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The Astrology of Meso-America |
The Meso Americans operated from a (vigesimal) base twenty mathematical system rather than our own decimal arrangement. They employed two calendars; one the 365-day solar calendar called a Haab, and the other a 260-day ceremonial almanac named the Tzolkin, based on the Venus cycle. These two calendars ran concurrently and originated from a smaller ceaselessly rotating 20-day cycle. The days of this smaller cycle were named after animals and elements of their environment such as Crocodile, Ocelet, Reed or Earthquake. These twenty 'day signs' were each ruled by a separate god of differing nature imbuing the day with a specific quality. The keyword explanations provided are based on the traditional attributes of those ruling deities.
The Haab or yearly calendar comprised 18 x 20-day periods of which another five (extremely unlucky days) were added. They did not make use of leap years but instead added 13 extra days at the end of a 52-year cycle called the 'tying of the bundle'. On this date both the Haab and the Tzolkin returned to the same date. During this highly ominous time, they extinguished all the eternal flames in temples and houses and broke up their furniture. Their belief was in the end of one world and the hopeful beginning of another.
When the Sun set on the final day, priests from all districts marched together from the great temple in their capital Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City), to the Hill of the Star, an ancient volcano core seven miles outside the city. There they waited in tense anticipation for the star group Pleiades to reach the summit of the skies. When this occurred, and the Pleiades continued moving past the zenith, the High Priest furiously rotated a firestick on a baseboard, creating a new flame. This fire was tended until it could be seen right across the valley of Mexico. Then, in a manner similar to the lighting of the Olympic torch, representative runners from each town lit their individual firesticks from the sacred flame and ran to the local temples to re-ignite the home fires for another 52 year period.
Ed maintains the leading website www.edtamplin.com specialising in world prediction, cycles research, plus yearly, monthly and weekly sun-signs.
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