Four Ahau Press

Feb 4th, 1994

 

Dear Peter,

 

I responded to Milo Rea Gardner’s letters as diplomatically as possible - thank you for forwarding them to me. Improvements to Mayan Calendrics hardly need be made, it is excellent as is. Your lunar calendar looks interesting. At one time I did a little research into 13 month lunar calendars and found some interesting references from the 1920’s - a com­mittee or something to implement a 13 month year. Your model would seem the best thought out and the most accurate. I would like to explore it in the context of a 13-sign zodiac, the tzolkin, and and moon/sun/ planetary conjunctions within that context. A comment you made on the accuracy of the Gregorian (diverging from seasons a day every 3322 years) got me thinking about the correlation question. The continuing battle between Lounsbury’s and Thompson’s correlation - a difference of only two days. I wonder if the 2 day separation, and the apparent accuracy of Lounsbury’s count for Classic Period astro­nomical references might be more a function of Gregorian slipping? I don't know.

 

I figure I'm ready for TWZ - I recently re-read the theoretical section of McKenna's Invisible Landscape - oh so heavy. Please send me the advanced version when it comes out and thanks for the discount. Hope every thing is going well with your return to Berkeley. When I was in Berkeley awhile ago I found myself on Shattuck Square and searched for 48, #147. Couldn't even find 48! Are you a conspiracy? Do you exist inter-dimensionally, only to manifest during certain celestial conjunctions? Did you write a piece on DMT elves?

 

Best Wishes,

 

John Major Jenkins

 

[Note: The Gregorian calendar is inaccurate by 1 day every 3322 years; thus just over a day-and-a-half in one 13-baktun cycle. Such are the vagaries of astronomy and calendars. Thus, even the Julian Day designations for August 12th, 3114 BC (as 0.0.0.0.1 in the Long Count) and December 21st, 2012 (as 13.0.0.0.0 in the Long Count) would have a plus-or-minus 1.5-day variable. This might be important for those who impute a sudden change on December 21st, which I don’t. It also doesn’t really effect the forward projection/calculation that the Izapan skywatchers made to 13.0.0.0.0 = December 21st, 2012. – JMJ, 1-16-2003]