MEXICAN CALENDARS—SPINDEN 
becomes December 11, 580 B. C., in 
our Gregorian calendar and _ its 
365820-day addition leads to July 11, 
A. D. 422, which is just 3850 tun after 
Maya zero. At the outset all five 
planets known to the Maya were 
standing within 63° in the morning 
sky. Mercury and Venus were in 
close conjunction, and Mars nearby; 
all three at heliacal rising, or 
first appearance before the sun, 
Jupiter and Saturn were higher in the 
sky: but what a send-off! It justifies 
the sidereal measurements deduced 
abstractly for Saturn, Venus, and 
Mars. I append Muses’ calculation: 
TaBLe 2.—Planetary positions for 7D 1504564, 
GMT noon +0.5 
Longitudes 
Siete 514 Gee BOn AOD OHIS CipmiClOCiare 260.3° 
IMAGO icponeheusss) stops fae io seidl's okakeret 11.0° 
IMMERGLIN7S Slylaloulsnace usopoocdc 242.0° 
IWIETAUSH Ree ernks 2 orci chorale is tevere siete reps 240.7° 
Wirarshy.\ atcaters, cae ata cies of atetelee's 250.8° 
OBIS Gob ouroddemononOooUGS 2ie42 
Satna 13a) e49 & elec ovata o eeals 1S7e5e 
Configurations 
1. Venus, Mercury, and Mars (the first 
two exact within 2°) in conjunction at 
heliacal rising. 
2. Jupiter in conjunction with North 
Scale (B. Librae) within 1°. 
3. Moon in opposition to Saturn within 
1° at Yucatan noon. 
Nore: At Yucatan noon, the moon changes 
longitude approximately to 8.5° instead of 
11° as given. 
We must pass on, although many 
corridors lead out from that planetary 
rendezvous. One concerns the Sup- 
plementary Series, old enigma now 
solved down to the last legible ex- 
ample. Suffice to say that the Copan 
formula is concerned but not as 
Teeple thought. Its 18th multiple 
amounts to 11 katun which produces 
a good eclipse interval when 1 day is 
added. Priestcraft intentionally re- 
10-18-8-16-— 4 3 Kan 
1-16 
190—18—-9—.0—.0 13 Ahau 
16- 0 
10-18-9-16- 0 1 Ahau 
18 Uo 
18 Kayab 
397 
tained the error in counting forward 
from ancient eclipses of the moon 
presumably to get a thaumaturgic 
anticipation of contemporary ones. 
The warped lunar days vary in rela- 
tion to the number of times 11 katun 
is employed. 
The first Supplementary Series oc- 
curs on April 5, A. D. 97 recorded on 
Stela 18 at Uaxactun. A visible solar 
eclipse preceded this Katun 16 of 
Baktun 8 by 7 days and a visible lunar 
eclipse followed it in 8 days. 
A New Date at Dzibilnocac 
The bench-mark date plus 11 days 
puts O Pop, Maya New Year, close 
to the winter solstice. The assemblage 
of planets had its bearing on the 
establishment of the Maya calendar 
equipped with month positions. The 
meanings of month names and the 
symbolism of month signs at this time 
make the calendar conform with the 
seasons. At this time, also, a Venus 
calendar was being organized. 
The grand round of the Maya 
calendar returning months to their 
original places in the tropical year 
requires 29 calendar rounds of 52 
years each, or 1,508 calendar years 
as the equivalent of 1,507 tropical 
years. Now Venus repeats her phases 
in 251 tropical years; six of these 
cycles are 1,506 tropical years or 1 
year less than the grand round 
mentioned above. 
The only reasonably certain date on 
a Maya building of the Intermediate 
Period is the abbreviated one on a 
capstone of the fine Two-towered 
Temple at Dzibilnocac. The paint- 
ing shows a Venus god emptying a 
bag of maize. I read this date as 
Year-bearer 3 Kan in Tun 9. A 
reference to the opening date of Venus 
Calendar A is assumed. 
2 Pop Dees257 A 3933. 
Jan. 26, A. D. 934. 
Nov. 24, A. D. 934, 
