[Aztlan] Cipactli and Venus

[Karen Bassie]

<>Way back in 1977, when Dave Kelley taught me the Maya calendar, the 
chart he used began the tzolk'in list with Imix. Most modern charts do 
begin with Imix because when demonstrating the structure of the tzolk'in 
and the long count, it is handy to show that the coefficient in the k'in 
position of the long count indicates what the tzolk'in day name for the 
date will be. As Aaron noted, a coefficient of 1 indicates the date will 
be Imix, a 2 coefficient indicates Ik etc. So it would seem logical to 
assume that Imix was the first day in the tzolk'in and that 1 Imix was 
the first date. But if you asked an ancient Maya to count out the day 
names would he begin with 1 Imix?
Like Lloyd, I have thought about how the day names and numbers could be 
related to a primordial narrative. Of course, there are interesting 
parallels between the Maya 260 day cycle and Aztec and Mixtec cycles 
that suggest that very ancient concepts were associated with each day.
Dave Stuart's recognition that the day name cartouches are the sign for 
blood made me wonder if this was connected to the K'iche' divination 
beliefs in which the messages from the day lords are transmitted to the 
diviner through the "lightning" in the blood of the diviner. Barbara 
Tedlock has discussed how K'iche' diviners believe that they have a 
soul-like essence in their blood in the form of sheet lightning. There 
are so many intriguing aspects about the Maya calendar.
I do presentations on the Maya at my daughter's school. I find it most 
disheartening that almost none of the students know anything about 
Mesoamerican cultures, but they all know that the world is suppose to 
end in 2012.
This year the topic of the University of Calgary's annual Chac Mool 
conference is Archaeology in the Public Eye. The focus is on the 
relevancy and portrayal of archaeology to the public as well as the ways 
in which archaeology and society affect each other. I am sure there will 
be papers that deal with the Maya calendar for anyone interested in this 
topic.