Leap Year ~ Not! The Laws of Time

Every four years, we add a day to the calendar to even out Earth's elliptical orbit. It seems a bit grandiose to think that humans are correcting the Creator's error, eh?

From an indigenous perspective, time has an entirely different flow ~ and meaning. Since discovering the Mayan Calendar in 1996, I've learned to live on two levels simultaneously: our 12:60 Gregorian calendar, which measures time in 12-month and 60-minute increments, neither of which is natural and all of which leaves us breathless and starving for peace, and the 13:20 Mayan cycle of 13 Moons and a 20-count unit of measure, which we actually embody (20 fingers and toes). Just holding this both/and has expanded my experience.

With Leap Day tomorrow, and 2012 looming, it's useful to delve more deeply into what, exactly, is going on. I'm going to be writing more about 2012 soon, as lately I've been hearing several young people express fear about what this date portends. But for now, here's some Leap Year clarity with a Mayan Calendar perspective, from timekeeper Aluna Joy.

"The Mayan date system presented in Mayan Astrology skips leap year days altogether in order to stay in sync with galactic cycles. In other words, it literally ignores the Gregorian day, February 29, and continues the sacred count on March 1. This method adjusts for the Gregorian discrepancy every four years by skipping one day every four years.

"The traditional Maya had no problem with the Gregorian calendar, but of course, they didn't use it. This eliminated one problem, yet they still had to make an adjustment of 13 days at the end of a 52-year cycle during their New Fire ceremonies. They kept the sacred count for 52 years, skipped over 13 days or Suns, and then resumed their sacred count in order to stay in sync with galactic cycles. The New Fire ceremonies represent a complete cycle of the Haab (Long Count), the Tzolk'in (260-day sacred cycle), and the Pleiades, coming full circle to their places of origin. The following quote is from Mayan Elder, Hunbatz Men, in his booklet Tzol ek' Mayan Astrology, 'Due to very precise and consistent methods of observation, the Maya came to establish the well-know cycle of the NEW FIRE or TUNBEN K'AK, which is celebrated every 52 years.'

"The big question here is what about those days we just flippantly skip over that were given to us by the Creator, Hunab K'u? Do we just toss them out with the morning trash? The problem we are encountering here is based in our perspective. Through the vision of my buddies, the Cosmic Maya, I was shown some intriguing perspectives or shifts in orientation, helping me see the problem from a different angle or light. You will have to tune in to Spirit and feel for yourself. Remember, proof is in the experience.

"The first and most powerful problem we have is how we approach the sacred calendar. We are approaching it from an Earth perspective that is still not in sync with the galactic whole. Then we try to cram the sacred Tzolk'in cycle into a Gregorian one. This doesn't work without some adjustments, as we all have deduced by now.

"We are emerging out of an age of darkness. We are beginning to remember long-lost truths. We are also stretching toward galactic alignment. This tells us that we are out of sync with the galaxy. Right? Well, if we are out of sync with harmonious galactic cycles, how could we possibly force the sacred Mayan calendar, which is based in the harmonious cycles of the universe, into the framework of the faulty Gregorian calendar without some difficulty? We have been assuming that a sacred day in the Mayan calendar is the exact length of a solar/Earth day. We know it is not. The problem is not with the Mayan calendar, it is not with the Sun, it is with our Earth cycles and our currently used Gregorian calendar. We are trying to link the sacred calendar to the faulty Gregorian based calendar instead of the other way around

"The Cosmic Maya share that our Earth is spinning too fast at this time to synchronize totally with the sacred cycles. They say that the earth is now slowing its spin as they anticipated. (Scientists have confirmed that the earth is indeed slowing its spin) When it slows to the point of harmony and synchronization with the sacred timing cycle (in 2012), Earth will balance its rotational speed and we will align with the galaxy. It is at this time that we will be able to merge and integrate our solar cycles with the sacred cycle."