SAN BARTOLO VERNAL EQUINOX DAWN

POPOL VUH

“THEN came his word. Heart of Sky arrived here with Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent in the darkness, in the night. He spoke with Sovereign and Quetzal Serpent. They spoke together then. They thought and they pondered. They reached an accord, bringing together their words and their thoughts. Then they gave birth, heartening one another. Beneath the light, they gave birth to humanity. Then they arranged for the germination and creation of the trees and the bushes, the germination of all life and creation, in the darkness of the night, by Heart of Sky, who is called Huracan.” (POPOL VUH, The Sacred Book of the Maya, Allen J. Christensen, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman Oklahoma 2003, p.7)

Heart of Sky is the pole star the one star in the night sky that does not move and proves without a doubt that earth rotates on a tilted polar axis, earth’s celestial equator, Quetzal Serpent. Sovereign represents earth’s orbit around the sun. “They spoke together then. They thought and they pondered. They reached an accord, bringing together their thoughts and words” describes how earth orbiting the sun counterclockwise while also rotating counterclockwise on its tilted polar axis all work together to create life on earth.

The narrative depicted in this mural from San Bartolo involves the approaching Vernal Equinox sunrise just before dawn and the mythological entities representing earth’s celestial mechanics responsible for this event to occur. The red boat like hull at the bottom represents earth’s orbit around the sun, the plane of the ecliptic. The yellow band just above represents earth’s celestial equator, its rotation and axial tilt with the white band just above that, the serpent, representing earth’s tilted polar axis. The multi colored motifs swirling at the ‘bow of the boat’ symbolize all of the magical interplay between the actors involved with earth’s counterclockwise orbit around the sun while rotating counterclockwise on its tilted polar axis as the polar axis begins aligning to the plane of the ecliptic on the equinox. The yellow u-shaped motifs may represent the dawn’s early light.

The two nearly identical figures at the right are the Hero Twins. They represent the dual nature of earth’s tilted polar axis. The figure to the right represents the polar axis throughout the year demarcating the solstices and equinoxes as earth orbits the sun. The second figure represents earth’s daily rotation as suggested by the circular motif on his chest divided into two halves, one red the other black symbolizing day and night. Together these two figures measure time and regulate the amount of sunlight the earth receives. They both carry nearly identical ceremonial bar like motifs above their heads that likely symbolize earth’s orbit, rotation, and polar axis. The slight differences in the locations of the ear spool motifs along with the arrangements of the vertical and horizontal elements may specifically refer to the two ways the polar axis interacts with earth’s orbit around the sun and its daily rotation. 

The next female figure represents earth’s celestial equator’s alignment to the plane of the ecliptic. She is paired with the female figure at the far left and will be discussed together. Between her and the next paired figures appears a golden ear spool like motif that represents the sun in the process of rising due east above the serpent back horizon. The two golden u-shaped feather-like motifs may reflect the fact that the wall the mural is painted on faces south of due east that along with the tree line obscuring the true horizon where the sun actually rises could cast doubt on the validity of certain Vernal Equinox rituals. These motifs may also be alluding to a deep mystical preference for perfection, knowing exactly what the astronomer priests were seeing as the sun rose over the tree tops and if measuring time accurately in a cosmic sense was any part of their cosmology then the less than perfect timing of the approaching sunrise needed to be accommodated within the narrative. 

The next two figures, one light the other dark, represent earth’s day and night rotation. Interesting that daylight is represented by the feminine suggesting earth’s fertility in the ongoing narrative. With her knees and the toes of her feet shown just below the serpent’s back she appears to be offering assurances to the Maize God that the dawn sunrise is ‘on its way’. Looking at the other figures, their knees and feet all appear to be interacting with or just below the serpent’s back suggesting the roles they each play in the timing of the approaching sunrise. The three motifs in her headdress symbolize the solar year and the three locations on the horizon of the rising and setting sun on the solstices and equinoxes.  

The next figure is identified as the Maize God. He is facing forward but looking back and down at the female daylight rotation figure waiting for the moment earth rotates into the dawn’s first rays of sunlight. The stalk of the maize plant while symbolizing the significance of maize and the importance of the Vernal Equinox to the growing season may also double as a metaphor for earth’s polar axis as well as a phallic male fertility symbol.

The next figure is shown kneeling on one knee on the serpent’s back and faces the Maize God with their toes nearly touching. This figure likely represents the pole star, Heart of Sky. He is shown kneeling because the wall the mural is painted on is not aligned due east. Not only is the pole star intimately related to earth’s celestial equator it also locates due north that along with the first rays of the equinox sun just rising due east above the horizon creates a triangulation between the sun, the pole star, and any location on the earth’s surface the sun’s light touches. Other than knowing this additional detail regarding knowledge of earth’s celestial mechanics was it enough for some to encode in their creation stories? At Palenque both Heart of Sky and Three Stone Place are found mentioned together on the Tablet of The Sun and the Tablet of the Cross. Because most of Palenque and especially the Temple of the Inscriptions are aligned east of north the palace’s three-story tower may have been built to allow for clear views to the east and west at sunrise and sunset on the equinoxes along with a clear view of the horizon to the north. Coincidentally Palenque located at longitude 92.02.47w lies ‘due’ north of Izapa at longitude 92.180w and is triangulated through Izapa located at latitude 14.42n with Copan nearly due east at latitude 14.50n.

The female figure at the far left is facing to the right, towards the east and is making some sort of offering involving ‘three spheres’. She is shown kneeling on or just below the serpent’s back with her knees and toes arranged similar but not quite the same as the other female. The motif that surrounds her is seen swirling up from the bottom of the mural through the red color of the plane of the ecliptic and the yellow and white layers that represent earth’s celestial equator, Quetzal Serpent. Note the small, feathered serpent at the bottom emerging from the swirling motif located at the stern of the ‘solar canoe’. Its head is shown resting on the symbolic white polar axis band that along with the red spiraling motif rising above it seem to suggest the very moment earth rotates into the dawn sunrise aligning the polar axis to the plane of the ecliptic. This fantastic swirling motif likely symbolizes the time and place of the most fertile and magical places on earth wherever the light of the sun shines during the Vernal Equinox sunrise. The oval glyph with the cross like motif along with the red dot in the center and the various interlocking circular motifs likely symbolize this event. The jaguar represents the ‘night sun’ and is shown with an open jaw spewing something red that likely symbolizes pre dawn sunlight onto one of ‘three birds’ and onto one of its ‘three’ prominently displayed claws. The twisting serpent with a bird in its mouth symbolizes the ‘three’ locations on the horizon where the sun rises and sets on the solstices and equinoxes with the bird in its beak likely symbolizing the equinox sun. The Vedic chant RG Veda 10.121 HYMN TO PRAJAPATI begins with “ In the beginning was HIRANYAGARBHA (GOLDEN WOMB)”. Looking at a graphic illustration (Art Motifs/The Olde Gods Fig.1A) of how the earth’s celestial equator aligns to the plane of the ecliptic at a 23.4 degree angle one can see a horizontal V-like ‘opening’ where the sun shines strongest between the equinoxes. The term Golden Womb seems to suggest earth’s fertilization by the sun’s rays of light. Quetzalcoatl’s open jaw likely also symbolizes this 23.4 degree gap between the plane of the ecliptic and earth’s celestial equator. The female figure at the left represents the plane of the ecliptic while earth’s celestial equator is represented by the other female figure located between the Hero Twin and the paired light and dark figures. They both have identical, but inverted ‘bar and hook’ motifs on their cheeks. This motif likely symbolizes earth’s rotation, the ‘hook’ and the ‘bar’ earth’s polar axis’ alignment to the plane of the ecliptic. The figure at the left shown kneeling is the static overall feminine component of the plane of the ecliptic she doesn’t move as she awaits the other female figure that represents earth’s celestial equator shown walking towards the equinox alignment. Note that everyone except the Maize God and the dark colored netted earth rotation figure wear circular ear spools with red dots in the center that symbolize either earth’s orbit around the sun and or its daily rotation depending on what is being encoded. The fact that the Maize God does not wear an ear spool alludes to the perceived significance of the approaching singularly most incredibly intense moment, the split second when time nearly stands still when the very first ray of sunlight signals the alignment of earth’s tilted polar axis to the plane of the ecliptic on the Vernal Equinox. The last figure is Sovereign, essentially the glorified deification of earth’s orbit around the sun as the primary and dominant celestial mechanic responsible for creating all life on earth, a mono cult type of scenario that underpins the monarchy and the king’s right to rule. He has a serpent in his headdress with feathers attached and an ear spool with two concentric circles and a red dot in the center symbolizing earth’s orbit and rotation. He cradles with his left arm a tri-color serpent staff, the same colors as the ‘solar boat’s hull’, while also holding in his left hand a ceramic bowl like motif with three ‘petals’ emerging from what may be an earth orbit and or rotational motif. The three petals symbolize the locations on the horizon of the rising and possibly setting sun on the solstices and equinoxes with the one in the center symbolizing an equinox. The final scene this figure faces appears to be some sort of celebratory adulation of Sovereign in gratitude for all he does bringing the sun’s light to earth to create new life with the infant figures possibly representing the king’s descendants.    If most of the above is true then the scribes who created this mural were knowledgeable of a very nuanced and detailed mythology encoding earth’s celestial mechanics, one likely derived from Old World sources.