3. The Aztec
Stone of
Axayacatl,
a. k. a.
Sun Stone,
or
“Calendar
Stone.”

4. The Aztec
Stone of
Axayacatl,
a. k. a.
Sun Stone,
or
“Calendar
Stone.”
Original colors.
Dated (at top)
13-Reed
(“13 Acatl”)
= 1479 AD.

5. Translation:
“Do not use
after
21 DEC
2O12.
Please
dispose of
properly.”

6. Rain and Cenotes are the only sources of water in Yucatan

7. What Could Happen on Dec. 21, 2012?
Main fears:
• “End of the Maya Calendar”
…If not the END, at least a Major Change…
• ”Return of Quetzalcoatl”
• “Polar Reversal”
• ”Galactic Alignment”——>
• Famine, war, pollution, etc.

8. What Could Happen on Dec. 21, 2012?
Astronomical Events:
• Transit of Venus: 6 June 2012
• Solar Maximum: Late 2011 or 2012
>
• Winter Solstice
• “Galactic Alignment”
…Earth-Sun-Galactic Equator
Photo: NOAA

9. What Could Happen on Dec. 21, 2012?
Astronomical Events:
• Transit of Venus: 6 June 2012
• Solar Maximum: Late 2011 or 2012
>
• Winter Solstice
• “Galactic Alignment”
…Earth-Sun-Galactic Equator
Photo: NOAA

10. What Could Happen on Dec. 21, 2012?
Actual Maya Texts:
• Long Count date is 13.0.0.0.0. At
beginning of our Creation, (5125 yrs, 133 days
earlier) the date was the same.
• TRT Mon. 6: Bolon Yokte’ gets dressed.
• Chilam Balam: The “Quetzal”, Ah Kantenal,
K’uk’ulkan (Quetzalcoatl), and “Blood-Vomit”
come every 256 years.

11. Tortuguero Mon. 6
Late 7th century AD
< 4 Ajaw 3 K’ank’in
(21st Dec., 2012)

12. What Could Happen on Dec. 21, 2012?
Actual Maya Texts:
• Long Count date is 13.0.0.0.0. At
beginning of our Creation, (5125 yrs, 133 days
earlier) the date was the same.
• TRT Mon. 6: Bolon Yokte’ gets dressed.
• Chilam Balam: The “Quetzal”, Ah Kantenal,
K’uk’ulkan (Quetzalcoatl), and “Blood-Vomit”
come every 256 years.

13. “End of 13 Bak’tuns” (13.0.0.0.0)
On 4-Ajaw, in
3114 BC Creation (left)
Chilam Balam of Chumayel prophecy
& in 2012 (right) For K’atun 4 Ajaw (score of years)
“End” = red/purple, 13 = blue, Ending in 1500, 1756, and 2012.
“Bak’tun” = green

14. 5 Reasons Why We Should Doubt
the “Maya Prophecies”:
Not much data
Contradictory
Manipulated (no scriptures)
Scholars disagree
Maya never corrected errors

15. 4 More Reasons Why We Should
Doubt the “Maya Prophecies”:
No mention of destruction
Life & calendar continue to 4772 AD
Solstices not significant
Only 1% penetration

16. Palenque Temple of Inscriptions: West Panel (final third of text)

22. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 1

23. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 2

24. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 3

25. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 4

26. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 5

27. Mesoamerican Linguistic & Cultural Diversity - 6

28. The Precolumbian World Tree:
Metaphor with a Thousand Faces
Ajaw/King = Ceiba Tree
= Maize
= a Celt
= a Stela
= Milky Way Galaxy
Snake = Sky = Ecliptic
Mesoamerican World trees communicate to heaven,
give birth, or support the corners of the cosmos.

29. Young, “pregnamt” ceiba Mature ceiba
(Mayan yax che = “green tree” …note branches aimed at caradinal points)

30. The Precolumbian World Tree:
Metaphor with a Thousand Faces
Ajaw/King = Ceiba Tree
<< = Maize .
= a Celt
= a Stela
= Milky Way Galaxy
Snake = Sky = Ecliptic
Mesoamerican World trees communicate to heaven,
give birth, or support the corners of the cosmos.

31. The Precolumbian World Tree:
Metaphor with a Thousand Faces
Ajaw/King = Ceiba Tree
= Maize
= a Celt >>
= a Stela
= Milky Way Galaxy
Snake = Sky = Ecliptic
Mesoamerican World trees communicate to heaven,
give birth, or support the corners of the cosmos.

32. The Precolumbian World Tree:
Metaphor with a Thousand Faces
Ajaw/King = Ceiba Tree
= Maize
= a Celt
= a Stela >>
= Milky Way Galaxy
Snake = Sky = Ecliptic
Mesoamerican World trees communicate to heaven,
give birth, or support the corners of the cosmos.

33. Tikál: two views of Stela 39, above
Stela 31, left.

34. Codex-Style Vase: Itzam-Ye, the Celestial Bird

36. Typical
Mesoamerican
“Pregnant” Ceiba trees
[Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena]
Incensarios

37. Right, above: Izapa St. 25.
Left: San Bartolo Murals, West wall.
Both ca. 100 - 50 BCE.
Drawings: (R) Linda Schele, (L) Heather Hurst

39. A World Tree connects the
Underworld with Heaven
and the Earth.
A Maya ruler’s most important function
was connecting his people to the gods.
Innumerable Maya monuments portray a
ruler performing this ceremony.

40. The serpent can be
“living,”or fleshless.
Usually, the vision
was God K,
or K’awiil (blue).
Typical Maya Vision-Serpent-bars: Copan St. H , Bonampak Lintel 6
Typical interpretation: Maya king is Milky Way/World Tree; Vision-Serpent-bar is ecliptic. Drawings by Linda

41. Copan Stelae
A and B,
8th Century AD.
The king in
ceremonial pose
as a World Tree,
holding a
Serpent-bar
across his chest.

42. Copan Stela A, Sun god vision, ca. 731
All photographs of Copan Stelae by Linda Schele; hand-tinting by MV

43. Copan
Stela
N,
two
diff-
erent
vision
gods
Next
slide:
Copan
Stela
P,
Padd-
ler
Gods

45. Left:
Copan
Stela
H,
Vision:
K’awiil
Right:
San
Fran-
cisco
Stela,
Vision:
K’awiil

46. Night Sky: Milky Way & Ecliptic photo from www.artideas.com/Why2012

47. The “Dark Rift” in the Milky Way, taken from False Kiva, Arizona
Photograoh by Wally Pacholka

49. Naranjo Stela 12,
photo & drawing,
at right,
& Coba Stela 1
drawing,
coming…

50. Naranjo Stela 12,
photo & drawing,
at right

51. Maya Mythic Symbols
are very different from ours.
Some meanings associated with the Tree:
Mother, Nourisher, Sky-Supporter,
Divine Homeland Indicator & National symbol.
We must be very, very careful not to project our own
values onto Maya myth, propaganda, and art.

52. The Maya Had No Inerrant Scripture.
Imagine Adam being the one who first bit the
Apple,
while Eve refused complicity in his Sin.
Or that Jesus fathered children.
Or Abraham’s Sacrifice

53. L. Vienna Codex p. 37. ^ R: Dresden Codex p. 69a. >
Both Late Postclassic, ca. 1500 CE/AD

54. ‘Dragon-roots’ in Izapa Stela 25 & Dresden Codex p. 69a.

55. Tepantitla Murals, Teotihuacán, Great Goddess Tree, with acolytes. Early Classic, ca. 500 CE.
Butterflies are the souls of dead soldiers; Spiders are spinners. This is a Male-Female or Duality Tree.

57. L. Tepantitla Murals, Teotihuacán, Great Goddess Tree,
Early Classic, ca. 500 CE. Male-Female tree, like Vienna p. 37.
R. San Bartolo, West Wall, Tree of the Center(?),
Late Preclassic, ca. 50 BCE. Twinned, twined fruit trees, Bird atop
Drawings: (L) Linda Schele, (R) Heather Hurst

58. Photos: National Geographic,
Mauricio Alcaraz Carbia.
4 Voladores
spin 13 times
round the pole.
Voladores, Tajin (Veracruz), & Cuetzala (Puebla)

61. West
East
Borgia Codex p. 52 - South Tree page. R: details of West (top), East, & South
Trees.

62. Borgia Codex
late Postclassic,
ca. 1500 CE,
p. 53 -
Center Tree page,
with Quetzal
perched on a
Maize stalk,
flanked by two gods
performing
penis-sacrifice.
Next slide:
Palenque, lid of
Sarcophagus of
Pakal,
ca. 683 AD/CE

64. Tablet
of the
Cross,
Palenque,
ca. 702.
Bloodletter
marked
red.
The
serpent
draped
through the
Cross
consists
here of a
string of
large
beads.

65. Tablet
of the
Foliated
Cross,
Palenque,
ca. 702.
Bloodletter
marked
red
Celestial
Bird green

67. Borgia Codex, Page 50, the (dual) Tree of the North. Ca. 1500 AD/CE

68. Flag of Mexico

69. Teocalli de la
Guerra Sagrada,
an Aztec temple effigy-
throne, 1502-1520.
Eagle with Atl-tlachinolli
“water & burning fields” = “water
& fire,” instead of snake

72. L: Codex
Mendoza
Above:
Date 1-Death,
from side of
Teocalli de la
Guerra Sagrada

74. Ancient Maya painting of a Royal Court scene
Rollout photo by Justin Kerr <mavavase.com>

75. Ancient Maya painting of a Royal Court scene
Rollout photo by Justin Kerr <mavavase.com>

76. Incensario &
Royal mirror-holder(?),
Early classic,
Waxaktun
or Kaminajuyú

77. Ancient Maya painting of a Royal Court scene
Rollout photo by Justin Kerr <mavavase.com>

78. Quirigua Stelae E & D,
& Stela C, the “Creation Stela”

79. What happened at the
last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation
gives us a clue as to
what was expected at
the next one.
“The Count of the Years (is)
13 Pik, 0 Winikhaab,
0 Haab, 0 Winik,
0 K’in. (On) 4 Ajaw,
on the 8th day of Kumk’u,
(the hearth) was manifested, …”
—Quirigua Stela C east,
dedicated 29 December 775 CE
Drawings of Quirigua Monuments by Prof. Matt Looper,
Photos on previous slide by Linda Schele

80. I’m gonna show you a little how
decipherment works, so you know where
we epigraphers are coming from.
We use distributed analysis, a technique of
comparing parallel texts which has been
very productive in understanding Maya
hieroglyphic inscriptions.
We’ll use the Quirigua Stela C Creation
story as an example, because it mirrors the
2012 event: they (apparently) share the
same Long Count date 13.0.0.0.0.

81. What happened at the last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation...
(1) “They plant a stone, the Jaguar Paddler and the Stingray
Paddler,
at Nah-Ho-Chan (“Great-5-Sky”); (it is) the Jaguar-Throne-Stone.

82. What happened at the last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation...
(1) “They plant a stone, the Jaguar Paddler and the Stingray
Paddler,
at Nah-Ho-Chan (“Great-5-Sky”); (it is) the Jaguar-Throne-Stone.
(2) “He plants a stone, Ek-Nah-Chak-??, at the Big?/Banner?-??-
ma;
(it is) the Serpent-Throne-Stone.

83. What happened at the last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation...
(1) “They plant a stone, the Jaguar Paddler and the Stingray
Paddler,
at Nah-Ho-Chan (“Great-5-Sky”); (it is) the Jaguar-Throne-Stone.
(2) “He plants a stone, Ek-Nah-Chak-??, at the Big?/Banner?-??-
ma;
(it is) the Serpent-Throne-Stone.

84. What happened at the last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation...
(1) “They plant a stone, the Jaguar Paddler and the Stingray Paddler,
at Nah-Ho-Chan (“Great-5-Sky”); (it is) the Jaguar-Throne-Stone.
(2) “He plants a stone, Ek-Nah-Chak-??, at the Big?/Banner?-??-ma;
(it is) the Serpent-Throne-Stone.
(3) “And then he tied a stone, Itzamnaaj (God D), (it is) the Water-
Throne-Stone.

85. What happened at the last 13.0.0.0.0 Creation...
(1) “They plant a stone, the Jaguar Paddler and the Stingray Paddler,
at Nah-Ho-Chan (“Great-5-Sky”); (it is) the Jaguar-Throne-Stone.
(2) “He plants a stone, Ek-Nah-Chak-??, at the Big?/Banner?-??-ma;
(it is) the Serpent-Throne-Stone.
(3) “And then he tied a stone, Itzamnaaj (God D), (it is) the Water-
Throne-Stone.
(4) “It happened at the Edge-of-the-Sky First-3-Stones-Place;
Six-Sky-Lord oversaw the ending of the 13 Pik (“bundles” of years).”