The Indigenous History of El Salvador

3 Kanoa in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

3 Kanoa, 3rd day in the 13-day Ik' (the Void) Week
3 Kanoa (Ch'orti'): Canoe
3 K'at (Quiche') / 3 Kan (Yucatec): Ripe maize
3 Cuetzpallin (Aztec): Blue lizard or iguana
Direction: South

Note: I think that this day sign was originally Katu', the moon deity, and was then transformed to Kanoa or Kanhoh (canoe) between 3000 BC and 1800 BC when the Mesoamericans began their great traveling ventures in dug-out canoes up rivers and rafts over oceans to spread their knowledge of agriculture. There was probably a rhyme associated with this shift, like "Katu' K'anhuh, Katbu K'an a'n, K'aht Kanoa" or "on moon and iguana, cross over with golden ripe corn, by bridge and canoe" (doesn't quite work in English). Such double meanings and rhymes help explain the Quiche', Yucateca, and Aztec names for this day. Kan also means 'to learn' and Teo-kan (Island of Learning) was one of the first four island civilizations.

Ik' Week:  Ik' Balam is the name of one of the first four civilizing humans. Ik's village at the mouth of the Rio Lempa was most likely wiped out in the global flood event of the draining of Lake Agassiz in about 6400 BCE (Before Common Era). Ik' is also the dark spot in the Milky Way, or the Tree of Life, and specifically the center of the galaxy where there appear to be no stars. Also known as the void. Now we know that there is a black hole at this location. When the Mars retrograde cycle happens while aligning with the center of the galaxy, it occurs on the earliest possible date of the tzolkin. This is because of the elongated orbit of Mars being pulled by the densest mass of the galaxy. This allowed the Mayans to predict the exact day of the turning or retrograde motion of Mars. This is also how the Mayans determined the exact center of the galaxy with such accuracy, i.e. when Mars turned retrograde in that spot it would advance the Mars retrograde calendar before expected.

Acajutla High Tides: 6:37 AM and 6:57 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.60 meters and decreasing.

2 Akbar in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

2 Akbar, 2nd day in the 13-day Ik' (the Void) Week
2 Akbar (Ch'orti'): Night (Glyph of razors or jaguar fangs)
2 Aq'ab'al (Quiche) / 2 Ak'bal (Yucatec Maya): Darkness; night
2 Calli (Aztec): House
Direction: West

Note: Today's day sign honors one of the four great ancestors: Balam Akbar or dark jaguar, who was one of the four leaders that founded the Mayan-Mesoamerican civilizations. The nation that he founded was also called the Greathouses, possibly due to the large or long houses that they lived in. This is likely where the Aztec name for this day sign came from. The Greathouses lived near the ocean on El Salvador's eastern coast and became a great sailing people. Most of the great Mesoamerican peoples, other than the Mayans, come from the Balam Akbar lineage.

Ik' Week:  Ik' Balam is the name of one of the first four civilizing humans. Ik's village at the mouth of the Rio Lempa was most likely wiped out in the global flood event of the draining of Lake Agassiz in about 6400 BCE (Before Common Era). Ik' is also the dark spot in the Milky Way, or the Tree of Life, and specifically the center of the galaxy where there appear to be no stars. Also known as the void. Now we know that there is a black hole at this location. When the Mars retrograde cycle happens while aligning with the center of the galaxy, it occurs on the earliest possible date of the tzolkin. This is because of the elongated orbit of Mars being pulled by the densest mass of the galaxy. This allowed the Mayans to predict the exact day of the turning or retrograde motion of Mars. This is also how the Mayans determined the exact center of the galaxy with such accuracy, i.e. when Mars turned retrograde in that spot it would advance the Mars retrograde calendar before expected.

Akbar in Ik' Week: Most of the great sailing nations of the Americas come from these two leaders, with Akbar's family following in the foot-steps, the sail-steps, of Ik' after Ik's family was wiped out in the flood. Let yourself go and trust the ocean currents.

Acajutla High Tides: 5:49 AM and 6:08 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.70 meters and decreasing. Low tide ranges the next seven days lead to poor fishing and crabbing. Concentrate on the fields or take a short trip.

Tracing America's Indigenous Languages to El Salvador

I just received a copy of Language in the Americas by Joseph H. Greenberg. Greenberg maintains that aside from the Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene language families, all other indigenous American languages fit into the Amerind family. Greenberg states that all Amerind languages have a common root that is about 10,000 to 11,500 years old. Several other linguists have criticized both Greenberg's methodology and conclusions.

Greenberg discusses 11 language sub-families in Amerind group, including three in Mesoamerica: the Chibchan family which includes most of the Nicaraguan, Costa Rican, and Panamanian languages, as well as Cuitlatec in Mexico; the Penutian family which includes the Mayan, Mixe-Zoque, and Totonac languages; and the Central Amerind family, which includes the Oto-Mangue (Zapotec) and Uto-Aztecan (Nahuatl) languages.

I do disagree with some of his placements, including Lenca which he places in the Chibchan family. It seems clear to me that Lenca should be in the Penutian family as it is closest to Mixe-Zoque and Totonac. I also think that the Penutian and Central Amerind families should be combined.

Greenberg's conclusions are consistent with the history of Mesoamerica as presented in this blog. I believe that the Xibalbans arrived first to the Americas, either across the Atlantic ice-sheet or across the more common Pacific Bering ice-sheet. Quite quickly the Xibalbans established themselves at the Gruta del Espíritu Santo cave near Corinto, El Salvador. From there they could not only survive the cold of the end of the Ice Age but also control virtually all human traffic coming down the Central American isthmus toward South America.

A few people made it to South American past the Xibalbans or perhaps before the Xibalbans set up in the cave, given the Clovis points located in South America. But it would appear that they did not survive. In addition, people crossing the Bering Strait did not venture into any part of North America, but rather all traveled down the coast toward Central America and nearly all were captured by the Xibalbans.

I have found that six families escaped from the Gruta del Espíritu Santo in about 8800 BCE, as determined by the Mars long-count calendar. At that time all people in the cave spoke the same language. Four of the families became the great Mesoamerican people. As their language diverged on Isla Tigre in the Gulfo de Fonseca, it became the proto-Penutian language family, which includes Maya. The other two families became the peoples associated with the Chibchan-Paezan language family. Eventually they left the Gulfo de Fonseca, with most migrating south.

Nearly all of North America, except for the Eskimo-Aleut in the far north and the Na-Dene in the northwest and southwest, was populated from the south, by the Mayan, Lenca, and Chibchan peoples. Likewise they are the root of all or nearly all of the indigenous people of South America.

Greenberg lists etymologies (cognates) that are shared by two or more of the 11 language families. By counting the number of times a language family shares a cognate, one can get an idea which language families are the oldest and may serve as the core or proto-Amerind language(s). The results of this exercise are consistent with the narrative of this blog. The Penutian family, which includes Maya, has the most shared etymologies out of the 329 that are listed, while Chibchan-Paezan has the third most. Of the 11 language families, Central Amerind has the least shared cognates. This family includes Nahuatl, which shows how young a language it is.

Language Family Penutian Macro-Ge Chibchan-Paezan Hokan Equatorial

Number of Shared Etymologies 129 124 117 116 110

I believe that nearly 90 percent of the indigenous languages in the Americas can be traced to the Gruta del Espíritu Santo and the islands in the Gulfo de Fonseca. The Mesoamerican people were not only a civilizing people but were critical to the peopling of the hemisphere.

1 Ik' in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

1 Ik', 1st day in the 13-day Ik' (Wind at the center of the galaxy) Week
1 Ik' (Ch'orti'): The center of the galaxy; the void. Glyph of the tree of life.
1 Iq' (Quiche') / 1 Ik' (Yucatec Maya): The wind; center of the galaxy
1 Ehecatl (Aztec): Wind
Direction: North

Note: Ik' is the dark spot in the Milky Way, or the Tree of Life, and specifically the center of the galaxy where there appear to be no stars. Also known as the void. Now we know that there is a black hole at this location. When the Mars retrograde cycle happens while aligning with the center of the galaxy, it occurs on the earliest possible date of the tzolkin. This is because of the elongated orbit of Mars being pulled by the densest mass of the galaxy. This allowed the Mayans to predict the exact day of the turning or retrograde motion of Mars. This is also how the Mayans determined the exact center of the galaxy with such accuracy, i.e. when Mars turned retrograde in that spot it would lower the Mars retrograde calendar before expected or by two days rather than just the typical one. This day might also be known as yaxte', which means 'tree of life'. This was symbolized by the Mayans as the ceiba tree.

The Mayans and Mesoamerican people communicated with the heart of darkness of the galaxy by entering a meditative trance induced by the windy smoke of burning tobacco incense. Later other materials, including copal, were used. The Mayans called this a Tohil bath. Ik' Balam is also the name of one of the first four civilizing humans. Ik's village at the mouth of the Rio Lempa was most likely wiped out in the global flood event of the draining of Lake Agassiz in about 6400 BCE (Before Common Era).

Astronomy of Ik' Week: Ik' is an eclipse week every other tzolkin. This cycle it is not (sun is square the true lunar node). Mars is never retrograde in this week, in this era. Now Mars is a morning star; in the next cycle's Ik' week, Mars will be a late evening star; the next cycle Mars will be invisible during Ik' week. This pattern repeats itself continually.

Acajutla High Tides: 5:06 AM and 5:24 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.80 meters and decreasing

13 Imix in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

13 Imix, 13th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
13 Imix (Chorti'): Breaking open (sprouting) earth; corn
13 Imox (Quiche) / 13 Imix (Yucatec Maya): Breaking open earth
13 Cipactli (Aztec): Alligator
Direction: East

Note: Ix is 'Mother earth', while imix is the sprouting open of the earth, for example, agriculture. Imix also was the first word for 'corn'. Later, between 2300 BC and 1500 BC, the crisis of pellegra hit the Mayans-Mesoamericans in El Salvador and along the Guatemalan coast. Pellegra causes lesions, like a jaguar's spots, which eventually could break open, spilling one's blood. The Mayans' cosmology was adapted to account for this crisis. This also caused imix to be associated with 'diseased corn'. Later the discovery of the nixtamal process solved the pellegra crisis and quickly led to the dawning of the next phase of civilization. A new word for non-diseased corn, nar, was adopted, in order to distance corn and the agricultural way of life from the pellegra crisis.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment, and the sweat bath/lodge. Tokar shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Acajutla High Tides: 4:25 AM and 4:43 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.83 meters and at its greatest. It will be at its greatest again in about 13 days (end of the next week, Ik').

12 Sutz' in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

12 Sutz', 12th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
12 Sutz' (Ch'orti'): Bat. Glyph of a stylized bat or chief
12 Junajpu (Quiche') / 12 Ahaw (Yucatec): Lord or chief
12 Xochitl (Aztec): Flower
Direction: South

Originally this sign was likely 'lord bat'. The Mayans and other Mesoamerican peoples came out of two rooms of the Xibalba cave about 11,000 years ago. Three families came from the jaguar room and one family from the bat room. The lead family, who would become the Quiche's, came out of the bat room. The Cakchiquels, who share the Quiche' lineage, are still considered to be bat people. When the Quiches were banished from Tammakchan, the Ch'orti's took over as lead nation and changed this day sign to the generic title of 'lord' and made it the important position as last day in the calendar. Yet the Quiché took the bat sign with them to Mexico where it was later morphed into Xochitl by the Aztecs (sutz' =~ xoch). When the Quiches returned to Guatemala and El Salvador they shared the meaning of this day sign as lord, Junajpu.

The sign carries with it all of the drama of human politics, from the early days as a subject or slave in a cave with bats flying around, to leading the escape of the people, to being forced to leave one's homeland, and the return thousands of years later.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment, and the sweat bath/lodge. Tokar shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Sutz' in Tokar: In the sweatbath and vaporbath one learns of the oneness of all things, between peoples, between lords and commoners. In the Tokar vaporbath one overcomes past resentments and leaves behind any abuse of power for those in a powerful Sutz' position.

Acajutla High Tides: 3:46 AM and 4:04 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.80 meters and increasing

11 Makchan in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

11 Makchan, 11th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
11 Makchan (Ch'orti'): Rainbow. Glyph of clouds, rain, and box-like structure.
11 Kawuq (Quiche) / 11 Kawak (Yucatec Maya): both mean rain, rainstorms, or thunder
11 Quiahuitl (Aztec): Rainstorm, linked to the goddess 'Chantico'; goddess of hearth and home
Direction: West

Makchan or 'rainbow' consists of mak, a 'covering' or 'to stop up', and chan, which means 'serpent'. "A serpent which covers up and stops the rainstorm." This day sign explains the totem of the Ch'orti' Maya people, which is chan or serpent. Perhaps better thought of as rainbow or the feathered serpent. One of the first homes of the pre-Mayans was on an island inside a crater lake, Coatepeque, which they called Tammakchan or 'deep inside the rainbow'. They were safe inside the rainbow since the Xibalbans could not swim. Other Mayans later called this Tamoanchan. Kirik is 'thunder' in Ch'orti and might explain the Quiche and Yucatec names for this day.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment, and the sweat bath/lodge. Tokar shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Makchan in Tokar: In the safety of a community, protected by the rainbow / feathered serpent, all members of the community - elders, men, women, youth, and children - are secure in practicing spirituality, including the sweatbath and vaporbath.

Acajutla High Tides: 3:07 AM and 3:26 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.72 meters and increasing

10 Tijax-Etz'nab in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

10th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
10 Tijax (Quiche) / 10 Etz'nab (Yucatec Maya): Sharp implement
10 Tecpatl (Aztec): Flint knife
Direction: North

Note: I'm not sure what the Ch'orti' or proto-Ch'olti name for this day is. Perhaps tahsib, which means machete, which was brought to the Mayans by the Chibchan-speaking peoples of Costa Rica, Panama, and Columbia, sometime in the the early Classic period. Or maybe k'ahk'tun (flint stone). The proto-Mesoamericans discovered obsidian k'ahk'tun in about 8800 BC on Hacawitz (Usulután) mountain, which greatly enhanced their ability to make fire as well as flint spears and tools. Another possibility, closer to the Quiche word, would be tunyax or jade, although it is usually yaxtun.

Ch'orti' has dozens of words for knives and tools. Tool suffixes include the endings nib, sib, tib, chib, and xib. This day sign celebrates all of these tools. While some interpretations specify a meaning of human sacrifice for this day sign, that does not seem to be the case with the root words associated with various tools. Rather these are the instruments that allowed the Mayans to become agriculturalists and artisans.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment, and the sweat bath/lodge. Tokar shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Acajutla High Tides: 2:22 AM and 2:49 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.63 meters and increasing

9 Nok in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

9 Nok, 9th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
9 Nok (Chorti'): Thread or wick. Glyph of a spool or weaving
9 No'j (Quiche) / 9 Caban (Yucatec Maya): meaning 'earth'
9 Ollin (Aztec): Rocking (as in weaving). Glyph of weaver's tool

Direction: East

Note: Nok describes the fine thread used in weaving, whereas tinam was cotton or cotton fiber. This sign might have been called ihben earlier, meaning earth spirit, which might explain the Yucatec name and meaning for the day. It would have been easy to associate the rocking motion of the weaving loom with the rocking motion of the earth during an earthquake.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment, and the sweat bath/lodge. Tokar shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Acajutla High Tides: 1:46 AM and 2:11 PM
Semi-diurnal Tide Range: 1.50 meters and increasing

8 Kilis in the Mayan-Mesoamerican Calendar

8 Kilis, 8th day in the 13-day Tokar (Vapor) Week
8 Kilis (Ch'orti'): Falcon, bearer of the eclipse. Glyph of a shell
8 Ajmak (Quiche) / 8 Kib (Yucatec Maya): Falcon
8 Cozcacuauhtli (Aztec): Vulture
Direction: South

Note: For the Ch'orti', Ah Kilis, or 'falcon man' or 'falcon god' ruled the eclipses by eating the sun or moon. The glyph for this day sign, the shell, is a symbol for 'empty', 'zero', and eclipse. In this case, the shell glyph represents a sky made empty by the falcon god eating the sun or the moon.

Many Mayan ballcourts have a falcon perched above, which serves as a messenger from 'Heart of Sky'. 'Heart of Sky' refers to the center of the Milky Way galaxy, which the Mayas were able to locate with accuracy through the Mars retrograde long count calendar. The Mayans interpreted eclipses as the time that the falcon brings a message from the void, the heart of the Milky Way. The bat falcon is common throughout Mesoamerica, while the orange-breasted falcon is much rarer.

Tokar week: Tokar refers to the spiritual being, the eye of enlightenment. It shares a root with Tohil, one of the three gifts from the gods to the early Mayan people. Tohil refers to tobacco, which helped people overcome their hunger pangs. Soon it was used by the early shamans to communicate with the gods, especially the supreme god present at the void (black hole) at the center of the galaxy. Later sap from the cochineal croton tree was used and later still, copal incense was used instead of tobacco to communicate with the gods.

Kilis in Tokar week: Through enlightenment, the Mayans were able to conceptualize zero. They then shared this concept with others throughout the world.

Acajutla High Tides: 1:00 AM and 1:31 PM
Semi-diurnal Range: 1.31 meters.