The Complete Idiot's Guide to 2012 - Dr. Synthia Andrews Nd [41]
North Star
The wobble also means that the star with the most northern position, the North Star, is not always the same star. It changes over the course of the precession. Right now the North Star is Polaris. Around the time Homer wrote Iliad and Odyssey, the North Star was Kochab. The North Star of the ancient Egyptians in 2700 B.C.E. was Thuban in the constellation Draco. Around 3000 C.E., Polaris will change to Gamma Cephei. Vega will become the North Star by 14000 C.E.
The God of the North Star was an important god to the Maya. He guided merchants and was the center pole in the creation myth of raising the sky. The Maya also have a myth about the time the North Star god fell from the sky. Were they describing the changing of the North Star?
The Ecliptic Path
The tilt of the axis not only scribes a circle around the celestial North Pole, it also draws the path the sun and planets travel when they cross the sky. The ecliptic path passes through the equator twice a year. When the sun crosses the equator, it marks the equinoxes.
The ecliptic was represented in Mayan cosmology as part of the Sacred Tree of Life. If you remember the symbolism of the Sacred Tree from Chapter 2, the Tree creates a connection between the three worlds: the underworld, the earth, and the heavens. The Sacred Tree was seen in the sky as the crossing point of the ecliptic with the Milky Way. The trunk of the tree, the Axis Mundi, is the Milky Way, and the main branch intersecting the tree is the plane of the ecliptic. The intersection was considered the sacred doorway or portal between the worlds. The crossing of the ecliptic with the Milky Way was known to the Maya as the Crossroads.
Mayan Creation and the Precession of the Equinox
Many researchers believe the Mayan creation stories are linked to the precession of the equinox. The precession is a Grand Cycle of 25,630 years. It’s made up of 5 Great Cycles of 5,126 years each. There are two versions of how the creation story is linked. In the first version, each world in the creation story equals a Great Cycle (baktun) of 5,126 years. The five worlds, or ages, together equal one precession cycle. In this view, we are in the fifth age of creation and are completing the end of one Grand Cycle. This is the most commonly held view.
In the second version, a Mayan creation age is equal to one entire precession cycle. Each of the five subdivisions of the Great Cycles is called a “Sun,” which is different from an age or world. In this version, we are in the fifth sun of the fourth world.
Celestial Connection
You’ve probably seen images of the famous Aztec sunstone calendar. The sunstone is actually older than the Aztec civilization; the Aztec borrowed it from the earlier Izapa/ Olmec culture. It was brought to fame when the huge Aztec rendition was found in the pre-Columbian ruins of what is now Mexico City. The sunstone depicts the five ages of creation. The four previous ages are located in the four square boxes around the center circle. The figure in the center represents the fifth and final age. Some think we are in the fifth age; others feel that we are in the fourth age preparing to enter the center spot of the fifth age.
The Milky Way
The Milky Way was central to the mythology of the Maya. It was the main component to the Sacred Tree of Life. But before we look at the significance of the Milky Way, let’s take a closer look at galaxies in general. How much do you know about galaxies and how they act? It’s pretty neat!
Galaxies
Galaxies are large systems of stars along with their orbiting solar systems, space debris, comets, dust, etc. Everything in a galaxy is held together