Research on Mayan Calendar

Mayan calendar has fascinated not only scholars and archaeologists, but also others interested in its mystical and esoteric dimensions. Because the Mayan calendar and associated hieroglyphic texts refer to an "end date" corresponding to 2012 in the Gregorian system, many people believed that the Mayans had predicted the end of the world (Lorenzi, 2012, p. 1). Yet recent archaeological evidence shows that the Mayan concept of an "end date" did not necessarily imply a "doomsday" scenario (Lorenzi, 2012, p. 1). Although the apocalyptic vision never did come to pass and has been disproven, the Mayan calendar continues to captivate and fascinate because of the mystery surrounding its use and its level of sophistication.

One of the most intriguing aspects of the Mayan calendar is its level of sophistication and accuracy. According to the Canadian Museum of History (n.d.), the Mayan calendar originated in the first century BCE but is actually "more exact than the standard calendar the world uses today," (p. 1). Indeed, it is difficult to believe that the imperfect Gregorian calendar has become the global standard instead of the Mayan calendar. The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (2014) offers an online conversion application allowing users to input any date from the Gregorian calendar and have it converted into Mayan terms. This shows that it may still be possible to use the Mayan calendar in the modern world. Indeed, Mayan shamans continue to use their ancient calendar system in specific contexts such as for determining the dates for ceremonies (Canadian Museum of History, n.d.).

Moreover, Mesoamerican calendar systems like the Mayan calendar are the most sophisticated of any other due to their use of overlapping systems, one of which is non-linear or non-sequential (Canadian Museum of History, n.d.; Rice, 2009). One of the systems is based on a 260-day cycle, and the other, on a 365-day cycle. It is unclear whether these two systems evolved simultaneously or separately and then later combined (Rice, 2009). Time is an inherently mystical concept, but the Mayans seemed to have discovered a means by which to unify the different functions of a calendar. For example, the Mayan calendar is in part based on the harvest seasons corresponding to changes that occur throughout the year and repeat annually. Yet solar and other celestial phenomena like solstices and equinoxes, as well as moon phases, also help to demarcate blocks of time (Rice, 2009). The calendar was also used to mark important ritualistic or social events (Rice, 2009). For this reason, the dual nature of the Mayan calendar is highly complex. Its admission of non-linear as well as linear time becomes another reason the Mayan calendar remains more appealing than most ancient or even modern calendar systems.

The Mayan calendar system was more than just a method of keeping time; it also corresponds to other aspects of the ancient culture, especially its literature, architecture, and cosmology. For example, Rice (2009) describes how the Mayan calendar corresponds with the ancient Popol Vuh text. The text incorporates elements from the celestial systems the calendar reports, and puts those astronomical elements in the context of Mayan religious cosmology and pantheon. Aveni (2003) notes that massive Mayan edifices such as pyramids were constructed in strict alignment to celestial phenomena leading to what some archaeologists call an "orientation calendar" for the construction of Mayan cities (p. 159). Thus, the Mayan calendar permeated all aspects of life in ancient Mesoamerica. The means by which the two calendars overlap in the Mayan system also illustrates the "relationship among all things, including the animals, the land, humans, and everything in the cosmos," (cited by the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, 2014, p. 1).

Interestingly, there may also be a political dimension to the Mayan calendar that is not immediately apparent. The Canadian Museum of History, for instance, points out that the Mayan calendar links the actions of kings and other rulers to mythical events. Kings could therefore anchor their leadership in cosmology. This would bolster the authority of the kings, which would have been viewed as theocrats ordained by the gods to lead the people. The Mayan calendar allowed kings and priests to have authority over social events and ritual. In fact, the "end date" predicted by the calendar and associated hieroglyphic literature may have referred to the completion of the reign of one of the Mayan kings (Lorenzi, 2012). The calendar may also have been used to assuage public fears during times of crisis, as the system reveals cycles and shows that crisis periods are eventually overcome with time (Lorenzi, 2012). However, the ordinary Mayan people would not necessarily have understood the intricacies of the system. In the same way, contemporary "calendar priests" continue to preserve the system while keeping its information secret (Canadian Museum of History, n.d.).