[Aztlan] Cyclical Nature of Maya Chronology

[Hubert Smith]

It has always been my understanding that the Maya viewed time as a cycle with certain events belonging to, perhaps, a great wheel but not necessarily pegged to it.

For example, the milpa cycle is unchanging and cyclical, yet one may or may not fell forest, may or may not burn, or plant, or weed, or harvest;  unless and until conditions permit.

My experience seems to indicate that field prayers are not so much pleadings as they are "notifications" which mark both compliance and an expectation that such compliance will be rewarded. Likewise, a rain ceremony's success doesn't rise or fall on an immediate downpour, but it does reassure the participants that they have increased the likelihood that a watery event on the wheel will occur in a timely fashion.

My image during such ceremonies has often been that of giving that great wheel a "nudge."


Hubert Smith