~ The Aztec Sun Stone ~

Carved in the middle of the 15th century, the Aztec Sun Stone is said to illustrate that Aztecs had a fine knowledge of both astronomy and mathematics. Pictographs carved on portions of the stone represent days, months and "Suns," which are also called cosmic or world ages. In the center circle is the face of Tonatiuh, Aztec deity of the Fifth Sun.  Four squares surrounding Tonatiuh's face are called Nahui-Ollin, or Four Movement. Aztec legend has it that these squares represented the different manner in which the four previous Suns (or worlds) had come to an end: first by wild animals, then by wind, fire, and flood. Aztecs believed that they were living in the fifth and last world, the same world in which we are now living.

At 1 o'clock is 4-jaguar, the first world's square. According to Aztec legend, Tezcatlipoca somehow ruled over the other sky-gods by identifying himself with the god Quetzalcoatl, who subsequently knocked him into the water with a huge club. Quetzalcoatl was also called the Feathered Serpent and was associated with the planet Venus. The jaguar represents wild animals that ended the first world. At 11 o'clock is 4-wind, the second world's square. Like the next two worlds, this one lasted an even multiple of 52 years. In this case, 13 times 52 years. Tezcatlipoca got back at Quetzalcoatl and kicked him off his throne. Apparently the age ended with a tremendous wind. This square contains what seems to represent a dragon's head. At 7 o'clock is 4-rain, the third world's square. This age lasted for 6 times 52 years. Tlaloc, the god of rain, acted as the Sun. Quetzalcoatl came back and ended his reign (no pun intended) with a rain of fire. At 5 o'clock is 4-water, the fourth world's square, which lasted exactly 52 years. In it, the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue was the Sun. Her name meant "She who wears a jade (green) skirt." Her age ended in a huge flood. Every 52 years since then, the Aztec held a great celebration called the Binding up of the Years.

Aztecs used several different calendars at the same time. One of them had a year that consisted of eighteen months, each of which had a specific name, and consisted of twenty days, represented as twenty squares on the outer Sun Stone ring. Each square relates to one day in each of these months. Pictographs for these days, half of which were named for animals, are carved counterclockwise around the circle. Eighteen months of twenty days accounts for three hundred sixty days. To represent the remaining five days of the year, five dots were carved inside the circle with the four squares. These days, called Nemontemi, were times of sacrifice. The next concentric circle is dominated by four large pointers that are spaced at 90 degrees.

These represent North, South, East and West. Eight equally spaced holes were drilled around the stone's edge. Aztecs were reputed to have placed sticks in the holes so that their shadows fell on the stone figures, making it function as a sundial.

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Detailed Analyses of the Aztec Sun/Calendar Stone

~ THE SPATIAL DIVISIONS ~

~ MATH, GEOMETRY, AND DESIGN ~

~ THE LEGEND OF THE FOUR SUNS ~

~ MATH, GEOMETRY, AND DESIGN II ~

~ THE RECIPROCAL OF 7 AND PI  ~

~ THE 9 BAKTUNS OF THE 9.0.0.0.0 BASELINE ~

       ~ THE POINTER ~
(Note the similarity of clawed hands in 3 and 9 o'clock positions to Entry 15 below)

~ THE DAY-GLYPH RING PATTERNS ~

~ THE RING OF FLAMES ~

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Maya Cosmogenesis - Galactic Solstice 2012

According to the Aztec calendar Sun stone; which is actually thought to be a Mayan artifact inherited by the Aztecs; in the year 2012 (approx. December 21st) the Earth reaches the end of the fifth cycle, which is also an extreme point in an astronomical cycle of approximately 26,000 years. This event highlights a rare astronomical alignment determined by precession.

The sky on December 21st, 2012 A.D. showing a rare astronomical alignment.
The winter solstice sun is right in the "dark rift" in the Milky Way.

The alignment occurs when the winter solstice sun conjuncts the crossing point of the Milky Way and ecliptic in Sagittarius. This crossing point is where the "dark rift" in the Milky Way is, which was known to the ancient Maya as xibalba be (the Road to the Underworld) or simply "the Black Road." Linda Schele identifies the nearby crossing point of the Milky Way and ecliptic as the Mayan  Sacred Tree, and the modern Quiche call that spot "Crossroads."

Winter solstice sunrise from the early Mayan site of Izapa, 50 BCE.
Notice the dark rift in the Milky Way, the celestial birth canal of
Cosmic Mother, some 30 degrees above the rising sun.

From here, we bring in more mythology. Recognizing that Mayan myth derives to a large degree from sky observations, we can be comfortable with looking for an astronomical counterpart to practically any iconographic image we examine. The deity who manifests through the winter solstice sun is First Father, otherwise known as the Maize God or One Hunaphu (the Hero Twins' father). This figure is also related to
Hunrakan (the "One Leg" god who destroyed a previous world age by flood) and Hunab
Ku, the Yucatan "giver of movement and measure." The One Ahau Sacred Day of Venus is a calendric manifestation of the same figure, and as a possible directional year-bearer, 1 Ahau corresponds to the winter solstice quarter. First Father, Seven Macaw, the Road to Xibalba and the Hero Twins are all players in the Popol Vuh story of the creation of this present World Age, and the demise of the last. In sum, the Popol Vuh mythic complex contains mythological descriptions of the astronomical process which culminates on the Maya Long Count end date of 2012. In  the academic realm, there has been a  continuing  debate over two proposed correlations. The first we may call the 584283 correlation - named after the julian day number of the calendar's beginning date - and the second we may call the 584285 correlation. The first implies that the first day of the 13-baktun cycle of the Long Count (written 0.0.0.0.0) was August 11th, 3114  BCE; the second, of course, is two days later. The former has the advantage of being in line with the count still being followed today. The latter was initially the best bet when formulated in 1930, but after a reappraisal of historical documents and ethnographic data, the date was shifted. In a way reminiscent of the Maya practice of "end naming," a literal reading of many Mayan Creation monuments indicates that Creation occurs on the tzolkin date 4 Ahau, when 13 baktuns are completed. Birth happens at the end of a process or time cycle.

The earliest version of the Popol Vuh Creation story is found at Izapa. Analysis of Izapa's orientations, calendrics, monuments and historical context reveals additional support for the thesis. Most striking is the mythic scene on Izapa Stela 11, and its orientation toward the winter solstice rising point of the sun.

Stela 11 from Izapa shows Cosmic Father in the "mouth" of Cosmic Mother,
the "dark rift" or "birth canal" in the Milky Way.
This is an image of the celestial alignment which culminates in 2012.

Stela 11 incorporates all the prominent motifs found in Izapan art, and by itself, clearly encodes the astronomical meaning of the Long Count end date of Dec 21st, 2012. This is when the open magnetic field lines at the north pole of the earth will be pointing towards the sun, receiving a peak amount of solar particles. Coincidentally, the ending of the sun's 24th (2 x 12) 11-year sunspot cycle of activity will also influence Earth's weather more strongly during this time.

The Earth’s magnetic field is continually bathed in a hot, magnetized, supersonic collisionless plasma capable of conducting electrical current and carrying a large amount of kinetic and electrical energy. Because of the polarity of the Earth’s field, the magnetic force on a particle will deflect solar wind ions to the right and electrons to the left as they approach the earth. The geomagnetic field lines in the polar caps are shown above, as going through the polar magnetopause as a rotational discontinuity, into the high latitude magnetosheath, through the bow shock into the interplanetary medium; this is what is meant by open field lines. Maxwell’s equations require that the same amount of open flux appear at both poles.

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The design of the Aztec calendar reveals a direct relationship to other ancient designs of
the Maya and the Egyptian Kemi, not to mention the geometrical template formulae consistently utilized by the ancient engineers (for example, the Pyramids of Giza and Teotihuacan). Cultures that are conceived as being strictly unrelated appear to be intimately related through the designs of the artwork. Although we do not have the historical evidence to show such a relationship, the numbers fit in such a way as to suggest just such a common origin.

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From here, I'll let your imagination continue the journey.
Happy thoughts.

END ENTRY: 020

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