Re: Why not 13 months? (Was La Systeme Metrique)
Ernie Marc (e-marc@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us)
4 Aug 1995 05:55:24 GMT
The Meso-Americans used a calendar system with 18 months of 20 day
with an addditional 5 day period to end the year. In addition they used a
sacred calendar called the Tzol'kin that consisted of 20 day names in a
specific order that were counted in a cycle of 13 (that number appears in
the new world too). If you started on a specific number and day name with
a specific number and month name (this is how they indicated a date), it
would take 52 of their years to have that same combination of # day name,
# month name to turn up again. The number 13 also seems to indicate their
zodiac system and is mentioned in the myths to be the number of layers of
the heavens in the cosmic onion. 9 is the number of levels of the
underworld. The word for 9 in Yucatec is balon which is also the word for
the feared jaguar. Oxlahun is the word for 13 and simply is the
combination of Ox for 3 and Lahun for 10. Not bad for a Vegestimal culture.
May your kins be no burden
--
Ernie Marc
e-marc@bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us
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