Chocolate, the Long Count and the Izapans

First of all, let me revise the info about the class I'm giving through Santa Rosa Junior College, Community Education. It will be on 6 Thursday nights 7-9pm from June 18 through July 23. Anyone can take the class. You register at this website, but the new classes for summer are not there yet.

Since these days I am following instructions from my spirit guides, I had a table at the recent Wellness Fair in Sebastopol, CA. I was 'instructed' to make products from chocolate and to use the Mayan hieroglyph for cacao on the label. I decided to write a little history of chocolate in my brochure and while researching in Sophie and Michael Coe's book The True History of Chocolate, I found out that the Izapans domesticated chocolate and that the word 'cacao' came from their word 'kakawa', reconstructed by historical linguists. Since the Izapans also created the Long Count calendar, there actually was a connection! I got an eerie feeling from finding this out. I was truly being guided to educate people on Mayan culture and communicate their beliefs and practices.

I have to admit that I was not sure what I was doing there (at the Wellness Fair), and so when people asked me what my table was about, I sometimes just had to say "I don't know. I'm just following orders." Some people got it (Sebastopol is a capital of New Agers). Some didn't. I had my 'props' - my chocolate lip balm and body butter and the flower essence blend and aromatherapy spray I was instructed to make by my guides. But sometimes I just felt foolish. Still, I knew that in some way I was a cultural envoy and so had to maintain my dignity. By the end of the day and ever since, I have been in such an altered state that it is challenging to function.

I just finished a book by Mark Borax called 2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future. It is primarily an autobiography and an account of Borax's apprenticeship with a teacher in the Santa Cruz mountains during the late 80's early 90's. There is a minimal connection to 2012, but (in my opinion) not enough to justify a third of the front cover. It was a compelling book - hard to put down and thought provoking.

My research these days is focused on two areas: 1) updating the information for the class I'm teaching, 2) finding information from Mayan culture, past and present, that speaks to the meaning of 2012 as they see it.

I am reading as many contemporary books as I can to see what non-Mayans are saying about it too. If something is going to happen, then there should be some correlation between traditional and modern information. I am searching for shared Truth.

What is 2012?

2012 refers to the end date of a cycle in the Mayan Calendar. There is a lot of disagreement as to when the actual date is, but most agree it is December 21, 2012. The reason there are so many theories about the the 'end date' is related to the different ways that our calendar was correlated to the Mayan calendar by the many people who have studied it over the last 150 years.

As far as we know, the Long Count has not been in use for over 300 years. There are Mayan daykeepers who currently use the tzolkin, but that is only a small part of the system and by itself, it is not adequate to correlate the calendars.

For a number of reasons, I support the December 21, 2012. One reason is that this date is the Winter Solstice and, many ancient cultures including the Maya, recognized this astronomical event.

This blog has several goals and I hope to post at least once a week.

Among the goals are:

Reviews of the many books that are now coming out.
Local events related to 2012
At least one forum on 2012.

Along the way, I will write my thoughts on what is going on and what it might mean.

Presently, I am preparing to teach a course at a local community college on Mayan Hieroglyphs and 2012.

I taught the hieroglyph part several times in the past, but since then there have been a lot of new translations. I am in the process of updating the glyph part of the course, then adding the latest thoughts about 2012.

I am producing a CD or DVD Mayan Hieroglyph course which will be available here as soon as it is finished.