Many scholars concerned with the ancient Mayan civilization wondered about an alleged prophecy according to which the world as we know it, that is, as we imagine it, would come to an end on the day of the winter solstice of the Gregorian year 2012, as such is counted from the date on which, according to the Catholic Church, Jesus of Nazareth was born.
Mayan culture researchers concluded that, according to the ancient wisdom, a great cataclysm would wipe out the world on December 21, 2012, based on a possible measurement of the time elapsed since its creation, which the Mesoamerican sages calculated as having occurred in a date equivalent to 3,113 BC. To them, the Great Cycle of time would consist of 5,126 terrestrial years, which would conclude on the aforementioned date.
The alleged Mayan prophecy of the world ending by the end of 2012, was reinforced by an eventual astral phenomenon known as alignment, of our planet with the galactic center, capable of altering the energy vibrations to such a level as to bring about a great catastrophe; and, as a consequence of it, a New Era would emerge in the history of humanity.
Beyond all these speculations, and their logical-scientific foundation, there is irrefutable evidence of the intellectual, cultural and spiritual development of the Mayan civilization. Central American culture reached high levels of knowledge in the areas of mathematics and astronomy. They built extraordinary observatories, and made sophisticated calendars of great precision, which they applied in the integration of agricultural, economic, spiritual and religious life.
Aside from the Moon and the Sun, one of the celestial bodies that the Mayans took as a prime reference for their measurement of time and space was the planet Venus, which they personified and, also, to which they attributed spiritual power. It is the planet closest and most similar to Earth. For that reason, it exceeds in splendor, by more than five times, the brightest star.
Although Venus’ orbit is smaller than that of the Earth, and its “year” shorter than ours, its synodic cycle, as measured from a lower conjunction with the Sun to the next conjunction, consists of 584 days. Every five synodic cycles, that is, every 8 years, the conjunction takes place again in the same zone of the heavens, constituting a cycle of greater extension.
Venus resembles a very bright star that furrows the heavens near the Sun. It plays significant roles: announcing the arrival of the day, when it appears in the east, shortly before dawn; and it is a prelude to dusk, when it shows itself in the west, shortly after twilight. It performs each of these roles for 260 continuous days, the same time required for human gestation (between 255 and 265 days); also, constituting one of the units of Mayan time (20 units of 13 days each).
The planet that shares its name with the Roman goddess of Love and Beauty, and represents femininity, went into retrograde motion on last Saturday the 4th, and will remain in that mode until the coming April 15. In that period, Venus will join the Sun (March 25) a few days after the Equinox, culminating the cycle that commenced on August 15, 2015, and beginning the cycle that will be effective in the following 584 days.
On the very day of the confluence of the sidereal and synodic cycles of Venus, it becomes invisible and modifies its location in the heavens, to later reappear as the morning star, for the following nine months. The heavenly body of love will offer these phenomena to us, as a subtle indication of the intimate processes that we have to go through.
In its six weeks of retrograde motion the meaning of the planet Venus is altered. It usually represents everything we value, its spiritual, moral and material dimension: feelings, desires, pleasure, aesthetics, seduction, union, possessions and money.
Now, while it remains in retrograde motion, Venus offers us the opportunity to re-live that which affects us most, and which we value most; to re-think that which we want and long for the most, and to re-elaborate our love relationships with others and with life. Obstacles to the expression of feelings may also emerge; affective re-encounters, memories, nostalgia and melancholy; hardships or economic losses; and yearning for times of abundance and pleasure already gone.
A few years after the Mayan-announced end of the world, we stumble upon the decadence of the civilizing achievements and the regression of love and solidarity expressions of former times. The retrograde motion of Venus brings us back to that which could have been but was not. It confronts us with our values and with those which humanity stands for; all, as a herald to a world that ends, and to another one that is suffering labor pains.
Translated by Jorge Pardo Febres-Cordero, Certified Official Public Translator (Spanish-English-Spanish) – [email protected]
Photo Credits: Stephen Rahn