In an ancient culture versed in astronomy, the Mayan had more than 20 calendars going at any one time. 
Their system was cyclical, rather than a linear counting of time. They understood that time, like life, revolves in recurring cycles. And like holograms, their cycles were reflected in each other.
The Western Gregorian Calender
Mayan calendars were all nature-based. In contrast, our Western Gregorian calendar is rooted in a thought-process rather than in any natural cycle.
Set by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, the Gregorian calendar has months of varying lengths, as opposed to a year of lunar cycles, each of which consists of 28.5 days (the moon’s cycle around the Earth). Pope Gregory invented an arbitrary calendar in order to move away from natural cycles, which were revered and observed by Earth-based “heathens.”
In order to do so, he had to divide 365 days (the Earth’s journey around the sun) into 12 arbitrary months, rather than observe the 13 lunar months that are equal in length.
A nursery rhyme was created to help us remember a system that has no rhyme or reason: “Thirty days has September/ April, June, and November/ February has twenty eight alone/ All the rest have thirty one/ Except leap-year that’s the time/ When February’s days are twenty-nine.”
Losing Contact With Nature
Shuffling the names of the months for political reasons created further chaos. Honoring Julius Cesar by naming July after him, pope Gregory “bumped” September and October. September (from the Latin “Septe” meaning Seven) became the 9th month of the year. October (from “Octagon” meaning eight) was placed 10th in the Gregorian year.
Think of the messages delivered to a human brain that is inherently connected to nature, when it has to adjust to counting time arbitrarily, and call months by false numeric names.
Chaos ensues. Where once there was natural order, now there is disarray. Where once there was connection to nature, now there is obedience to a man-made system that correlates to nothing in particular. Where once there was common sense, now things became irrational.
It only took a few short centuries for the chaos to fully shape our consciousness. And thus, from a sense of Time as a fluid cycle that connects us with nature, Time became Money… An inherent struggle followed, combating the shortage of both.
All along the Mayan culture continued to lead a comforting existence, nurtured by the deep connection to the cycles of life.
Honoring The New Born
One of the main building blocks of Mayan time is a 260 days cycle: the length of human gestation. It takes nine lunar cycles (rather than nine Gregorian calendar months) for a human embryo to grow in its mother’s womb. This segment of time seems to be etched in our DNA as a natural rhythm.
As my infant daughter grew to be 6,7, and 8 months old, it struck me that she spent less time on Earth than in my womb.
It was then that I decided to mark and celebrate her “first pregnancy” out of the womb. When she turned nine months old her baby friends, and their parents, gathered for a blessing circle in our back yard.
I lifted my daughter high above my head, and presented her to each of the four directions, asking for a blessing from each element: clear visions from the element of Air residing in the East; passion and compassion from the element of Fire in the South; fluidity and flow from the Water in the West; groundedness from the Earth in the North.
She was passed around the circle, from one pair of loving arms to another, and received blessings from each friend.
The Magic Of Life
Something interesting happened the following day. After weeks of pain caused by a couple of bulges in her upper gums, my daughter’s first tooth cut through the day after her nine-month blessing ceremony! The second tooth emerged a day later.
That week, after feeding only on breast milk for nine months, she willingly tried, for the first time, a piece of solid food (which she repeatedly refused before).
And that month we purchased her first stroller, after carrying her only in arms and in a sling, since her birth.
We haven’t planned it, but the landmarks seem to have emerged all by themselves, naturally, as if an innate wisdom was guiding them, rather than any doctor-written parenting book.
Nothing To Fear
The Mayan observed cycles of 26 years in a human life, 260 years in humanity’s growth, 26,000 years in human development, and a 260.000 years cycle, which is the cycle that is currently coming to an end.
Have you heard people say: “The Mayan calendar is ending… the end of the world is near”? This statement is based on utter misunderstanding of the wisdom of the Mayan calendar.
The 260.000-year cycle, which according to the Mayan calendar will compete in 2012, is the gestation cycle of our human race.
New Beginning
We, as a species, are getting ready to be born!
And after any cycle of pregnancy, a new cycle of life begins. Many spiritual traditions predicted this time in history as a time of evolution in human consciousness.
Many prophecies speak about this as a time of conscious emergence, and astrological analysis of planetary and universal cycles refers to our time as the Age of Aquarius, in which a new consciousness dawns.
It is interesting to note how cycles of different length, from different spiritual traditions, all converge at a similar moment in history. And this is an exciting moment, which does not bring us to an end, but rather to a new beginning.
It is exciting to live in a time where our human consciousness is about to take a leap, a ‘growth spurt,’ into our next phase of evolution.
DeAnna L’am is an author, educator, and ceremonialist. She welcomes your feedback, and is open to dialogue. Visit her at www.deannalam.com