Discussing the Mayan calendar and Mesoamerican astrology, which is the indigenous astrology of ancient Mexico and Central America, with astrologers Kenneth Johnson and Chris Brennan.

During the course of the episode we talk about what is known about the development of astronomy and astrology in Mayan and other Mesoamerican cultures prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, when many written documents were destroyed during the Spanish conquest.

Kenneth explains how Mesoamerican cultures had complex and highly accurate astronomically based calendars, and how these were tied in with a pervasive belief in astrology, conceptualized as a connection and mirroring between the sky and the earth.

One of the key features of Mayan astrology was a focus on tracking the cycles of Venus, as well as the development of a 260-day sacred calendar which consisted of 13 numbers and 20 day-signs that were used for astrological purposes.

Later in the episode we talk about what happened with some of the western misunderstandings surrounding the Mayan calendar ending in 2012, and how time is seen in terms of cycles that have no end.

Finally the last point we touch on is the recent revival and expansion of Mayan astrology in modern times, and how a new system has grown and developed over the past 30 years

Kenneth is the author of the book Mayan Calendar Astrology: Mapping Your Inner Cosmos.

You can find more about Kenneth’s work on his website:

www.jaguarwisdom.org/

This is episode 419 of The Astrology Podcast:

theastrologypodcast.com/2023/09/17/the-mayan-calen…

Thanks for listening!

#TheAstrologyPodcast

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:14 Kenneth's background
00:10:58 Mesoamerican civilizations
00:17:30 Destruction of texts
00:23:00 Mirroring of heaven and earth
00:30:27 Calendar and cycles
00:41:00 Sacred time
00:44:08 Electional astrology
00:51:10 Venus in Mayan astronomy & astrology
01:01:42 Myths
01:06:45 Celestial portents & eclipses
01:14:08 Natal astrology
01:28:58 Astrology and medicine
01:37:05 Astrologers
01:42:47 Knowledge lost vs. survived
01:49:25 Mayan & European astrology mixed
01:54:08 Mayan long count
01:58:36 Mayan calendar and 2012
02:09:10 Contemporary Mayan astrology
02:29:31 Kenneth's work
02:32:30 End cards