Nexus - 0212 - New Times Magazine-pages

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26.NEXUS The Dresden Codex, one of the remaining records of tthe great Maya, states that the total soJar eclipse of 11 July 1991 would usher in two life-altering events: earth changes and cosmic awareness in the fOfftl of encoun­ ters with the masters of the stars. Perhaps 1200 years ago, the prophetic Maya caught a glimpse of our destiny and that of our predecessors. Eclipses played a tran­ scendental role in the history of Meso-America; they were heaven­ ly signals marking the beginning or end of an era. These phenom­ ena depicted portents of things to come. Historically, an eclipse armounced the Aztec migration from the mythical Atzlan and the settling of the valley of Mexico. It herald­ ed the Spanish invasion and the plunge of the indigenous people into darkness where their culture would remain submerged for almost 500 years. The Maya revealed their profound knowledge of terrestrial cycles through divLnations recorded on ancient storyboards. One of the most intriguing, the Dresden Codex, is a mysterious blend of accurate prophecy and pure science in Ithe form of tables. It con­ structs a calendar of events dated to 3114 BC, the date officially accepted by modern science as the age of the Codex. The Mayan hieroglyphics give us insight into the vast knowl­ edge and magnificent genius that they created, understood and existed within, a realm of myth dictated by heavenly movements. To them, the sun, the moon and the Pleiades were the keepers of time, and the seers of future events. The people of Meso-America were indeed a cosmic race whose thoughts and lives were ruled by what happened in the heavens, especially the birth of a new sun. Thus, a great number of historic events were directly linked 10 an eclipse. According to the inscription, the era of the first sun ended with a devastating wind; the second with fiery rain; the third with dark­ ness. The era of the fourth sun terminated with water, recognised by most cultures as The Great Flood. the fifth sun exited with the destruction by earthquakes that devastated Mexico City in 1985. The 1991 total solar eclipse armounced great changes. It also marked Ithe beginning of the era of the sixth sun, the sun of Quetzalcoatl, the legendary bearded, fair-skinned god who is lillribUted with the social, technical and cultural enlightenment of prehistoric America, and who also promised to return. The sixth sun, due to its historic movement, trajectory lUld dura­ tion, marked the end of cosmogenic obscurity, giviJrg credence to the prophecy given in the year 755 AD, that the sun of 1991 would usher in a new era of not only earth changes, but also cosmic awareness. The people of Mexico prepared for what some called the eclipse of the millennium, dlle to the maximum- duration of 6 minutes 45 seconds, one of the longest in history. One thing was certain: Qlls would become the most scrutinised and photo'graphed eclipse ever recorded. FEBRUARY-MARCH '93