The Mayan Calendar and Mesoamerican Astrology

In episode 419 astrologer Kenneth Johnson joins the show to talk about the Mayan calendar and Mesoamerican astrology, which is the indigenous astrology of ancient Mexico and Central America.

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 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 happene…