Mayan Life Path Astrology Report

for

Al Pacino

Text by Bruce Scofield

AL PACINO

MANHATTAN, NY

Apr 25 1940

11:02:00 PM EST

Mayan Long Count: 12.16.6.5.3

Sacred Day: 143

Night Lord: 4

Birth Year: 7-East (Earthquake).

The Astrology Of Time
The ancient Maya and Aztec astrologers studied the mysterious influence of the rhythms of the sky on earthly life. Everyone knows the Sun rises and sets every day -- this is the basic rhythm of life around which we set our clocks and calendars. What the ancient astrologers discovered was that other time cycles existed that were multiples of this basic day cycle. This fact was discovered about 100 years ago in Europe and these cycles (there are many of them) are now called biorhythms.

The most important time cycles in ancient Mayan and Aztec astrology are those of the day, 9-days, 13-days, and 20-days. Additionally, years are counted also, in groups of 4 and 13. Each day is then part of several other cycles, so no two days are exactly the same. Your Maya/Aztec horoscope below shows exactly where in each of the cycles you were born. Each category below examines a specific cycle and a specific aspect of your personality. Keep in mind that our personalities are complex and contain many contradictions. All of us present a different "face" depending on who we meet. The delineations below will reflect this, but they will also give you a clear picture of who you really are. The true value of astrology lies in self-knowledge, the first step to wisdom.

Your Most Personal Traits -- The Day-Sign Of Your Birth
Here are your strongest and most obvious personality traits. The delineation below describes who you are and how you appear to others, at least on the surface. In Aztec astrology this part of your horoscope is your Tonalli, or Day-Sign, the form bestowed upon you by the Sun. The glyph on the left is the Mayan representation, and the right hand glyph is Aztec.

House
Although it is not immediately obvious to you or others, you tend to dominate situations without really trying to. You may simply be physically large, sexually attractive or may dress to enhance your personal power. Your power may also be exerted in more subtle ways, but it is something others must contend with. In most cases, your power is completely legitimate, as would be the case if you are a teacher, leader or healer. In this situation knowledge is power. For some House personalities, the power issue may be buried more deeply in the psyche and may be a source of problems such as conflict with authority, envy, jealousy and possessiveness. Generally though, you do not overtly seek power, you simply seem to feel it is your right in life and have made choices that have kept you secure in your power.

Patience, endurance and hard work seem to come naturally to you. You are able to work for years on a project with no sign of loss of interest or fatigue. Huge or extremely difficult projects appeal to you and you become dedicated to realizing your goals, no matter how long it may take. Science and math, or other systems of knowledge (including occultism, magic and astrology) often interest you because they aid in being mentally organized about things and allow your mind access to the underlying foundations of the universe. Traditions appeal to you and you have a strong respect for history. You tend to take a structural approach to life. The more things are organized, the more they are secure and under your control. If it takes ten years or more to achieve this goal of organization, then you will tough it out.

You have a powerful intellect and are capable of solving difficult problems. You tend to take the more conservative, tried-and-true solutions, however, before you attempt something radical or unproven. Your need to be organized and systematic leads to a tendency to be overly logical and possibly intellectually rigid, at least in some areas of your life. While you have great strength of intellect, you also tend to be quite stubborn about changing your mind. This is probably because you work so hard on seeing things a certain way, and have built up so much mental inertia, that a change for you requires a near-overhaul of the logical framework you have constructed. But it is true that those of strong, resilient mind, whether they be conservative or radical, eventually impress their views on the rest of the world. People born under House may leave a lasting legacy if they be writers, architects, artists, composers or thoughtful leaders.

Security, both mental and physical, is a major issue for you. The physical security that a home, house, building or other structure represents may be an issue, or the emotional security that family ties offer may predominate. Whatever the case, you probably place a very strong emphasis on these matters when it comes time to make crucial life decisions. You may choose to work with or live near family, or possibly become involved in real estate. You have strong territorial instincts and know your exact boundaries -- emotional and physical. Your personal territorial instincts often extend to others and you can be extremely devoted to those you love or choose to protect. On the negative side, any deep-seated insecurities you have may transform these instincts into jealousy and possessiveness.

As the symbol of the sectioned temple that the Aztecs used to denote this sign suggests, you can be extremely private and a bit reclusive. Paradoxically, you seem to know everyone, or at least all the people that are worthwhile for you to know. But this is just a manifestation of your deeply imbedded political instincts. Ultimately though, you are not really a "team player" and you look forward to times alone, though these may be hard to come by in your busy, hard working life. Often, House personalities are found living alone, or having a special area where they won't be disturbed. There is a part of you that cannot be accessed by others, which may be a cause of serious problems in your intimate relationships. It may be that you simply feel uncomfortable talking to others about your personal problems. However, you have a strong ego and usually don't cave in to outside pressures that try to take you away from your private space, whether this be psychological or physical.

House is the third of the twenty day-signs. The Aztec symbol for this sign was a sectioned temple -- probably chosen to suggest the interior of a building or structure. Their name for the sign was Calli and they linked it with a jaguar-like god of the earth's interior called Tepeyollotl. The Aztecs regarded House as a sign of persons who preferred seclusion, but who were also very respectful and well-liked by others.

The personality of your day-sign is reflected in the planet and sign emphasis in your Western astrological chart. People born under House usually have one or more of the following signs emphasized in their birthchart: Cancer, Leo, Scorpio or Capricorn. You probably also have Pluto or Saturn strongly placed and quite possibly an emphasized 12th house or Neptune. These symbolize your need for privacy and seclusion.

What You Share With The Others Of Your Birth Year
The Maya and Aztec astrologers recognized that each year produces a unique group of people. Each individual year in a 52-year cycle is linked with a number and a compass direction that has an astrological meaning. The delineation below says something about you in only a general sense. It describes the general traits that you share with others born in your year.

7-East
You were born during the year called 7-East. The eastern direction is where it all begins. The day begins when the Sun rises in the East. The Moon rises there also, as do all the other planets and stars. The East is the direction that symbolizes the energy behind the "coming into existence" of something. For those born during a year ruled by the East, life itself is an opportunity to demonstrate self-worth and to celebrate individual existence. In a very general sense you are a person who is striving to be someone, a seeker of self-realization. Life is about you and the development (the rise) of your personal identity.

You are a self-starter. You don't always need others to help you achieve your goals. You quickly see what has to be done and then you roll up your sleeves and get to work. You are competitive and will quickly move to the top of whatever organization you are in. You are also an activist and a progressive, generally staying near the "front of the wave." Your worst tendency is to become too self-involved and neglectful of others and their concerns.

The number 7 preceding your birth direction indicates that it is through the focusing of your will that you develop and grow most rapidly as an individual. You can't have it all, however, you must also acknowledge the impossibility of understanding everything.

Your Deeper Self -- The 13-Day Week Of Your Birth
Each of us reacts to the world around us in different ways. Our reactions are mostly unconscious; they represent what our deeper self needs. Our reactions both attract and repel us from things, people, and situations. What we like, what we like to do, and who we really are is shown by the 13-day week called the Trecena that we were born under. Each of these periods begins with the number 1 and the name of the day-sign that starts it. A number is attached to your position within the 13-day period that may be an important number for you.

13 House
You were born on the thirteenth day of the 13-day period beginning with the day 1-Monkey. Beneath your surface personality you have a strong need to be in the limelight or gain the respect of the public. You are not unlike a politician and you may be well suited to activities like teaching, performance, and presentations of all kinds. You are a complicated person with a compulsive need for creative interaction with others.

You are a quick learner and are interested in a variety of subjects. You know how to do many things, though not all of them well. Being creative is what you do best. In your speech, your presentation of yourself, your art, or through your children, you bring together the best of a variety of ideas. But you are impressive to others and know just how to get them interested in what you are doing.

You like to be near, or at the top of the pecking order. You have great leadership instincts and aren't shy about performing. Generosity, optimism, and understanding are some of your best traits. You want to be important -- it is your way of knowing and feeling good about yourself.

Both House and Monkey are signs of the West, a direction symbolic of encounter and cooperation with others. Yours is a life of meetings and relationships. While you may not find total happiness in close relationships, it is through experience in this department of life that you evolve and perfect yourself -- it is your greatest challenge in many respects.

Your Deepest And Darkest Motivations -- The Night Lord
The ancient Mayan and Aztec astrologers used a 9-day cycle of gods and goddesses called the "Lords of the Night." These deities symbolize the workings of your deepest and darkest self, parts of you that others may not know of or understand. They also symbolize the deepest forces behind your "will to exist."

Lord 4: Cinteotl.
You were born under the fourth Lord of the Night. Your ruling deity is Cinteotl (Seen-TAY-ot-ul). This Aztec corn god, or goddess, was a symbol of the young corn plant. Like this deity, you strive to be young, or you work with the young. Like others born under the influence of this lord you may be a teacher, or perhaps a healer. You have a nervous intensity about you which may correspond with a strong need to talk or communicate.

Youth is what you are fixated on. You are drawn to children and perhaps even work with them in some capacity. You want to help them and perhaps even heal them in some way. Your nurturing instincts are quite strong and will find healthy outlets in such situations. When you do not have such appropriate outlets you may find that your relations with others become distorted. You need to know when to let go of children, or even other adults, in order to let them become whom they will be. You need to know that your nurturing influence can become a detriment.

You love to communicate. This quality makes you an excellent teacher, especially with young children. You are quite creative with your thinking, a quality that lends itself to art and writing. On the darker side, you think incessantly and struggle with ways to turn off your mind. At times you may become very nervous and mentally tense. Over-talking, or telephone addiction, may also be one of your problems. By working as a teacher or communicator you may be able to turn this tendency into a positive activity.

One of your weak points, and perhaps a failing of sorts, is your tendency to scatter your energies. Your restless mind seeks to cover a lot of territory -- but this may lead to being a "jack of all trades but master of none." Your greatest challenge is to deepen your understanding of things.

Your Patterns Of Relationship -- The Phase Of Venus
Maya and Aztec astrologers observed the phases of the planet Venus and correlated them with events on earth. Venus has four basic phases: morning star, evening star, and two conjunctions with the Sun. The phase of Venus you were born under symbolizes your relationship patterns -- how you approach and become involved with others, both individuals and groups.

Venus as Evening Star
You were born with Venus in its Evening Star phase. According to the Maya, this is a 250-day period when Venus is visible after the Sun sets. This phase follows the Superior Conjunction phase and precedes the Inferior Conjunction phase.

For you, feelings and emotions arise after an action has been taken. In making judgments, which you do very well, you evaluate what has happened against the background of society's rules and values. You instinctively understand the power, and perhaps the correctness, of the world as it is and has been. The values and morals of the past are important to you and your vision is one that has probably been strongly influenced by tradition.

There is a sense of inevitable compromise in your life, possibly a reaction to your awareness of having been strongly imprinted by society, culture or your parents. One result of this may be seen in your stance towards the powers that be. It is possible that deep down you are troubled by your conditioning and how it causes you to evaluate and interpret the world in a certain way. But this is very subtle and most of you will only notice this pattern in a general way, far more obvious when viewed over the course of a lifetime.

One positive manifestation of evening star Venus is that you may become, consciously or unconsciously, successful due to the fact that you personify certain family and traditional values. In extreme cases, you could become a hero, a person who represents what your society truly believes in. It is through participation with the traditions and cultural definitions of reality that you achieve emotional satisfaction and success in life.

Your Days Of Peak Experience
From time to time we experience periods where our lives seem to be rushing forward -- almost out of control. Sometimes we accomplish great things during these periods; sometimes we become stressed or fail at something. More often we find that our experience of life is more intense, and richer. The Maya astrologers discovered such a cycle: your "peak" dates in this cycle are listed below.

You will probably find that your experience of life becomes more intense about five days before the peak date and then builds. Keywords displayed next to the dates are a suggestion of how to focus your energies.

Critical day List for PACINO,AL

Start Date: May/17/2007

End Date: May/18/2012

Critical Day Phase No./Name Direction Keyword

Mar/26/2007 1/4 13-House West establish.

May/30/2007 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Aug/3/2007 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Oct/7/2007 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Dec/11/2007 1/4 13-House West establish.

Feb/14/2008 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Apr/19/2008 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Jun/23/2008 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Aug/27/2008 1/4 13-House West establish.

Oct/31/2008 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Jan/4/2009 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Mar/10/2009 Full 13-Knife North solve.

May/14/2009 1/4 13-House West establish.

Jul/18/2009 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Sep/21/2009 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Nov/25/2009 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Jan/29/2010 1/4 13-House West establish.

Apr/4/2010 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Jun/8/2010 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Aug/12/2010 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Oct/16/2010 1/4 13-House West establish.

Dec/20/2010 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Feb/23/2011 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Apr/29/2011 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Jul/3/2011 1/4 13-House West establish.

Sep/6/2011 1/2 13-Rabbit South debate.

Nov/10/2011 3/4 13-Reed East understand.

Jan/14/2012 Full 13-Knife North solve.

Mar/19/2012 1/4 13-House West establish.

Background - The Nature Of Maya/Aztec Astrology
Like the civilizations of China, India and the Ancient Near East, the early American civilizations developed an astrology, a logic of the sky. Archaeological evidence of Native American astrology points to origins as far back as 600 BC, and perhaps even earlier. Unlike the astrologies of the Old World, the astrology of ancient Mesoamerica (Mexico and parts of Central America) developed in isolation and was not influenced by other traditions. Its very nature therefore is very different from the astrological traditions Westerners are more familiar with.

All of the Mesoamerican civilizations, Olmec, Toltec, Maya, Zapotec and Aztec, used essentially the same astrology. Although the names of symbols varied, the concepts remained the same. Because the Aztecs were the predominant civilization at the time of the Spanish Conquest, we have chosen to use their symbol names in this modern reconstruction of the Mesoamerican astrological tradition.

At the core of Mesoamerican astrology are the 20 day-signs. Like the 12 signs of the Western Zodiac, these are signs descriptive of both personality and possibility. In other words, the signs can be used to describe a person, or they can describe an event. In the Western 12-sign zodiac, the signs are sections of space spread across the sky along the path of the Sun, Moon, and planets. The Maya/Aztec day-signs are very different. They are based on time and are actually names of days. Each sign lasts only one day, until it comes up again twenty days later. Like our 7-day week, which is astrological and named for the planets, the Maya and Aztecs used a 20-day week for astrological purposes.

There is no presently known reason why the Maya and Aztecs used only 20 signs. Perhaps they had discovered an important biorhythm or cycle. But besides the 20-days, they also used a 13-day cycle (or sign) and these intertwined with each other. While the days of the 20-day cycle each have a name, the days of the 13-day cycle are numbered from 1 to 13. If you start both cycles together, the first day of the 20-day cycle coinciding with the first day of the 13-day cycle, it will take exactly 260 days for all possible combinations of day and number to occur. This period, 260 days, is the length of the sacred Mesoamerican astrological calendar that this program is based on.

The 20 day-signs each have a name and a symbol. The names of these with a brief meaning are listed below.

1: Crocodile (east) - protective and dominating.

2: Wind (north) - agile, clever and multifaceted.

3: House (west) - deep, thoughtful and conservative.

4: Lizard (south) - active, dynamic and sexual.

5: Serpent (east) - powerful and charismatic.

6: Death (north) - sacrificing and helpful.

7: Deer (west) - cooperative and nomadic.

8: Rabbit (south) - clever and playful.

9: Water (east) - emotional and imaginative.

10: Dog (north) - loyal and helpful.

11: Monkey (west) - clever and demonstrative.

12: Grass (south) - careful and useful.

13: Reed (east) - knowledgable and crusading.

14: Ocelot (north) - intelligent and secretive.

15: Eagle (west) - free and independent.

16: Vulture (south) - authoritative and wise.

17: Earthquake (east) - intellectual but practical.

18: Knife (north) - self-sufficient but romantic.

19: Rain (west) - helpful and healing.

20: Flower (south) - loving and artistic.

You may have noticed that each of the signs is connected to a particular direction. The signs of the east are initiating and forceful. Those of the north are intellectual and critical. Signs of the west are cooperative and compromising. Signs of the south are emotional and reactive.

The day-sign a person was born under is the named day that occurred on their birthday. It delineates their most obvious personality characteristics and traits. A person is also born during one of twenty 13-day periods, periods that begin with a day-sign linked to the number 1. The 13-day period delineates their more subtle, possibly subconscious, personality qualities. It shows their deeper instincts and yearnings. The combination of day-sign and 13-day period yields a quite complete personality description, perhaps as good or even better than does the Western 12-sign zodiac. It should be said that these two signs represent only a partial reconstruction of what was once a more complex system. The rest, including signs ruling the year and the hour of birth, have been lost or completely recovered and made workable.

Because the day-signs signify general meanings and themes as well as personality configurations, they were used by the Aztecs for divinations. Like the I-Ching, a random drawing of beans or stones would allow a reader to find one of the 260 sign/number combinations and thus an answer to a question. Even today, the 260-day astrological calendar is used by Native American daykeepers in remote parts of Guatemala and Mexico. The divination section of this program utilizes computer technology to randomly select the sign/number combinations that may yield insights into a question asked.

Because the Maya and Aztecs did not have a developed writing system, and because most of their astrological knowledge was destroyed by the Spanish friars, little was known about this great product of theirs, and other Mesoamerican, cultures. The delineations used in this program were arrived at after several years of historical investigation, deep thought, and trial and error experimentation. Long lists of persons famous or known to the author, yet born under the same day-sign, were compared with each other. Eventually, this process led to some key concepts about each of the signs and the results, in the form of personality descriptions, are found in this program. The meanings for the signs when used in divinations were extrapolated from this information also.

We hope you find Maya/Aztec astrology to be not only interesting and fun, but helpful and a source of insight into your life.

Birth Time Considerations
There are two problems regarding the time of birth. The first one is in regard to the actual start of the day. Archaeological and anthropological sources are not always in agreement on whether the Maya or Aztec day started at sunset, midnight or dawn. It is true that many important ceremonies, such as a celebration for the arrival of a particular holy day, or the preparations for a major trading expedition, began shortly before midnight and were focused around that time. It is also true that the friars who wrote about the customs of the Native Americans did not mention anything about this, a fact that leads one to believe that the native customs were not different from those of the Spanish. However, there is some evidence for the other points, sunset and sunrise, being the start of the day, and, presumably, therefore the start of a day-sign's influence.

In the opinion of the author, the 260-day calendar functions like a gigantic biorhythm and contains within it rhythms of 13 and 20 days. In the literature on Western biorhythms (those of 23, 28 and 33 days) it is assumed that these personal rhythms begin on the day of birth -- but it is usually not clear if they begin at the time of birth or not. One writer says "people born very late at night have biorhythms more characteristic of the following day than of the day officially recorded as the day of birth." (Gittelson, 1977, p. 24). Other writers on biorhythms and circadian cycles mention that cell division in mammals is lowest at around 10:30 at night. This late evening shift appears to correlate with day-sign interpretations. That is, someone born an hour or two before midnight (daylight savings time accounted for) generally has the characteristics of the day-sign for the next day. In some cases it seems that persons born as early as just after sunset are best described by the next day-sign, or a combination of two day-signs, so this matter is by no means settled. For the time being, if a day-sign description for someone born between sunset and midnight does not appear to fit them, input the numbers for the next day to get a description of the next sign.

The second problem has to do with the apparent primacy of the Mesoamerican longitudes. Obviously, the day in Mexico is not the same day in China. Morning in China on January 1st is evening in Mexico on December 31st. Asia is a day ahead of the Americas. Persons born in Japan, China and Australia do seem to have the personalities of the day-sign of the previous day. Further, their Western astrological charts reflect this in their sign and planet structures. This phenomena implies some sort of centering power of the 90th meridian, Central Standard Time. Users of the program may want to make this conversion for persons born in Asia, or look at both day-signs.

Maya/Aztec Predictive Techniques
In ancient times, the 260-day astrological calendar was subdivided into four ritual periods or "seasons." Centered on the days 4-Serpent, 4-Dog, 4-Eagle and 4-Flower were what were known as the "burner" periods, or times when the "burner" would flare up. These divisions were spaced 65 days apart (260 divided by 4 = 65). In this context the 260-day calendar was used in a collective manner (as in mundane astrology) and perhaps these were times when certain kinds of extremes were experienced by the community. Rituals involving fires were staged with the intention of preventing or healing communal crises. Interestingly, these dates often fall within a few days of newsworthy crises that occur in today's world.

In the modern world where the individual comes first, experience has shown that dividing the 260-day cycle into fourths beginning from one's birthday reveals "critical" points that mark shifts or changes in personal matters. In many cases rather extreme events do occur precisely on one of the critical days, in others the effects occur a few days earlier. In some cases the effects are more subtle or psychological in nature. In understanding these critical dates it is helpful to view them from two perspectives, cycle and direction.

From your birthday, every 260 days represents one completed cycle in life. If this cycle of 260 days is divided by 4, or quartered, four sets, or "seasons," of 65 days is the result. Using the symbolism of the Sun/Moon cycle as a model, the occurrence of the birth day-sign is like the New Moon, the beginning of the cycle and a time of personal centering and new, barely conscious, beginnings. 65 days later corresponds (symbolically) to the first quarter, a time of crisis that demands action and adjustment. The midpoint of the cycle, 130 days, corresponds to the Full Moon, a time of separation or perspective. 195 days from the start of the cycle compares with the third quarter, a time of crisis requiring conscious choice.

The second perspective on the critical days is to recognize that each of the four dates in the cycle corresponds to one of the four directions. These are listed below.

East: Crocodile, Serpent, Water, Reed, Earthquake. These are points that emphasize the need to be creative, to do something new and to move forward.

North: Wind, Death, Dog, Ocelot, Knife. These are points that may indicate crisis and the need to protect oneself from negative energy. The mind is under pressure during these times.

West: House, Deer, Monkey, Eagle, Rain. These are points of encounter with others, times of sharing and loss of ego. Relationships are important now.

South: Lizard, Rabbit, Grass, Vulture, Flower. These are points of strong feelings and emotional extremes. These may also be times of accomplishment and activity in the outside world.

Combining cycle symbolism with directional symbolism gives deeper insight into the patterns of the critical days. For example, if a sign of the north coincides with one of the quarters, a stressful time might be expected. If a sign of the west coincides with the opposition, important developments in relationships may be a prominent theme. A keyword has been given for each of the combinations that may suggest the direction in which the energies and trends are heading around that time. Experience has also shown that the effects of the critical days often become apparent several days before the exact day computed in this report.

The Cycle Of Venus
Of the planets visible to the ancient skywatchers of Mesoamerica, Venus was the most important. Due to its alternations from morning to evening star it was believed to be a symbol of certain profound dualities in nature and in man. Because the orbit of Venus lies between the Earth and the Sun, it never strays too far from the Sun and can only be seen close to the times of sunrise and sunset, depending on which part of its cycle it is in. From the perspective of an observer, it takes Venus 584 days on average to complete one cycle of morning and evening star. This figure meshes with the solar year of 365 days and the 260-day astrological calendar precisely every 104 years. The start of its cycle was its first appearance as a morning star, an event called by astronomers its heliacal rising.

According to the Dresden Codex, an ancient Maya manuscript that is one of the most authoritative sources on Maya astronomy and astrology, the cycle of Venus began when its rays first appeared in the twilight of dawn. This event usually occurs several days after the Inferior Conjunction of Venus with the Sun. The Inferior Conjunction is so-named because Venus, the lesser body, passes in front of the Sun, the greater body. In this conjunction, Venus, which disappears in rays of the Sun for over a week during this time, comes closest to the Earth. The Maya allocated exactly 8 days for this phase of the Venus cycle. After its heliacal rising, the second phase of the Venus cycle, its phase as a morning star, commenced. The Maya allocated 236 days to this period.

As Venus ends its time as a morning star, it once again disappears into the rays of the Sun. As it moves to conjoin the Sun again, it does so at its greatest distance from Earth. The conjunction in this part of its cycle is called the Superior Conjunction, because here Venus passes behind the Sun. The Maya allocated 90 days for this third phase of the cycle, a phase where Venus is not visible. After it re-emerges from behind the rays of the Sun, Venus begins its phase as an evening star, a phase for which the Maya allocated 250 days. These four phases of the Venus cycle, 8 days, 236 days, 90 days and 250 days add up to 584 days, the full cycle of Venus. The duration of these phases is a symbolic approximation of the astronomical facts, which actually vary somewhat from cycle to cycle.

The Maya and Aztecs believed that the cycle of Venus depicted the experiences of the god Quetzalcoatl in his descent to Earth. The first rising of Venus as a morning star symbolized his arrival on Earth. During the morning star phase Quetzalcoatl was overcome by desire and lust and committed sins; he pushed against the boundaries of society. During the disappearance of Venus at Superior Conjunction, a warlike athletic duel with the Sun took place and during the evening star phase, Quetzalcoatl, now fully sober, walked the Earth until his sacrificial death during the Inferior Conjunction. He was then reborn as the new Venus and the cycle began again.

This report calculates the phase that Venus was in at your birth according to the figures used and recorded by the ancient Maya. For each phase, the program offers a brief interpretation of the possible significance of Venus, symbol of both impulsive personal desire and collective social values, in your life.

The Year Of Birth
The Maya and Aztecs believed that the year of birth could be read astrologically and that the astrological qualities of any given year were dependent on two factors. First is a cycle of 4 years. In this cycle each succeeding year is associated with one of the four directions in the order east, north, west, and south. The directions are similar to the elements (fire, air, earth, and water) in Western astrology. The Aztec delineations for the years are as follows.

East: creative/mental -- fertile/abundant

North: violent weather -- barren/dry/cold

West: wild/losses/illness -- cloudy/evil

South: good business/health -- variable

A second factor is a cycle of 52 years. In this longer period, 13 repetitions of the basic 4-year cycle are counted. As each year arrives, it is identified with a number and a direction. Four cycles of 13 years each make up the 52-year calendar round or Xiuhmolpilli.

Not all ancient Mexican cultures applied the cycle of years the same way. There was a lack of consensus about which year was linked to which number. The Aztecs used Reed (east), Knife (north), House (west), and Rabbit (south). The Classic Maya used Caban (east), Ik (north), Manik (west), and Eb (south), which correlate with Earthquake, Wind, Deer, and Grass. During Postclassic times the pattern was changed. The Classic pattern is used by the Quiche Maya who have kept the astrological traditions alive in Guatamala. The author believes that the year correlation established by the Classic Maya and continued by the Quiche Maya works.

Four and eight-year cycles have been found in nature by cycle researchers, a strong suggestion that there may be a real material basis to the cycling of the years. It is also interesting to note that the Olympics and United States presidential elections are held in the same year, years that are ruled by the east, according to the Quiche. Further, the Chinese cycle of 12 years correlates with this pattern if you look at it as three groupings of a 4-year cycle.

The Lords Of The Night
One component of Maya astrology was a 9-day cycle that ran alongside the cycle of the day-signs. These 9 days were said to be ruled by the Lords of the Night, one for each day. The names of the Maya gods are barely known, but the Aztecs have left a complete list.

The Lords of the Night are not a calendar per se, but a kind of symbolic cycle. The Maya linked the Lords to the Long Count. We know that on August 11, -3113 the ninth Lord was ruler. Start ing from this date we run a 9-day cycle along with the day-signs which allows the program to find the ruling Lord of the Night for any date. The 260-days of the tzolkin do not mesh perfectly with the 9-day cycle and it takes 9 cycles of 260 (2,340 days or 6.4 years) before the same combination occurs again.

Much less is known about how the Aztecs used the cycle. It appears that they ran the 9-day cycle against the 260 days and had the last two Lords ruling the last of the 260 days. In this manner the cycle would start again at the same place. In Maya/Aztec Astro-Report we have chosen to follow Maya usage.

Some writers have suggested that the Lords of the Night are actually a division of the nightime hours. Like the planetary hours of Western astrology, the night was divided into 9ths with the 5th Lord's rule centered around midnight. In this line of reasoning the day was divided into 13 hours.