EQUINOX 2012

Equinox 2012

Dzibilchaltun & Chichen Itza 

 

These days everyone’s heard of the Maya and their famous Calendar, as well as the up-coming alignment of our solar system with the Galactic Center of the Milky Way on December 21, 2012 - the Winter Solstice.  This date marks the end of the last of 13 Baktuns making up the 5,125 years Mayan “Long Count,” as well as the beginning of a whole new Age! 

Pryamid of Kukulkan in Chichen Itza

This year I had the good fortune of being at two significant Mayan sites known for their astronomical alignments on the Spring Equinox.  The more popular is Chichen Itza in the center of the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.  Its great pyramid is known as the Pyramid of Kukulkan (the Feathered Serpent, also known as Quetzalcoatl in the Aztec tradition).  This pyramid was built 

EQUINOX - 7 triangles of Light

to align with the setting Equinox sun which casts the sun’s rays along the northern steps of this spectacular pyramid in the form of 7 triangles of light and 6 of darkness. Thirteen is the number of Heavens with their 7 days and 6 nights of creation, as well as being the count of days in the Tzolkin of Mayan tradition.  This effect happens ONLY on the Equinoxes (and a couple of days before and after).  In ancient times, ceremonies were performed here by the Mayan shaman-kings to honor the Gods of Heaven on the Equinoxes.  These days it feels more like “a picnic at the beach” with crowds of partiers, rather than sacred processions of plumbed priests.

I had heard that “the light effect” would look like scales of a serpent slithering down the edge of the pyramid toward the carved stone serpent head at the bottom of the pyramid steps, but no movement of the light triangles was discernible, to my disappointment.  However, being at a Mayan ceremonial site a few hours before the actual Spring Equinox of this most significant year was indeed fortuitous.

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Dzibilchaltun's Temple of the Seven Dolls

The next sacred event was held at Dzibilchaltun the following morning, on March 20^th for the first sunrise of the Equinoctial year.  Dzibilchaltun marks the spot where Itzamna, “God of the Sky,” descended to earth to teach and to introduce the First Crystal Skull to the Maya.  The astronomical observatory here is a uniquely squared tower with doorways facing each of the 4 directions.  It is known as the Temple of the Seven Dolls, because when it was excavated, 7 clay figurines were discovered, representing the 7 kings of this once-great ceremonial center.  

Sacbe - Raised White Road

According to well-known Mayan initiate and shaman, LionFire (http://lionfire.co/) in his treatise “Secrets of the Maya Chakra Temples”, The Temple of the Seven Dolls is “dedicated to the transitions of Death and Life, the Sun, Stars and Moon, Time and the Seasons, and stands on the White Road to Enlightenment.”  Indeed the raised sacbe (white road) is still present.  Where great Mayan processions marched to the Temple Observatory for ancient Equinoxes, modern-day pilgrims trod to the same sacred site for ceremony and prayer at this the solar rising of the Great Year of Transition – 2012! 

LionFire tells us that on the day of the Equinoxes, this Astronomical Observatory takes on the name The Temple of the Seven Rays, and links energetically with the Temple of Ra in Egypt.  A “Multidimensional Gate” which transcends time and space is open during the equinoctial sunrise, connecting this ceremonial center with both Egypt and the Pleiades.

EQUINOX Sunrise Shines Through the Doorways

On the Equinox, The Temple is aligned so that the rising sun shines through the east and west doorways for only a few moments at dawn, pouring its sunbeams onto a platform to the west, where there once stood a giant Stele.  Devotees from around the world gathered with local Maya, many dressed in white, to honor the sacred beginnings of this much-touted year.  The sacredness at Dzibilchaltun was palpable.  Welcome to 2012!