The Maya Calendar's 364-Day Short Count: A 256-Year Political Cycle

The Maya Calendar's Moon Goddess and the Eclipse Tables

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the Dresden Codex's eclipse tables, exploring how Maya astronomers predicted solar and lunar eclipses with remarkable accuracy. They discuss the role of the moon goddess Ix Chel, the 177-day eclipse season, and the Long Count dates that marked celestial events. Learn about the 819-day count's connection to eclipses, the glyphs for solar and lunar eclipses, and how these predictions served both practical and ritual purposes. The conversation also touches on the controversial Grolier Codex and its Venus-eclipse correlations. A fascinating look at Maya science and its integration with mythology. #MayaCalendar #EclipseTables #DresdenCodex #IxChel #MayaAstronomy #LongCount #819DayCount #GrolierCodex #VenusCycle #LunarEclipse #SolarEclipse #MayaGlyphs #Mesoamerica #History #FexingoHistory #MayaScience #Mythology #Astronomy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Maya Calendar's 260-Day Cholq'ij: The Cosmic Birth Chart

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the 260-day Cholq'ij calendar, the sacred cycle that Maya daykeepers still use today for divination and naming. They trace its origins to the 260-day human gestation period and its alignment with the agricultural cycle and the zenith passage of the sun. The hosts discuss how each day carries a specific energy, with a name and number combination that forms a unique spiritual signature, similar to a horoscope. They examine the role of the aj k'ij, or daykeeper, who interprets the calendar to guide decisions from planting to marriage. Lucas explains how the Cholq'ij interweaves with the 365-day Haab' to form the 52-year Calendar Round, and how this system was recorded in the Dresden Codex. The conversation highlights the survival of this tradition among modern Maya communities, particularly in Guatemala, where it remains a living practice despite centuries of suppression. The episode also touches on the controversy surrounding the New Age appropriation of the Cholq'ij as a tool for personal transformation, and how indigenous daykeepers view the calendar as a sacred, community-oriented system. #Cholqij #MayaCalendar #260DayCount #Tzolkin #AjKij #Daykeeper #Divination #MayaCosmology #DresdenCodex #Haab #CalendarRound #ZenithPassage #GestationPeriod #Mesoamerica #Guatemala #LivingMaya #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Maya Calendar's 364-Day Short Count: A 256-Year Political Cycle

Most people think of the Maya Long Count when they hear 'Maya calendar', but the Classic Maya also tracked time in a 364-day cycle called the 'Short Count' — a repeating 13-K'atun period that structured political prophecy for over 256 years. This episode dives into how the Short Count was used to predict the rise and fall of dynasties, legitimize rulers, and even forecast conquest. We explore the famous cycle of K'atun 8 Ajaw, which marked the fall of Mayapán in the 15th century, and how the Chilam Balam books recorded these prophecies centuries later. Lucas and Luna discuss the role of the aj k'ij (daykeepers) in interpreting these cycles, the colonial-era manipulation of the Short Count by Spanish friars like Diego de Landa, and the surprising survival of this calendar system among modern Maya communities. We also examine the controversy around whether the Short Count was truly predictive or merely retrofitted to fit historical events. Listeners will learn how the Maya used time not as a linear arrow but as a recurring spiral — and how that worldview shaped their politics, warfare, and religion. #MayaCalendar #ShortCount #13K'atun #Mayapán #K'atun8Ajaw #ChilamBalam #DiegoDeLanda #AjK'ij #MayaProphecy #PostclassicMaya #Yucatán #Mesoamerica #MayaHistory #Timekeeping #ColonialMaya #MayaReligion #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

The Maya Calendar and the 819-Day Count: A Cosmic Puzzle

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the enigmatic 819-day count of the Maya calendar, a cycle tied to Jupiter, Saturn, and a four-directional planetary system. They discuss how this count was used in rituals, the role of the god Chak Ek' (Venus as a war deity), and the recent breakthrough by anthropologists John Linden and Victoria Bricker in deciphering its alignment with the synodic periods of Jupiter and Saturn over a 45-year period. The conversation also touches on the Maya's sophisticated understanding of planetary cycles, the 819-day count's appearance in the Dresden Codex, and its connection to the b'ak'tun endings. This episode offers a fresh look at a lesser-known but crucial aspect of Maya astronomy, avoiding the overdone 2012 apocalypse narrative. #MayaCalendar #819DayCount #ChakEk #DresdenCodex #JohnLinden #VictoriaBricker #Jupiter #Saturn #MayaAstronomy #Mesoamerica #AncientAstronomy #Tikal #MayaGlyphs #PlanetaryCycles #SynodicPeriod #History #FexingoHistory #MayaCulture Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Maya Calendar's Wayeb': The Five Unlucky Days

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the Wayeb', the five nameless, perilous days at the end of the Maya Haab' calendar. They discuss how the Maya viewed this period as a time when the world teetered on the edge of chaos, when portals between the living and the dead opened, and when ordinary rules of time and society were suspended. Lucas explains the rituals performed to ward off misfortune, including fasting, abstinence, and the burning of copal incense, drawing on evidence from Diego de Landa's writings and the Madrid Codex. The conversation also touches on how the Wayeb' was integrated into the longer Calendar Round cycle, and how modern Maya communities in Guatemala still observe this tradition, calling it the 'lost days'. Lucas shares a specific example from the highland K'iche' Maya, where the aj k'ij (day keeper) continues to guide communities through this dangerous liminal period. The episode connects the Wayeb' to the broader Maya understanding of time as cyclical and inherently risky, where even the gods themselves had to navigate periods of potential dissolution. #MayaCalendar #Wayeb' #Haab' #MayaCosmology #DiegoDeLanda #MadridCodex #AjK'ij #K'iche' #CalendarRound #Tzolk'in #Copal #Mesoamerica #AncientRituals #MayaReligion #TimeCycles #History #FexingoHistory #Maya Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]