-day tzolkin does not directly correspond to any known planetary cycle besides Venus’emergence as a morning and an evening star (258 days), rather it is more often associated with a 9-month human gestation period.

 

The tzolkin fits like gears in a mechanism with another Mayan time keeper called the Haab. The haab is based on 18 monthly cycles of 20 days, with a short month of 5 days at the end. It is thought to be based on the earth’s 365 day journey around the sun and indicated the rainy seasons; Haab days have a month name and a day number and Mayan dates were written using both calendars combined.

 

Last among the Mayan Calendars mentioned today is  the Venus 584-day cycle. Apparently, the Mayan’s believed Venus to be the Earth’s sister planet because the movements of the two seem directly linked. According to some experts like Carl Calleman, Venus conjunctions are fairly common, whereas passages when the light of the Sun sends Venus’energy to Earth are rare because of the angles of both planet’s orbital planes. Reliable sources indicate this pattern repeats itself now every 243 years, and we just happen to be due for such an encounter on June 6, 2012, another important date during that special year.

 

People inclined to understand numerical systems may find logic to the Mayan calendar system, however it has been considered that neither the calendar interpretations nor the events to happen will appeal to humanity on a rational level. The calendars themselves were spiritual tools that were used to orient lives on another plane.

 

http://www.alignment2012.com/

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Quetzalcoatl/id/2327

http://current.com/items/87577231/avoidabl…

http://www.diagnosis2012.co.uk/cal.htm

http://www.mayanmajix.com/art_mc.html

Re: Mayan Elders speak… an older message

 

Does the sun shine on an equinox precession and an ecliptic in a dark rift?

Does the sun shine on an equinox precession and an ecliptic in a dark rift?

 

It would be great if the answer to grantman’s question : “what happens on December 21, 2012” was short, but there would be much less material for this blog… To offer my best answer, and to get a handle on time calculated with calendars thousands of years old, I consulted ancient astronomers to understand what they observed.

 

Archeological evidence points to Old World cultures’ precise knowledge of Earth’s 24 hour trip around its axis and its yearly journey around the sun. The exact positions of the Sun and the Earth are very important in December 2012. Ancient astronomers who observed the Sun noted that twice a year, at equinox, day and night are equal and the Sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west.

Calendars of astronomical observation in the Americas go back to the tzolkin count which originated among the Olmec at least as early as 679 B.C. “The tzolkin count has been followed unbroken since at least that time, up to the present day, demonstrating the high premium placed by the Maya upon continuity of tradition.  Maya have preserved that heritage for us today.” ¹

In mapping the sky, astronomers and navigators use lines like the ecliptic,  which simply put is the plane of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. A plane is merely a flat two-dimensional surface with length and width, but no depth.

 

The discovery of the precession of the equinoxes is generally attributed to the Greek astronomer Hipparchus in 128 B. C., although this knowledge is fundamental to the Mayan calendars. Hipparchus concluded that the intersection marking the equinox slowly crept forward along the ecliptic, and called that motion “the precession of the equinoxes. ” The rate is about one full circle in 26 000 years.

 

When the Earth spins on its axis, the movement produced is similar to a spinning top where the rotations wobble off the center. Through each 26 000-year cycle, the direction in the sky to which the axis points goes around a big circle.

 

The last element needed for our special date coming on December 21, 2012 between the Sun and the ecliptic at the end of a long 26,000 year precession cycle, is the place in the Cosmos where the meeting will occur and that is the center of the dark rift of our Milky Way galaxy.

 

The precession of the equinoxes is a long a slow process and this type of alignment can be witnessed five years before or after the December 2012 date. However, that exact conjunction – or mid-way point- was selected by the Mayans well over 2,500 years ago will mark the end of the Long Count as 13.0.0.0.0  - which  means that some 1,872,000 days would have passed since  the  Great Cycle beginning date.

 

What can we expect from this dark rift and where will it lead us to begin Earth’s new cycle of 26,000 years?

 

1. THE HOW AND WHY OF THE MAYAN END DATE IN 2012 A.D. by John Major Jenkins ¾ May 23rd, 1994.

 

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