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9.5.1.2.5
Possible Origins of the Calendar Cycles |
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The origin of the various calendar cycles is not known precisely to us. The Sacred Calendar cycle of 260 days can be viewed as a product of 20 and 13. Given a fingers-and-toes origin for 20, the question becomes one of explaining the origin of 13. In the Old World, this number can occur as the number of lunar months in a solar year, but such an explanation makes no sense in the context of stylized 20-day months. The Maya, however, conceived of their Zodiac as consisting of 13 constellations or stations. Maya cosmology likewise conceives of a heaven of 13 layers. |
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A second possibility is that the number 260 may be original, and 13 derivative. The Maya may have been thinking of the human body for this number as well. The average length of time between conception and birth in humans is 266 days. Maya women still associate the tzolkin with the human gestation period. Another possible explanation may be found in the average interval of appearance of Venus, which is 263 days. |
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A fourth possibility is connected to the particular geographical position of the Maya homeland. In the tropics, at 14.5°N latitude, the noonday sun spends about 105 days north of the overhead position and 260 days south of that position. In the tropics, the zenith is more important to an observer than the celestial pole. |
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9.5.1.2.6
Some Additional Relationships |
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The Maya, like all early traditional societies, had an all-encompassing cosmology, which related the significant aspects of life by what moderns would regard as religious connections. Some of the cycles and connections between directions and colors in the Maya cosmic scheme are the subject of one of the test programs, DTLT_064. The concerned functions are hard-coded in that program, since the relationships are experimental at the time of writing and not proven. The functions are therefore not added to the official SCDTL stable, but are included as indicators of directions for some further research. |
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9.5.2. 9.5.4
Code on CD-ROM |
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See the SCDTL text on the CD for the discussion of the code. |
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The calendars of India are another interesting departure from traditional Western concepts. There are two classes of Indian calendar which are of interest: |
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The traditional Indian calendars, of which there are a very large number. These are generally astrological in nature, and rather difficult to implement. |
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The recent civil calendar, which is relatively simple to implement. |
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The current SCDTL system implements the civil calendar only. This text discusses the earlier traditional calendars as necessary background. |
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