Finding Our Way Into the Sun of Consciousness
SEASONS OF URANUS
CALCULATION PROCEDURE
The 260 unit Tzolkin calendar is widely considered to be the most sacred of the approximately 20 different calendars employed by the Maya and other ancient Mesoamerican civilizations. The Tzolkin is comprised of 13 numbers and 20 glyphs. A total of 260 combinations are thus possible. These 260 combinations of number and glyph constitute an integrated sequence of mythological directives. By allowing these directives to inspire us and to animate our behaviour, we are brought into resonance with the sustaining wholeness of the complete tzolkin grid.
Exactly how we go about becoming conscious of tzolkin directives can vary greatly. The way I am introducing here is based on an integration of tzolkin and lunation cycle which places both the lunation cycle of our birth and the primordial Great Mother archetype (IMIX) at the very beginning of a cyclically repeating process of consciousness expansion characterized by the 260 discreet phases of the tzolkin. The Seasons of Uranus technique aligns the lunation cycle of our birth with this primordial beginning point and progresses the alignment through all 260 tzolkin combinations on a lunation-by-lunation basis that takes 21 years to complete. This is exactly the duration of one quarter of the time it takes Uranus to orbit the Sun; hence, the term “Seasons of Uranus.”
The Seasons of Uranus technique assigns a generic timing sequence of number/glyph combinations to each life under consideration. From a structural and meta-physical point-of-view, aware of it or not, everyone encounters the same lunation-by-lunation sequence of archetypal symbols over the course of their life. What the Seasons of Uranus technique does is to make that encounter vividly conscious and accessible.
Each seasonal sequence of 260 Moons begins at ONE IMIX, symbolic of the primordial Great Mother, metaphor for the Source of All Life, both here and throughout the great beyond. From this primordial beginning, the sequence proceeds through 260 stages to 13 AHAU, symbol of cosmic consciousness and unconditional love fully attained. This moment of attainment coincides with a return to Source and re-entry into the 260 stage process, at yet a higher turn of the evolutionary spiral.
ENTERING THE URANIAN ADVENTURE
Calculate Your Current Moon ( Download a printable calculation sheet here.)
For the purpose of engaging in the type of mythological engagement outlined here, you will need first to determine exactly what Tzolkin glyph and number are astrologically assigned to your current Moon (CM). To determine this, you first need to calculate your Lifetime Lunation Number (LLN), the exact number of lunations that have elapsed since your birth. The following calculation summary shows how to do this.
1) BROWN LUNATION NUMBER AT BIRTH
Access the Moon Phase Calculator.
On the Moon Phase website consecutive lunations are numbered according to a system established internationally by astronomer Ernest William Brown. The numbering pinpoints New Moons and develops sequentially from the start (New Moon) of the first Moon cycle of 1923 which Brown designated as lunation 1.
Brown’s use of the term “lunation” refers to the 29.5 day synodic cycle of the Moon, the time required for the Moon to move to the same position (same phase) as seen by an observer on earth. For the purposes of this article, such cycles are simply referred to as “Moons.”
In the data entry panel titled "Phases of the Moon for another year or location", enter the year of your birth. Enter the location or nearby location of your birth. Click "Show Moon phases'. On the data page provided, locate the Moon within which you were born and note the corresponding Brown Lunation Number. (BLN).
2) BROWN LUNATION NUMBER OF CURRENT MOON
Repeat step 2 above, this time entering the current date. Locate the current lunation within the chart provided and note its BLN.
3) LIFETIME LUNATION NUMBER (LLN)
Now, to calculate the number of Moons you have completed in your life, simply deduct your birth BLN from your current BLN. The resulting number tells you how many Moons have elapsed from the New Moon preceding your birth up to the New Moon of the Moon you are presently in. Add 1 to account for the full duration of that current cycle and note the final number as your Lifetime Lunation Number (LLN).
4) SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT
According to the model I am presenting here, there are at least four distinct seasons to a complete human life just as, in the temperate zones of the Earth, there are 4 distinct seasons to a solar year. Uranus likewise has 4 seasons and each is 21 years (260 Moons) in duration. So, calculation of your current position within the tzolkin grid depends on what Uranian season you are in at the time of your calculation. This involves a seasonal adjustment based on the results of the calculations arrived at above:
Spring: Birth to age 21 yr. (Moon 260). CM = LLN
Summer: Age 21 yr. to age 42 yr. (Moon 520). CM = LLN - 260
Fall: Age 42 yr. to 63 yr. (Moon 780). CM = LLN - 520
Winter: Age 63 yr. to 84 yr. (Moon 1040). CM = LLN - 780
5) CURRENT MOON (CM)
The final step is to locate your Current Moon within the tzolkin matrix depicted in the chart below. The NUMBER you are looking for will be bracketed and is anywhere from 1 to 260. The GLYPH which corresponds to it is the one naming the row within which it is found. (See example calculation below.)
260 Unit Tzolkin
6) EXPLORATION AND EMBODIMENT OF THE BIRTHRIGHT
Step five, above, completes the actual calculation procedure and yields your Current Moon (CM) within the tzolkin matrix. This is a specific number/glyph combination that brings you to the most creative and fun part of the process where you begin to contemplate the meaning of whatever number and glyph has been derived. Your challenge is to integrate that meaning into your life, here and now, as spiritual sustenance. This is especially so if the calculations are done at, or near, the New Moon point of a given lunation cycle. Such timing affords you the opportunity of consciously working with the information in a phase-by-phase manner for the full duration of the lunation. This approach relies on an awareness of the inner structure of the lunation cycle, as shown in the image below. More information about this approach is available here.
I have assembled various online resources, accessible from the following list, to assist you in your exploration of your Current Moon:
Keywords for tzolkin numbers available here.
Keywords for the tzolkin glyphs available here.
Explore shadow wisdom aspects of each glyph here.
Click here to view a gallery of tzolkin imagery.
Finally, tzolkin symbolism has many levels of relatedness. This is seen, for example, in the fact that the tzolkin gathers consecutive glyphs into 20 groups of 13. Elsewhere, I have characterized these groups as “temples of the imagination,” each with its own invocation of sovereignty. These invocations reveal various ways in which the glyphs naturally interact according to the inner structure of the tzolkin.
EXAMPLE CALCULATION & INTERPRETATION PROCEDURE
Example: Dwayne Edward Rourke
1) BROWN LUNATION NUMBER AT BIRTH
Using my own birth on Feb.3, 1949 as an example, we find that according to the Moon Phase Calculator, I was born in a Moon cycle with Brown Lunation Number 323.
2) BROWN LUNATION NUMBER OF CURRENT MOON
Using the Moon Phase Calculator once again, we find that the BLN for the most recent New Moon to TODAY (Feb.13, 2013) is 1115.
3) LIFETIME LUNATION NUMBER (LLN)
Next, to calculate how many Moons I have lived in my life, we deduct my Brown Lunation Number at birth (323) from the Brown Lunation Number of the current Moon (1115): 1115 minus 323 = 792. Because this number refers only to the New Moon point of the current cycle, we add 1 to account for the full duration of the cycle. This brings the number of Moons of my life to 793 and this is referred to as my Lifetime Lunation Number (LLN).
4) SEASONAL ADJUSTMENT
To determine the corresponding number and glyph for my current LLN, we must perform the seasonal adjustment by first taking note that at age 64, I am in the WINTER season of my life. We therefore apply the formula CM = LLN - 780. Hence, CM = 793 minus 780 = 13.
5) CURRENT MOON (CM)
Now, moving to the tzolkin chart, we locate bracketed number thirteen (13). Directly left of that number is glyph BEN. Hence, the tzolkin number/glyph combination astrologically specified for my Current Moon (CM), 793 Moons since my birth, is 13 BEN.
6) EXPLORATION AND EMBODIMENT OF THE BIRTHRIGHT
To complete this example, I have assembled images and information specifically related to 13 BEN by using the resource links provided above. This gives substance to the archetypal information coded into my astrologically-determined tzolkin birthright and which is specifically pertinent to my navigation through the current lunation. To the extent that I am open to receiving and implementing the guidance so determined, to that extent will I receive the gift from Spirit that is my Lightning Path birthright!
Keywords for 13
A major pinnacle in life. Older authority figures. Grandfather. Emperor. Leaning on strong family members. Extreme self-awareness. Contemplation. Blankness. Planting seeds. Finishing a project.
Keywords for BEN
Teaching
Knowledge
Understanding
Time/space travel
Angelic messenger
Fluid reference points
Balancing of opposites
Courage and compassion
Working in harmony with others
Pillars of Heaven and Earth uniting
Initiation to a higher level of consciousness
13 BEN
As indicated above, the tzolkin organizes consecutive glyphs into 20 groups of 13. I call these groups “temples of the imagination’” and have written an “invocation of sovereignty” for each one. THIRTEEN BEN is the final number/glyph code for the Temple of Fingers and Toes and thus corresponds to the following line from the invocation, the full text of which follows this quote:
May the pillar of my life, honour this abundance.
And may it serve to Unite both Heaven and Earth.