Triple Star of 8208 BCE - Mars, Jupiter, and Venus
Tulan Zuyua "Inhabit Sacred Foundation"
Beginning of the Jaguar Spirituality
"They got word of a citadel. They went there. And this is the name of the mountain where they went, Jaguar Quitze, Jaguar Night, Not Right Now, Dark Jaguar, and the Tams and Ilocs: Tulan Zuyua, Seven Pehk, Seven Siwan, is the name of the citadel." -- Popol Vuh
From eastern El Salvador, perhaps from Tihuilotal, the Maya scouted around for a place to live. It had to be an island in order to be safe from their arch enemy, the Xibalbhans, who were based at Corinto Cave and maybe at Tecapa volcano as well. The Xibalbhans were generally afraid of water. So the Maya found the islands in the Gulf of Fonseca, especially Isla Tigre, the biggest and tallest of the islands and the one with the near perfect volcano. [click to enlarge]
The Maya lived along the base of the volcano. In Ch'orti', Tulan Zuyua means:
Tulan (turan): "be in a place, inhabit a locality, sit down"
Suy: "base, support, foundation"
Uh: "good, sacred, moral"
Or, "inhabit sacred foundation", with foundation referring primarily to the base or foundation of the volcano. The Maya lived here from about 8600 BCE to about 8200 BCE. As did the ancestors of the Zapotecs, Olmecs, Lencas, Chibchabs, and the people of the Misulmalpan languages.
Historical evidence for this presence comes in the meaning of the name Honduras in Ch'orti':
On - before, prior, ancient
Turan - be in a place, inhabit a locality
Honduras means "prior inhabitation". This is not refering to the current Ch'orti' area around Copan. Historically Honduras referred to eastern Honduras, the part that would include Isla Tigre. Before moving to western El Salvador, the Ch'orti' had lived in Onturan, Honduras.
The Mayan ancestors built a structure on top of the volcano. Two of the walls are still visible while the other two appear buried under soil. Here's the long wall:
The short wall connects in a right angle to the long wall. They both have rock piles about two feet tall.
The Popol Vuh says that the jaguar spirituality was begun on Tulan Zuyua - Isla Tigre. We also know that from the current name of the island. I did hear one story on the island that it was called Isla Tigre after the pirate Sir Francis Drake who ravaged the island with a fury and anger like a tiger for a few months. I don't find that story convincing, especially since it ignores the indigenous history which tends to be the primary source of place names. Further proof of jaguar spirituality being the source of the name Isla Tigre is a picture of a jaguar carved in relief on a large rock halfway up the volcano, facing east. [click to enlarge] The rock was cut around the jaguar so that it retains the original contour of the rock.
The most striking evidence for the presence of the Maya on Tulan Zuyua - Isla Tigre - is the Tiguilotada rock. (click to enlarge) This rock is located on the east side of the island just off the main circumferential road - probably the old trail around the island 10,000 years ago. The rock is protected by barb wire fence. The rock most likely was located at the seashore at that time, located in a similar way as the sailing stones at Toluca Beach about 10-15 meters above the current sea level. The ocean would have risen above this stone soon after 8200 BCE from the Ice Age melt and it would have remained submerged until perhaps 0 CE (AD) when the rising Central American coast on the Caribbean plate would have lifted the rock out of the water. That is one reason that the rock does not appear very weathered.
This stone is referred to as the tree stone, che'ab'aj, which would be te'tun, in Ch'orti'. Te' can also be translated as branch or stick. Calling this "stick stone" makes sense when you see this stone - many lines or sticks on the stone. The stela at the classical Mayan sites were called te'tun by the classical Maya, indicating that they were harking back to the Tiguilotada stone when they made the stela at the various sites.
The seven or eight markings near the top pointing nearly straight east are a big clue that this rock is an astronomical artifact. But the biggest clue that it is astronomical is the second name associated with the island in the Popol Vuh: 7 pehk, 7 siwan. Let's start with siwan.
si - number, line of objects (in Ch'orti')
wa'an - rising, standing, straight
So seven siwa'an refers to seven rising line of objects. The objects they would have been most interested in were the five visible planets - Mercury to Saturn, the moon and the sun. Using the Solex software developed by Italian professor Aldo Vitagliano, I began searching for a "rising line of objects" event, checking Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions before sunrise, something that happens about once every 20 years. I began my search in 8700 BCE, knowing that this was approximately the time that the Maya moved to the island based on the Mars retrograde long count calendar.
I found the event in 8208 BCE (-8207 astronomical) which almost matches the end date (8200) of my estimation of their departure from the island. The Popol Vuh associates the astronomical event with the departure from the island. On October 31 and November 1 of that year five objects are in conjunction - Moon, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, with Mercury just visible before sunset, and of course the sun rising. The seven rising objects. Most impressive of all is a near complete conjunction, both latitude and longitude, of Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, from October 27 to October 31. This would have produced a spectacular "triple star" object for these five mornings.
Further matching the rock with this astronomical event is the order of the objects from south to north. The moon was the most south in latitude, then Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The triple conjunction planets are obvious on the stone - the tallest, strongest cuts. The sun line is a bit awkward, indicated by its angle pointing back towards the south slightly even given its position to the left of the other lines. This awkwardness reflects the obvious fact that the sun was not present in the sky when the others were visible. While technically south of Mars in latitude, visually Mercury was straight below the Mars-Jupiter conjunction. By placing the Mercury line between Mars and Jupiter it links it to those planets and the triple star. It gives Mercury the role of communicating the news of the triple conjunction to the sun, who it was going to meet. The other lines on the Tiguilotada stone are the planets that were visible on that early morning sky, each quickly etched in place, perhaps later finished.
The Popol Vuh: "They observed a continuous fast. It was enough that they watch intently for the dawning, that they watch closely for the rising of the sun, taking turns at watching for the great star named sun carrier. This one came first before the sun when the sun was born, the newly risen sun carrier. And there, always, they were facing the east, when they were there in the place Tulan Zuyua. Their gods came from there."
The word translated as sun carrier is Iqoq'ij, which means in Ch'orti' "dividing the atmosphere in two." It seems to be referring to a planet(s) appearing in both the morning and evening sky. Scholars believe this is a reference to Venus, but I wonder if it was a reference to Mercury or perhaps to both Venus and Mercury since they both "divide the atmosphere in two."
The Maya would have noticed Venus and Mars in the morning sky prior to the previous new moon. Then Saturn and Jupiter joined the morning sky. Finally retrograde Mercury became visible. On October 10 and 11 a beautiful alignment of the five planets took place, with each planet five to six degrees away from the next and the latitudes aligned so that the five formed a nearly perfect line slightly diagonal. Each day the planets neared closer together, with Saturn eventually being the highest in the sky.
Of the triple planet conjunction, Venus and Mars came together first on late Oct. 27 at 19 Cancer, 32 minutes apart in latitude. Jupiter was 2 degrees lower in the sky. Venus and Jupiter conjuncted on the afternoon of Oct. 29 at 21 Cancer, separated by only 21 minutes in latitude. Mars was only 45 minutes above the other two. The triple planet conjunction would have been its most impressive on the morning of Oct. 30. The Mars-Jupiter conjunction occurred just after midnight on the morning of Oct. 31, 16 minutes in latitude apart. Venus was 1 degree 16 minutes below the two.
A couple other astrological notes: Pluto was nearly exactly opposite the triple star conjunction at 22:55 Capricorn. The asteroid Vesta was also part of the larger conjunction at 18:4 Cancer. And on early morning of Nov. 1 the Sun was at 8:57 Virgo.
To help visualize this triple star event I prepared a day-by-day graphic with Solex. The sun is at the right as a reference point even though it would have been below the horizon. Down in the sky, to the east, would be to the right in the graphics. However, to place the east on the right I had to flip the latitudes so that south is up and north is down. For example, on Oct. 31, the moon is to the south of the planets not north. [click to enlarge]
The sky continued to be very interesting for months. At the end of November, the moon moved by the four planets lined up on Nov. 17. On January 29 of the next year, there is nearly a triple conjunction of Venus, Mercury and the Moon. And on Feb. 6 Venus and Mercury form a double star, while the other three planets continue to be lined up higher in the sky.
People in every part of the world would have seen this planet formation of 8208 BCE. At least one group recorded it so we could rediscover it.
This may have been the start of the Haab' calendar which forms a solar year of 18 weeks of 20 days each, plus five (or six) extra days. The five extra days would have been to celebrate the five days of the Venus-Jupiter-Mars triple star. And the New Year would have been November 1, the day of the stone-making, and the start of the dry season in Central America. Hab means "discontinued" or "abandoned" in Ch'orti', so it was an early calendar that did not stand the test of time.
Returning to seven pehk, seven siwan. Pehk means shouts, calls, or greetings. Greetings may be most appropriate in this context. Seven greetings facing the east to the seven rising objects: Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Sun. Soon after greeting the seven rising objects the Maya planned their next move off the island.
Like many dual names in the Popol Vuh, one has a second meaning as the date carrier. In this case it is seven pehk, which is a near rhyme with seven pak', which is a date in the 260 day calendar (known as Aj in Quiche and Ben in Yucatec). In the Mars retrograde long-count calendar the date Seven Pak' is 8200 BCE, which is a near exact match for the 8208 BCE date (halfway between 1 Ahaw and 1 Manik').
The Popol Vuh says: "And here is the dawning and showing of the Sun, Moon, and stars. And Balam Quitze (Kinche'), Balam Akbar, Maix, and Balam Ik were overjoyed when they saw the sun carrier. It came up first. It looked brilliant when it came up, since it was ahead of the sun. After that they unwrapped their copal incense, which came from the east, and there was triumph in their hearts when they unwrapped it. They gave their heartfelt thanks with three kinds at once:
- Mixtam Copal is the name of the copal brought by Balam Kinche'.
- Cauiztan Copal is the name of the copal brought by Balam Akbar.
- K'ab'awil Copal, next, is the name of the copal brought by Maix.
The three of them had their copal, and this is what they burned as they incensed the direction of the rising sun. They were crying sweetly as they shook their burning copal, the precious copal."
One copal incense for each of the three planets of the triple star: Venus, Jupiter, and Mars. It's not clear if the types of copal each matched a planet. Mixtam means "inner bark" so it was some type of bark that was burned. K'ab'awil Copal refers to a sap or resin. And cauiztan: Ka means "beginning", Witz means "mountain" - uitz is pronounced witz. Tan is powder or poltice. As already discussed the beginning mountain is hacawitz, which is the Tecapa volcano, in the Usulutan department of El Salvador. The plant they encountered at Tecapa was tobacco, which they later finely chopped and dried to make into a powder-like incense and used for spiritual purposes.
How did they get tobacco on Isla Tigre? Which brings us to the Xibalbha lord who showed up dressed like a bat. That's a story for the next blog post.
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