The Great Book of Destinies
(Hueyi Tlalnamic Tonalamatl)
The Great City of Mexico-Tenochtitlan was neither built in one day, nor by one person. This ancient metropolis was the result of numerous teachings and experiences, spanning over a millenium, ultimately emerging into one of the most beatiful and intricately laid out cities of this time. The destruction of this place nonetheless, accomplished in over just a few years, had resulted as the outcome of war, having been incited by an imposition of foreign, idiosyncratic belief systems against a suppressed peoples, steering them away from cosmovisions and nature. The Mexican Calendar, an invaluable cultural legacy, remains within reach today. Such a fate is attributable to the long standing oral tradition, as well as numerous written archives, both of which survived the perils of fire and fading memories.
In the spirit of promoting the recovery of the Mexican Calendar, and as tribute to our wise, ancestral elders, we stimulate an in-depth analisys of the subject matter at hand, upon the release of the lastest edition of Hueyi Tlalnamic Tonalamatl, based on our interpretations of the following codices and studies: Borgia, Borbonic, Telleriano-Remensis, Tonalamatl of Aubin, Ferdinand Anders, Marten Jansen, and Luis Reyes, Nevertheless, we defer to the words of our teacher Arturo Meza Gutiérrez, and the years of research that make uo this exceptional correlation; one in which we believe constains a high degree of chronological accuracy. Yet, our priority is to search for a mechanism that will allow room for tweaking and fine-tunning, given the complex nature of creating a mathematical model that could deliver an adecuate representation of inexact astronomical phenomena, namely the tropical year. The duration is roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. which is indicative of the accumulation of errors that can occur over centuries in our current model and should be rectified. One thing is certain; this endeavor is neither the only one nor the last. We anticipate that this small step will encorauge subsequent efforts, on the path towards the essential rebuilding of our native, stemming from its creations.
In the spirit of promoting the recovery of the Mexican Calendar, and as tribute to our wise, ancestral elders, we stimulate an in-depth analisys of the subject matter at hand, upon the release of the lastest edition of Hueyi Tlalnamic Tonalamatl, based on our interpretations of the following codices and studies: Borgia, Borbonic, Telleriano-Remensis, Tonalamatl of Aubin, Ferdinand Anders, Marten Jansen, and Luis Reyes, Nevertheless, we defer to the words of our teacher Arturo Meza Gutiérrez, and the years of research that make uo this exceptional correlation; one in which we believe constains a high degree of chronological accuracy. Yet, our priority is to search for a mechanism that will allow room for tweaking and fine-tunning, given the complex nature of creating a mathematical model that could deliver an adecuate representation of inexact astronomical phenomena, namely the tropical year. The duration is roughly 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. which is indicative of the accumulation of errors that can occur over centuries in our current model and should be rectified. One thing is certain; this endeavor is neither the only one nor the last. We anticipate that this small step will encorauge subsequent efforts, on the path towards the essential rebuilding of our native, stemming from its creations.
The Mexican Calendaric System
The systematic observation of nature and analisys of astronomical and social events led our ancestors to synthesize one of the most structured and extensive calendarical system of all time.
As cultivators of science and art, our ancestors were well versed in symbolizing celestial mechanics. Throught their philosophy and cosmovision, they developed a keen interpretation of the harmony in nature they felt they needed to preserve.
Throught communal activity, they were able to derive a formula to construct a great culture, based on such a participation in a collective benefit. Thus, the Mexican Calendaric System is neither solely reflective of a people, nor a particular historical event, but rather the collaboration of an infinite number of men and women of science, over hundreds of years and often time, hundreds of kilometers apart -- throught the continent and throught history, The fortitude of our people hence represents the long standing cultural legacy, and is comprehensive of its own meanings and symbolisms. Furthermore, it encompasses many of the motivations and inspirations that we posses as a peoples. Actual research has recorded the existence of such calendars over several indigenous regions, including the Mayan, Zapoteca, Tlapaneca, Mixteca, Mixe, Purépecha regions, and naturally, the vast Náhuatl-speaking region. Each calendar is correspondent to their enviromental surroundings, philosophical particularities and social structure. However, all share a cultural womb, method and common mathematical base.
As cultivators of science and art, our ancestors were well versed in symbolizing celestial mechanics. Throught their philosophy and cosmovision, they developed a keen interpretation of the harmony in nature they felt they needed to preserve.
Throught communal activity, they were able to derive a formula to construct a great culture, based on such a participation in a collective benefit. Thus, the Mexican Calendaric System is neither solely reflective of a people, nor a particular historical event, but rather the collaboration of an infinite number of men and women of science, over hundreds of years and often time, hundreds of kilometers apart -- throught the continent and throught history, The fortitude of our people hence represents the long standing cultural legacy, and is comprehensive of its own meanings and symbolisms. Furthermore, it encompasses many of the motivations and inspirations that we posses as a peoples. Actual research has recorded the existence of such calendars over several indigenous regions, including the Mayan, Zapoteca, Tlapaneca, Mixteca, Mixe, Purépecha regions, and naturally, the vast Náhuatl-speaking region. Each calendar is correspondent to their enviromental surroundings, philosophical particularities and social structure. However, all share a cultural womb, method and common mathematical base.
The horrific extermination war that plagued our communities with persecution, torture and mass killings was often directed at those who possessed some degree of knowledge in the science or ancient Mesoamerican art. Consequently, we are now faced to deal with a mosaic of questions and missing pieces. Through which, we can find discrepancies as well as coincidences, distinct interpretations, multiple sources and unfinished narrations. Nevertheless, the seed has already begun germinating in our hearts. It is for this reason that so many of us are compelled to continue this immense amount of collective labor which unites us, and ultimately brings us into line with the centuries; a task which does not belong to just one author, but rather all of those who feel they are a part of one´s own history.
The Solar Year
4 Types of Mexican Year
As previously mentioned, the Mexican calendarical system is based on a rigorous scientific study of nature, by neither one person, nor during a particular historical event. It was developed by multiple communities throughout the course of hundreds, and even thousands of years, throught which diverse agreements, correlations and corrections were recorded.
To better understand this system, one must be open to different approaches toward representing time and its references points. Suppose the duration of the solar year is in fact, approximately 365 days and a quarter - how were the elders then able to account for the fractional counts every year? A possible solution is throught regular adjustments of the calendar, in the same fashion as in the Gregorian leap year. Another is not to necessarily consider the start of the day at midnight, but rather at dawn, at the precise moment when the sun appears in the firmament. Or at noon, when the sun is at zenith. Or when it begins to sink beneath the horizont in the evening, Arturo Meza Gutiérrez is one of several researchers who have thoroughly studied the subject matter, of which his findings make up the basis of this agenda, In turn, his studies are based on documental sources, which at times indicated one Gregorian day were assigned two days signs of the Mexican calendar, and others of main ceremonies occurring at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight If this is the case, we then consider the years of the Mexican calendarical system as regular years, under the same duration, adding six hours on the end of the very last day of the year, every year.
To better understand this system, one must be open to different approaches toward representing time and its references points. Suppose the duration of the solar year is in fact, approximately 365 days and a quarter - how were the elders then able to account for the fractional counts every year? A possible solution is throught regular adjustments of the calendar, in the same fashion as in the Gregorian leap year. Another is not to necessarily consider the start of the day at midnight, but rather at dawn, at the precise moment when the sun appears in the firmament. Or at noon, when the sun is at zenith. Or when it begins to sink beneath the horizont in the evening, Arturo Meza Gutiérrez is one of several researchers who have thoroughly studied the subject matter, of which his findings make up the basis of this agenda, In turn, his studies are based on documental sources, which at times indicated one Gregorian day were assigned two days signs of the Mexican calendar, and others of main ceremonies occurring at dawn, noon, dusk and midnight If this is the case, we then consider the years of the Mexican calendarical system as regular years, under the same duration, adding six hours on the end of the very last day of the year, every year.