their secret.

In making his argument, Sullivan is forced to confront astrology. If astrology is to be defined as

the study of the correlations between astronomcal movements and events on earth, then The
Secret of the Incas is really a book about the precessional astrology of Andean culture. Sullivan,
however, is terribly uninformed on astrology. In my opinion, he has wasted a lot of time (his and
mine) by ignoring the literature of this important subject.
The Secret of the Incas is a book about how ancient Andean civilization tracked its own history
through correlations with astronomical cycles, primarily Jupiter-Saturn cycles and the precession
of the equinoxes. These correlations were apparently so precise that a cultural fatalism developed,
which infected the last Incas to such a degree that they instituted a program of human sacrifice to
stave off the end of their era. When Pizzaro arrived on the scene, he encountered a socieity that
on some level already knew the game was up. Whether you buy his arguments or not, Sullivan's
book attempts to fill a huge hole in our understanding of Andean myth, astronomy, astrology and
pre-history.
Jenkins, John Major. Maya Cosmogenesis 2012: The True Meaning of the Maya Calendar End
Date. Sante Fe, NM: Bear & Co.1998.
One of the most widely talked about, yet badly misunderstood, New Age themes is that of the end
date of the Mayan calendar. Most of the responsibility for this sad situation must go to Jose
Arguelles who, as the founder of the Harmonic Convergence of 1987 and the author of
Dreamspell, promotes his own interpretion of Mayan astrology. If you want a far more sober
discussion on this important subject, this is the book.
Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 is a comprehensive book, one that provides the reader with immense
amounts of detail about the Maya, their myths, astronomy, and history. Most of this information
is academically solid - Jenkin's references are academically impeccable. But Jenkins, who is an
independent scholar, also takes off where the archaeo and ethno astronomers stop and leaves us
with a more astrologically satisfying understanding of Maya astronomy. Although the 5,124-year
Long Count of the Maya has been known for years, and is equivalent to 1/5 of the precession
cycle, Jenkins points out that the end date of the count, December 21, 2012, coincides with the
passage of the winter solstice point very close to the galactic center (actually the dark band in the
middle of the Milky Way called by the Maya "the road to Xibalba, i.e. the underworld, the place
where Creation occurred). While this observation has been made by a few other writers, Jenkins
elaborates on it and shows how it was even incorporated into Mayan architecture.
Another very interesting observation made by Jenkins has to do with his interpretation of the
Maya creation myth called the Popol Vuh. Analyzing the layout of one of the most ancient Maya
ruins, Izapa, and using it as a reference for the interpretation of myth, he suggests that there was
once a time when the ancient sky mythology centered on the polar stars. Later, a shift in
astronomical orientation occurred and the galactic plane became the "official" astronomical
framework of the Maya. The fall of 7-Macaw, who was both the ruler of the previous age and the
Big Dipper, that is told in the Popol Vuh is interpreted by Jenkins as a cultural memory of when
polar astronomy ruled and then was superceded by galactic astronomy. It is the case that between
3000 and 1000 BC the Big Dipper was very close to the polar region. If Jenkins is right, as it
moved away, due to precession, the shift in Maya astronomy toward the galactic plane occurred.
Shades of Hamlet's Mill.