The ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica had intricate hieroglyphs and calendar systems to explain the meaning of the universe. Two of these cultures, the Maya and the Aztecs, kept similar calendars as their ancestors, the Olmecs had. The Pleiades marked special times of the year for the Mayans and Aztecs. Both cultures regarded the Pleiades as different symbols.Mesoamerica and the Pleiades
The Aztec and Maya calendars consisted of two calendar wheels within one major 52-year cycle. The lunar cycle has a set of 13 days by 20 days. The tropical year calendar holds a cycle of 18 days by 20 days, plus an additional five unlucky days equaling 365. These two simultaneously spin completely around to mark the beginning of both calendars. It equals 52 years called "the binding of the years."
The Aztecs called the 260-day sacred calendar tonalpohualli, and the 365-day tropical year calendar xihuitl. The five unlucky days they referred to as nemontemi. The "binding of the years" were named xihmolpilli (Halmstrom, 119). The ceremony associated with this period was a sacrificial rite. As the Pleiades passed over the zenith about midnight, and set over the western horizon, this symbolized that another 52-year cycle could safely come into being (Krupp, 58). This occurred in late October or early November. The Pleiades were in a path directly above the Aztec habitats. This is possibly the reason why they were the only ones to employ this ceremony (Halmstrom, 114). For the Aztecs, this group of stars was their method of recallibration for the 365-day calendar, due to the added ¼ day at the end of each tropical year.
The significance of the Pleiades to the Mayans related more with an agricultural importance. Because this star cluster is near the ecliptic, the seasons can easily be distinguished from their heliacal rising and setting. There are four dates affiliated with the heliacal rising and setting of stars. These dates are based on the following occurrences; the first appearance of the star in the east before sunrise, the last day the star can be seen in the west before sunset, the last day the star appears rising in the east after sunset, and the first day it is visible setting in the west before sunrise.
For the epoch 1000 A.D., the Pleiades had the heliacal rising and settings (at the latitude of 21 degrees) on these dates: May 19, April 12, October 17, and November 4 (Aveni, 116). The May 13 date is very close to the first passage of the sun across the zenith on May 18 (225). The present-day Chorti Maya make use of the Pleiades to begin their planting for the year (34).
The Maya regarded the ecliptic constellations as the story of the beginning of the universe. They also incorporated the Milky Way into their mythology. This stretch of white sky started the beginning of time as a canoe stretched from east to west, and the "hearthstones" (the Orion stars Rigel, Alnitak, and Saiph) is at zenith during this night by dawn. When the Pleiades set before the hearthstone on February 5, they were deemed "fistful of seeds." They planted in the Earth to bear fruit to the world tree, the Milky Way (Wertime, 30). The name of the Pleiades was motz -meaning fistful. (Tedlock, 35)
According to Carlson (76) and Aveni (34), the
Mayans called the Pleiades "rattlesnake's tail." Aveni (34) states it is
listed so in several areas of the codices and named tzab. Neither of these
sources gave myths to accompany the origin of the "rattlesnake's tail,"
but this does not dismiss their significance. It could be that the popularity
of the Pleiades lends itself to many different myths. They could also represent
different times in the year. The Maya and Aztec civilizations adhered to
intricate cosmologies. Their calendars began most likely with their Olmec
ancestors. Both regarded the Pleiades as a symbol of a new beginning in
many facets of life. The Maya and Aztecs reflected this in ceremonial or
agricultural practices.
The Pleiades are also an important part of myth, ritual, and agriculture to the Barasana tribe of Colombia, South America. The Barasana are a small tribe of around 300 that have been able to remain relatively isolated from European influence. The Barasana have several myths that involve the Pleiades, some of which relate to weather conditions and agriculture. The Pleiades are associated with several mythical figures including the Opossum, and Romi Kumu, the creator of man and Earth (Hugh-Jones, p. 168). According to Barasana myth, Opossum's lover was seduced by another man. When Opossum went to bring her home, he and the man began to fight, and the man killed Opossum. The instant he died, it began to rain (Hugh-Jones, p. 300 ). The Barasana tribe associates this with the setting of the Pleiades at dusk in the west, which marks the beginning of the rainy season in the Amazon (Hugh-Jones, p. 66).The Barasana Peoples of the Amazon
The
Barasana myth of creation begins with the earth as dry and barren. Romi
Kumu, the mother of all people, made a grill and placed it on the mountains
and it became the sky. Then she opened the water door in the sky and let
water come rushing onto the earth, and she created all creatures. Romi
Kumu had a special gourd, which the Barasana people wanted. They chased
her, and finally found her in the east. She gave them a gourd, but it was
the wrong one, and the people were angry. They were going to kill her,
but after she had given the people the first gourd, she climbed into the
sky through the water door and became the Pleiades (Hugh-Jones, p. 263).
The gourd Romi Kumu gave the people is the same gourd used in the adult
initiation rituals today that bring a man into adulthood (Hugh-Jones, p.
265). The gourd is filled with beeswax and is simbolic of both Romi Kumu
and the Pleiades. The gourd itself represents Romi Kumu, and the beeswax
inside the gourd is associated with the Pleiades, which are also described
as bees buzzing in the sky (Hugh-Jones, p. 172). A drawing of the
beeswax gourd is shown to the right (Courtesy of Stephen Hugh-Jones, 1979).