In our last blog, we introduced the nature of the Chilam Balam prophecies and discussed the most recent recurrence of a K’atun 8 Ahau (1953-73) as an example.

Let us look at a few more recent examples.

K’atun 6 Ahau began on July 20th, 1973, and ended on April 5th, 1993. The prophecies for K’atun 6 Ahau are blunt, straightforward, and not at all difficult to interpret. The Mayan text reads: Bin u tus ob coil than, tzuc achil. This may be translated as: “There will be lies and madness, and also lust and fornication.”

MCP Editor's Note: This blog post refers to the article on MSN Entertainment which can be found here: http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=678294

Ken's blog follows.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(with apologies to The Who)

It’s all over the media now – the newest debacle of misinformation about the Maya.

Not just misinformation, but a deliberate hoax.

A documentary alleging to “prove” contact between the Maya and extraterrestrials is enjoying wide circulation all over the Internet. Come on, MSN! You should know better!

The Fire Ceremony is the most important and fundamental of all Mayan rituals. The information below comes from the notes that Anita Garr and I took directly from Don Rigoberto Itzep Chanchavac, a chuch q’ajaw (mother-father) of Momostenango, preceding the Fire Ceremony of 8 B’atz’ (Yucatec: 8 Chuen) on October 24, 2010. There are many possible variations in the Fire Ceremony, depending on one’s district, lineage, or individual teacher. This one is fairly typical of contemporary Momostenango.

Poor Pacal. Thanks to the fabulous artwork on his sarcophagus lid, he is easily the most famous, or at least the most recognizable, of all Mayan monarchs.

But everyone gets his name wrong. When the early Spanish explorers reached Palenque, the local Maya told them legends of a mysterious wise man called Pacal Votan. Even though the legend seems to have little to do with the actual king, the name stuck, and now the poor guy – under the name Pacal Votan -- gets channeled as often as Nostradamus or Cleopatra.