Mesoamerican Calendar

Twice a year, when the lengths of day and night are equal, this pyramid dedicated to “Kukulcan” (or “Quetzalcoatl”) is visited by the feathered serpent god. On every equinox, “Kukulcan” returns to Earth to commune with his worshipers and provide blessings for a full harvest and good health before entering into the sacred water, where he descends through on his way to the underworld, “Xibalba.”

Mesoamericans took their calenders as astronomy serious. Their temples were aligned to meet the needs of a particular god and accurately counted off the days ever year to mark when the god was to be celebrated. The Maya calendar system was also used by the other Mesoamerican nations, such as the Aztecs and the Toltec. They adopted the mechanics of the

The thirteenth B 'ak 'tun on the Maya Calender ended recently on the modern date of December 21, 2012. The following day on December 22 marked the start of the fourteenth B 'ak 'tun of the Maya calendar. The Maya calender continues its count in these cycles for 'octillions ' of years into the distant future.

Octillion (n) - the number that is represented as a one followed by 27 zeros ( 1027 ). 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

The Maya Calender consists of three separate corresponding calenders; the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calender), and the Haab (civil calender).

The Long Count Date

In Maya dating, the date reads from left to right with the 'Long Count ' date coming first, starting with the longest years counts on the left all the way down to the day being marked on the right end, then the 'Tzolkin date ' and then lastly, the 'Haab date '. For example, using the Maya calender numbering system, a typical date would read as: “13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau, 8 Kumku."

“13.0.0.0.0” is the Long Count calendar date,

“4 Ahau” is the Tzolkin calendar date, and

“8 Kumku” is the