Mesoamerican astrologers mathematically worked out the cycles of the visible
planets and were able to compute their positions in advance from tables they created.
Venus was perhaps the most studied of the planets and its 584-day synodic cycle was
apparently both a symbol of the process of cultural evolution and a practical method for
determining dangerous periods and cyclic agricultural conditions. The Mayan divided
the synodic cycle of Venus into four sections and offered interpretations for each. The
first portion of the cycle, the inferior conjunction, which occurs when Venus passes
between the Earth and the Sun, was considered extremely dangerous. It was considered
to be a time when human errors would lead to disgrace and the high would be struck
down. Interestingly, trends like these continue to manifest at the time of the inferior
conjunction. The interface between Venus and the Sun (five Venus synodic cycles =
eight solar years) was also a component of the larger cycle of 104 years when the cycles
of Venus, the Sun, and the 260-day astrological count meshed precisely.
The rehabilitation of Mesoamerican astrology is far from complete. In Mexico
and Guatemala today, there is a number of native practitioners who utilize the system
in what they believe to be a pure form. In many cases, they reject the work of the aca-
demic researchers and devise entirely new rulership schemes. There are also discrep-
ancies over the exact correlation between the ancient pre-Colombian calendar and
that of the Christian calendar. However, after much research and painstaking compar-
isons with colonial documents, oral traditions, and ancient inscriptions, the consensus
seems to be that the Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation (the GMT), which
places the beginning of the present creation epoch (the Long Count) at August 11,
3114 B.C.E., is the correct correlation. The tradition of Mesoamerican astrology is the
world’s most sophisticated time-based astrological system, and it may eventually be a
major contributor to a world-class astrology of the future.
—Bruce C. ScofieldSources:
Aveni, Anthony F. Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico.Austin: University of Texas Press, 1980.
The Book of the Jaguar Priest: A Translation of the Book of Chilam Balam of Tizimin, with Commen-
tary.New York: Henry Schuman, 1951.
Burland, C. A. The Gods of Mexico.New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1967.
Duran, Fray Diego. The Book of the Gods, the Rites and the Ancient Calendar.Translated and edit-
ed by F. Horcasitas and D. Heyden. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1971.
Jenkins, John. Maya Cosmogenesis 2012.Santa Fe: Bear & Co., 1999.
Sahagún, Bernardino de. Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain.Books 4 and
- Translated by C. E. Dibble and A. J. O. Anderson. Ogden: University of Utah Press, 1957.
Schele, Linda, and David Freidel. A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya.New
York: William Morrow and Co., 1990.
Schele, Linda, and Joy Parker. Maya Cosmos: Three Thousand Years on the Shaman’s Path.New
York: William Morrow and Co., 1993.
Scofield, Bruce. Day-Signs: Native American Astrology from Ancient Mexico.Amherst, MA: One
Reed Publications, 1991.
Scofield, Bruce. “Sex and the Plumed Serpent: Venus Cycles in Mesoamerican Astrology.” The
Mountain Astrologer.Issue #94, December 2000/January 2001: pp. 3–10.
Scofield, Bruce. Signs of Time: An Introduction to Mesoamerican Astrology.Amherst, MA: One
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