Changes in The Mayan Calendar After 2012

CHANGES IN THE MAYAN CALENDAR AFTER 2012
What the Maya Are Saying

Momostenango is an unusual place. There are no tourists here. At the time of the Spanish Conquest of the K’iche’ Maya, Momostenango was the spiritual center of the independent K’iche’ kingdom. One of its names means “the place of many altars.” Remote in the mountains, Momostenango has always been a rebellious place, stubbornly holding onto its ancient traditions while the world changed all around it. Most anthropologists, as well as many of the Maya themselves, acknowledge Momostenango as the community which has retained the practice of the Sacred Calendar as a spiritual path in its purest form.

I spent September, October, and part of November of 2010 in Momostenango. It was my second visit. It was also the rainy season, and 2010 was especially severe, with floods, landslides, and almost constant downpours. There wasn’t much to be said in favor of going outdoors and braving the monster storms. It was much better to sit around the kitchen table and discuss la sabiduria Maya, “the wisdom of the Maya.” Since Daykeepers tend to hang out together, you can hear quite a lot around the kitchen table. (This is one of my favorite things.)

The Maya themselves seldom discuss “the 2012 phenomenon.” Many are skeptical about the whole thing, seeing it as just another example of foreigners making a lot of money for themselves by turning sacred Mayan traditions into a big New Age dog-and-pony show. As I have written previously, there are many Daykeepers who prefer not to think about it at all.

All the same, there are others who have deeply pondered certain changes in Mayan time-keeping which may, in fact, mark the dawning of the Fifth World in 2012. The Daykeepers may formally inaugurate these changes in 2013. There is a growing agreement among the Maya – based upon their own meditations and spiritual perceptions – that the very shape of history and consciousness is changing, and may necessitate changes in the Calendar as well.

Let me state, emphatically and at the very beginning, that this has absolutely nothing to do with the 260-day round itself, the sacred tzolk’in – or chol q’ij as they say it here in the K’iche’ language. Some Western writers have theorized that the tzolk’in will come to an end. I mentioned this to some of the Daykeepers and they shook their heads. They find such a notion ridiculous, even inconceivable. The tzolk’in is the underlying rhythm of sacred time; it is eternal and not subject to cyclic change.

The Fifth World will begin. The chol q’ij will continue to revolve eternally. But the Lords of the Year may change.

Since few New Age writers speak about the Lords of the Year, I probably need to make a bit of an explanation here.
.
In addition to the chol q’ij of 260 days, the Maya have a solar calendar of 365 days called the ab’ in K’iche’ and haab in Yucatec. The ab’ equals 365 days, whereas the true solar year is a little longer than that. This is why our Gregorian Calendar includes an extra day every four years—to bring the 365-day calendar back into harmony with the actual cycle of the sun. The Maya were aware of the true duration of the year, but for reasons of ritual timing they made no attempt to reconcile the ab’ with the solar cycle; the ab’ kept moving ahead of the solar year. In 1553, the first day of the solar year occurred on July 26, whereas the Calendar shamans of Momostenango now celebrate the arrival of the new year on February 22nd.

Due to the way in which the two calendars interpenetrate, the New Year's day can only coincide with one of four tzolk’in day-names. These four New Year's days were called Year Lords or Year Bearers by most Mesoamerican cultures, and different Native cultures used different sets of Year Bearers with different New Year dates. Any given year had certain characteristics according to the attribute of the day that served as Year Bearer. This progression of the Year Bearers played a major role in what we might call "political astrology"—the prediction of future events through studying the cycles of time. The sets of Year Lords are shown below.

While different civilizations in Mesoamerica used different sets of Year Lords, it is Group 2 which will command our attention. We know from archaeological evidence that the Group 2 Year Lords were used in the great metropolis of Teotihuacan as well as among the Classic Maya of Tikal. And it is this group of Year Lords which is used by the contemporary Maya.

Group 1: Imix, Cimi, Chuen, Cib
Group 2: Caban, Ik, Manik, Eb
Group 3: Ben, Etznab, Akbal, Lamat
Group 4: Muluc, Ix, Cauac, Kan
Group 5: Chicchan, Oc, Men, Ahau

What do I mean when I say that the Year Lords were (and still are) important for political astrology? It’s like this. Manik (K’iche’: Kej) is a year of great power which, the Maya say, will elevate those whose energy is filled with integrity but bring about the downfall of leaders who are corrupt. 1974, the year of Watergate, was a Manik year. Caban (K’iche’: No’j) represents the power of the mind, but the mind is a tricky thing. People are always changing their minds. It is interesting to note that American presidential elections are always held in Caban years. Ik (K’iche’: Iq’) is the most difficult of the Year Lords, for it symbolizes the power of the hurricane. The events of September 11, 2001, as well as the literal hurricane Katrina in 2005, both took place during Ik years. Eb (K’iche’: E) years, signifying the Road of Life, are the mellowest. 1967, with the Summer of Love, was an Eb year
.
Year Lords have a powerful influence upon individual psychology as well. The Lord of the Year in which we are born is one of the most important elements in a Mayan horoscope, defining four distinct personality types. It is interesting to note that Carl Jung also defined the human psyche in terms of four basic types. The names given below for the Mayan day-signs as archetypal indicators of human personality are my own, though based on the standard interpretations of Daykeepers.

Now, the ancient Mayan writings speak of years as “stones,” and the contemporary Maya refer to the Year Lords as cargadores or “bearers” of the “burden” of the years. This image has survived since the days of the Classic Maya, when time was perceived as a man walking down the road of life carrying a heavy basket full of stones which represent the burden of human history.

As some of the Daykeepers are saying:

“These four naguales (day-signs) have been carrying the burden of history for centuries now. It may very well be time for them to set down their weary loads, which must be taken up by a new group of Year Lords.”

The Maya are carefully watching the course of historical events – just like the rest of us, they read the papers and watch the news on TV. They assess the daily news with their rational minds, just as we do, but they also employ intuition, meditation, and spiritual vision in their perception of current events. They sense a shift in the way the Year Lords are behaving. Sometimes the years seem to be marching to a different drummer, as if different archetypes, different naguales, were already at work and making their power known to us. There is an agreement forming among Mayan shamans that, if these changes in the tides of history continue, it is the Group 3 Year Lords that will bear the burden of time during the Fifth World. These four are Ben, Etznab, Akbal and Lamat (K’iche’: Aj, Tijax, Aq’ab’al, Q’anil).

Many of the Maya acknowledge that 2012 will be an important landmark in time-keeping and in the cycles of history. They say that if the year 2012 is a turbulent one, and if the transition to the Fifth World is marked by warlike, revolutionary events, it means that the energy of Etznab (Tijax in K’iche’) is clearly showing himself, and that the Year of the South, 2013, will be a southern Etznab year rather than a southern Ik year, for the tides of history will have shifted and the new Year Lords will be carrying the burden of time. If, on the other hand, 2012 is a relatively peaceful year, it means that the structure of politics and psychology in the Fifth World will remain in harmony with that of the previous Fourth World.

The implications of this are tremendous, for if the Year Lords change, the character of the Fifth World will be much different from that of the Fourth World. The years will no longer take on the personalities of Manik, Eb, Caban and Ik consecutively. Instead, the shape of political events and world trends will be modeled on the personalities of Ben, Etznab, Akbal and Lamat.

The same is true of human psychology. We would still be living in a fourfold world – that much is just as much a core teaching of Mayan spirituality as it is of Jungian psychology – but the Year Lords in individual horoscopes would also change, indicating that the four basic personality types will be different for those who will be born in the Fifth World, which means that human consciousness will indeed undergo a quantum shift.

East, Manik (The Energizer) changes to Akbal (The Lover)
West, Eb (The Path Walker) changes to Lamat (The Seed Bearer)
North, Caban (The Thinker) changes to Ben (The Road Guide)
South, Ik (The Hurricane) changes to Etznab (Warrior and Healer)

Of course, one can raise the question: Who will decide whether or not the tides of history have shifted and whether the Year Lords must change?

And that is a very good question. Mayan spirituality is remarkably democratic in nature. Ultimate religious authorities like popes and Dalai Lamas are a cultural choice, not a spiritual necessity. Daykeepers become celebrated because of their wisdom, their knowledge, and their skill rather than because of any hierarchical rank. Anyone who has spent a great deal of time with traditional Mayan Daykeepers will know that a discussion between Maya priests is a lively debate, not a reading of the rules or a laying down of laws. A great deal of talk and a great many meetings may be necessary before any agreement is reached as to whether or not the psychological and historical shape of the Fifth World is substantially different from that of the Fourth.

This information was first given to me in September of 2010, and I have discussed these issues in time-keeping with Mayan Daykeepers over the period between September and November of that year. It represents the best information that I have at this time. Do with it what you will.

Kenneth Johnson
www.jaguarwisdom.org
Momostenango, Guatemala
November 3, 2010
Nagual 5 Imix, Year 11 Manik