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My Task as Translator of these Documents is Rendered Somewhat More Difficult by Not Only the Archaic Phrasing of a Native Maya Kiche Speaker, but also by the Intricacies of Thought and Reference Points used by the Author : In Order to Be Able to Explain Certain Key Concepts and Illustrate Others as Visual Analogies, I have Often had to Refer Directly to the Author simply to Effect a Rough Paraphrase, with the Result that : Although what You Read Here is Not a Word-for-Word Transcription, it has been Revised and Approved by the Author as Containing the Sentiments of the Original Writings.
“Woe to the Makers of Literal
Translations,
Who by Rendering Every Word Weaken the Meaning!
It is Indeed by so doing that We can Say the Letter Kills
and the Spirit Gives Life.”
"Have Pity on the Copy
for the Sake of the Original,
and Always Bear in Mind when You See a Translation
that You are only Looking at a Feeble Print of a Great Picture."
Equilibrium is the Goal and Core Ideal of the Maya CosmoVision and is Constantly Expressed through Every Aspect of Their Religion and Agricultural / Ritual Cycles.
I would quickly Define Equilibrium as a Dynamic Energy State rather than an Entropy of Passive Diffuse Impulses. Rather than a Dormant Stasis : Equilibrium within the Maya CosmoVision is to be seen as a State of Fully Integrated Powers that Must be Maintained in a Condition of Dynamic Balance that the Whole not be Rapidly Destroyed.
The Universe Model
The Force of the Photon Wind Expansion not only keeps Galaxies from Crashing into Each Other, but sends Everything in this Massive Weightless Existence speeding in a Radial Pattern away from an Amorphous Center Region, which can No Longer be Readily Defined.
The Automotive Engine Model
The Rapidly Reciprocating Pistons and Camshafts of a High Performance Gasoline or Diesel Engine In Balance, is a Powerful Source of Useful Energy . . . but if this Equilibrium undergoes a Traumatic Discontinuity, perhaps from a Piston or Cylinder Head Exploding, the Motor will soon Fly to Pieces, perhaps Endangering Everything that its Power once Served.
The US Socio-Political Model
As Recent Elections and Current Political Status Quo show, the US has Entered a State of Equilibrium . . . Whether We Choose to Define this as a State of Peace or War depends Entirely upon the Individual’s Attitude towards the Future.
Either We Live in an Armed Anarchist’s Camp that is Weighing the Benefits / Costs in a Bid for Domination, or We are approaching a Level of Instability in which the Economy will Freeze Solid because Commuting to Work suddenly becomes Too Risky in Terms of Co-Existing with Stressed-Out Heavily Armed Drivers, Suicidal Fellow Employee Commando Raids: Although Neither of these Extremes may Exist outside of Our Hermetic Hypothetical World : We MAY have actually Achieved the Dynamic Potential of a Balance of Powers in which Fully Articulate and Participant Voters have Expressed an Earnest Desire to Avoid such Extremes.
In Short,
We may be Ready
for the Maya CosmoVision Concept
of a Dynamic Equilibrium.
The Maya Calendar has been
Exhaustively Studied, Analyzed and more Recently, Severely Abused by those
who would style Themselves as Prophets of the New Age.
While a Sincere Interest in the Maya will be Amply
Repaid
in Wisdom and Understanding, this Gain cannot be Realised
during 15 minute Interviews, Glossy 4 Color Graphics or Sound Bites :
Something More is There;
Waiting to Be Discovered . . .
The Fact of the Matter is, that the Surface has yet to be Scratched within the Massive Scope of this Elegantly Simple Fractal System of Cycles within Cycles. The Mysterious 260 day Ritual Calendar, with its BioRhythms matched to both that of the Human Birth and Maiz Planting / Harvest Cycles; the Surprisingly Accurate 365 day Solar Calendar that Resets Every 52 years Exactly 13 days; [and which, incidentally, formed the Basis for the Gregorian Revision of the Roman Calendar] the Planetary Cycles, [some of which have been Lost, though mentioned in other Sources] Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter; All Meshed into a Wheel within a Wheel Cycle of Never Ending Time and Repetition; Revealing a Profound Understanding of the Vast Measures of Time Integrated into this Expanding, Whirling Universe of Scattered Remnants of PreStellar Cataclysms.
The Pop Wuj mentions a Time before Creation when Everything took the Form of a Calm Flat Sea, [which could be Interpreted as a State of non-Static Latency similar to the Interior of a Black Hole] which then was Given Expression and Form through the Act of Lifting Up Four Corners, a Ritual Act Observed and Observable in nearly Every Maya [and MesoAmerican] Community throughout Their Five Thousand Year History. [even the Four Corners Imagery could be Interpreted as Representing 4 Dimensions, of which Time and Space are Mutually Dependent for Their Definition]
The Kiche Maya of Today still Practice Ritual Cycles which Include Marriage, Birth, Death, Planting and Harvest, Initiations of Novice Priests, Elevations of Senior Priests, Recognition of the Roles of Men , Women and Children and Their Relative Importance to the Maintenance of the Life Cycle. Every Community, Hill, Vale and Glade, Every Spring, Stream, Pool, Waterfall and Confluence have a Special Name that is Remembered even Today; after more than 35 years of Genocidal Political Pogroms in the Name of Christ’s Love and Mercy.
The Kiche Maya then, have Every Reason to Guard Their Secret Traditions in order to Pass These on to Future Generations; and Towards This End, Certain Rare Individuals of Remarkable Personal Courage and Fidelity have made it Their Life’s Work to Document and Inculcate these Traditions in the Young of Their Communities. The Documents Presented on This Web Page are an Attempt at Placing the Maya Religious Tradition in a Context Familiar to the Western Religious Sciences by Translating Certain Writings heretofore Unavailable to non-Maya Readers so that Our World May Be Enriched by these "First Thoughts".
But this Analogy cannot be Complete, since the Religious / Cultural Traditions of the Egyptian, Judaic, Greek, Roman, Islam and Christian have Developed Entirely Independently and Possess Their Own Systemic Flaws that Daily Threaten the Progress of History. A Separate Image of a Unique People must Emerge.
The MesoAmerican Tradition of which the Maya Kiche are the most Recent Flowering Branch, took into account Both the Mortality and Fallibility of Humankind; and Adopted a Tradition of Consensus to Counteract the Negative Influences caused by a Charismatic Individual gaining Temporal Power during a Single Human Life Span.
The December 21, 2012 Passing
of the Great Cycle,
Serves more as a Mileage Marker on the Highway of Eternity, than an Apocalypsis
:
The Great Change has Already Begun.
By the Time that this Process of Change becomes Visible to Rational Materialists who Control and Terrorize the Visible World for such Comforts as Foam Rubber and Cholesterol can Provide; the Maya Decade will be in Full Force and Even They will Come to Sit Up at Their Breakfast Tables and Take Notice. The Maya of Today will Walk Out of a Millennial Tradition of over 5,000 years into the beginning of this Third Millennium of Our Common Era, with ALL of Their Ancient Traditions and Cultural Profundities Intact.
The Point of View that They Bring to the Table will Reconstruct Our World from the Inside Out; Bringing Wisdom to War, Vision to Merchandising, Insight to Education and a Profound Patience to Psychology.
And Who is there to Say that We don’t Desparately Need this.
The Twenty Days
The Twenty Day Signs have an Origin Lost in the Mists of MesoAmerican PreHistory. It is quite likely that each one of the Symbols, their Names and Mnemonic Phrases derived from the Mother Culture We Call Olmec, but Who spoke a Precursor of Modern Zoque.
The Primary Focus of this Primordial Culture recognised a Symbolic Individual called "Harvest Mountain Lord", which Pretty Much Sums Up MesoAmerican Priorites in General. The Cleft Mountain of San Andres Tuxtla, outside of Veracruz; formed the Central Point of Origin for a Civilization that Continues to Flower, even Today.
By Recognising the "First Mother" and the "First Father", the Maya persist in acknowledging the Value of Their Ancestors in setting up one of the Most Successful [and what is most Important : still Current] Civilizations to Date.
By Merging the Practical Concept of a Human Being as Encompassing Five Fingers on Each Hand and Five Toes on Each Foot, Yielding a Sum of Twenty; Memory Associations assist the Adept in Making Every Day Count. When Multiplied by the Thirteen Powers, the Resulting Ritual or Sacred Calendar of 260 Days approximates the Human Gestation Period of 280 Days, as well as the Cultivation Cycle of Maiz, one of the Foundations of MesoAmerican Life. Over Five Thousand Years Ago, the Individual known as "First Father" and "Harvest Mountain Lord" began to Count the Days and Record the Cycles of the Planets : Assisted by "First Mother", this Tradition Continues Unbroken Today.
The Thirteen Powers
Equilibrium being the Ideal and Point of Sublime Ecstasy in the Maya CosmoVision, the Numbers from One to Thirteen are not Seen as Ascending in Rising Linear Order, but as a Dual Scale of Complimentary Energies that meet at the Center and Pass in Perfect Balance and Harmony. The Extremes of One and Thirteen are thus not Better nor Worse than the Other; Rather Conditions where One Distinct Energy Predominates, leaving another Passive, Latent of Dormant to the Detriment of the Individual. The Function of Maya Ritual Science, then is to Draw Upon the Complementary Energy in order to Assist in Balancing the Individual.
Meditation Techniques are Suggested for All Individuals to Increase and Maintain a Positive Energy Flow in order to become more Integrated with the Universe, eventually Fulfilling an Active Role within the Scope of Their Unique Complement of Energies. A Single Cadle, Burning with a Clear Yellow Flame; or a Serene Glass of Water placed on a Table in Front of You can Serve as a Focus for Meditation on the Meanings and Energies of Your Birth Date, Conception Date and Birth Year.
Nawalob
A Nawal is a Mystical Animal Protector Spirit or Counterpart; as Viewed from the Animist Tradition in which Every Particle of Existance, Every Rock, Tree, Hill, Glade and Spring has a Living Spirit Residing within and through. Similar to the Dictionary Definition of Othodoxy which Holds that All of Creation is Sacred and Holy, having an Ultimate Origin in the Spirit of the Creator.
Every One of the Twenty Days has One or More Designated Animals which act as Symbolic Representatives of Their Individual Powers and Characteristics. The Deeper the Adept Delves within the Mysteries of Maya Spirituality, the more Significances are Revealed over Time. The Kiche Maya are One of a Very Few Members of the MesoAmerican Cultural Coalition that have Adopted "Nawalism" as Central to Their Religious Practices.
The Zapotec of Oaxaca; Who also derived the Bulk of Their Religion and Culture from Zoque / Olmec Contacts; Unlike Most other MesoAmerican Cultures, Believe that Their Ancestors Sprung Directly from Animals, [such as Jaguars and Deer] rather than Separating the Nawalob from Ancestral Devotions.
Year Carrier Days
Due to Both the Two Hundred Sixty Day Ritual Calendar and the Three Hundred Sixty Five Day Solar Calendar being based on Integer Five, the First Day of Every New Year Starts with One of Four Days : E, Ik, Noj and Kiej. Because of this Fractal Incidence, these Four Days are called "Regents" or Rulers, or "Carriers". They are seen as Representing the Ajawob or Priest Shamans who Intercede for the People in Their Daily Contact with the Inner World and the Heart of Creation. There still Exists a Complex System of Indigenous Self Administration in Rural Areas in which Leadership Responsibilities and Honors are Conveyed in a Revolving Cycle of Places and Duties; which Correspond Directly to the Maya Kiche Concept of the Year Carriers.
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