There were 186 (= 6 * 31) days from FEBRUARY 1 (32) to Spica (218), from the midnight culmination of Regulus to the midnight culmination of Sadalmelik, from the 1st Babylonian ecliptic constellation to its 20th and last, from Mother Earth still and submerged to her 'girdle':
This half year was evidently beginning with 'death' generating twin fishes and an octopus:
Metoro sometimes said heke (octopus) and sometimes mauga (last) at the type of glyph in Gb7-20. My statistical analysis indicated the glyph type should be named mauga. And mauga (last) fits well here, because at the time of the First Point of Aries this was day 360 counted from the previous 0h - i.e. it was the last regular day in the calendar.
Ana-nia (the pillar to fish by) was a central star, preceding the Front of the Head of Ku (Mahrū-sha-rishu-ku), which later turned into the First Point of Aries. In the following day the head heart of the 3rd and last of this type of rising fish was fruitful. We can compare with the earlier presentation, where the glyph numbers agree with the number of days beyond 0h at the time of Hyades II. The neck is thicker in Gb4-5 (96 / 325) than in Gb7-22 (96 + 107 / 325 + 107), where the neck instead is taller.
325 days from the beginning of side a was FEBRUARY 9 (40) and FEBRUARY 9 (40) was also 144 (May 24) - 104 (April 14) = 40 days before the beginning of side a. 325 + 40 = 365. 329 days from the beginning of side a was FEBRUARY 13 (*329) and FEBRUARY 13 (*329) was also 144 (May 24) - 108 (April 18) = 36 days before the beginning of side a. 329 + 36 = 365. 472 - 365 = 107 and April 17 (107) was the day when the Sun reached 0h at the time of Sheratan (at the time of Julius Caesar). This was the First Point of Aries and a point is stretching down in front both in Gb7-25 (where 72 * 5 = 360) and in Gb4-8. 327 days from the beginning of side a was FEBRUARY 11 (*327) and FEBRUARY 11 (*327) was also 144 (May 24) - 106 (April 16) = 38 days before the beginning of side a. 327 + 2 * 19 = 365. AUGUST 15 (227) ought to indicate π and Gb7-22 could represent its mirror image, 4 + 183 = 187 days earlier. 227 - 187 = 40. This is a weak argument for beginning the cycle at Gb7-22 rather than at Gb4-5. Another such argument is to point out that should the cycle begin at Gb4-5 (96), then it can hardly continue for more than 107 days (when it would collide with FEBRUARY 9 at Gb7-22 (203). This seems to say that the Sun cycle measured around 364 days and the rest of the text, 107 days, was something else.
... On February 9 the Chorti Ah K'in, 'diviners', begin the agricultural year. Both the 260-day cycle and the solar year are used in setting dates for religious and agricultural ceremonies, especially when those rituals fall at the same time in both calendars. The ceremony begins when the diviners go to a sacred spring where they choose five stones with the proper shape and color. These stones will mark the five positions of the sacred cosmogram created by the ritual. When the stones are brought back to the ceremonial house, two diviners start the ritual by placing the stones on a table in a careful pattern that reproduces the schematic of the universe. At the same time, helpers under the table replace last year's diagram with the new one. They believe that by placing the cosmic diagram under the base of God at the center of the world they demonstrate that God dominates the universe. The priests place the stones in a very particular order. First the stone that corresponds to the sun in the eastern, sunrise position of summer solstice is set down; then the stone corresponding to the western, sunset position of the same solstice. This is followed by stones representing the western, sunset position of the winter solstice, then its eastern, sunrise position. Together these four stones form a square. They sit at the four corners of the square just as we saw in the Creation story from the Classic period and in the Popol Vuh. Finally, the center stone is placed to form the ancient five-point sign modern researchers called the quincunx ... |
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