Solstice And Equinox Informative Speech

At the top of these temples is where the most important ceremonies and sacrifices took place. In Fiero’s text they were described as being like the Mesopotamian ziggurat. “The Maya temple was a terraced pyramid with a staircase ascending to a platform capped by a multiroomed superstructure. A shrine and sanctuary, it also served as a burial place for priests or rulers.” ( Fiero 461) Many of their temples were built with astronomy in mind, and certain ones were aligned to the movements of Venus, the sun and the moon.

“In the Western Hemisphere, no early culture was more remarkable than the Mayans” (Background Essay). The Mayans were an adept civilization and accomplished many exceptional things during their time. Their deeds include things such as a number system, immense cities, and a vast trade network but there is no Mayan achievement more remarkable than their calendars. The Mayans created three calendars: a sacred calendar called tzolkin, a solar calendar called haab, and a long cycle calendar.

The ancient Egyptians could not have known this intersection when the architect designed the pyramids, yet the site chosen has the same number latitude and longitude. It was aliens, after studying the planet from afar, who implemented temples on this exact site.

An important aspect of Navajo culture is the time period in which traditional stories can be told. Stories of the sky which include the moon, sun, and stars can only be told during the winter months which is regarded as the time from the first first, usually in October, until the first thunderstorm, usually in late February. It is currently winter as this is being written so the following information falls in accordance with Navajo tradition. We ask that this only be read and shared during the appropriate time period to respect the traditions of a most noble people.

He explained how the Apache can look at the constellations and planets and determine what time it is, even though as the seasons change, so do the times. This was difficult for the author to understand or learn even though she spent a great deal of time at the reservation over many years. She says, 'to be a competent star watcher at Mescalero requires years of watching until the sky becomes as familiar as the back of one's own hand' (99).

Most agree though, that it offers a graphic representation of the Mexica cosmos’ (Palfrey). In The Aztecs, Smith sums up what is to be believed the thought of the Aztecs when they carved the calendar stone “The Aztec calendar stone conveyed the message that the Aztec empire covered the whole earth (territory in all four directions), and that it was founded upon the sacred principles of time, directionality, divine warfare, and the sanction of the gods” (Smith 270). Keeping the Aztec calendar is proof of ancient cultures mathematical and scientific achievements without the aid of modern technology. The study of the sun stone could lead to further advances in mathematics and acts as a road map to our celestial bodies from that era of our history.

1. “Root metaphors” from the Aztec and Spanish worlds have combined through the how these two cultures view sun and light and how they associate them with divine beings. Long before the Spanish arrived, Aztec civilization had a cosmic system of five time cycles that included five different suns which they believed influenced results of regarding creation or the apocalypse. Furthermore, they came to believe that their god(s) used the sun as divine messages for them. Because of this conclusion “root metaphor” they feared that the god(s)’s punishment for them would be that the day would turn to night forever unless human sacrifices were made. In contrast, the Spanish used solar imagery as divine representation in relation to the Psalms

The Cahokia lived in temples and teepees. I know teepees were a common place to live in back then, but I never knew that people could live in a temple. I thought temples were a place where people did religious things like praying. I feel like I’ve heard of the Cahokia people, but I know nothing about them. It was interesting that their dictator who they called “The Great Sun” would howl at the top of the temple every morning to determine whether it was morning or not. I wonder why the sun meant so much to them. They had a sun god and invented poles that aligned with the sun at the equinox and solstice.

According to researchers at the University of Texas, the dates of construction can be deciphered by counting tree rings from lumber used in building. There was also speculation around the arrangements of pueblos and other buildings in regards to the cosmos around us. As we can see in Cliff Palace and Sun Temple, they both have a clear line of vison with no other buildings interrupting its path. Because of their placement there is reason to believe that the Puebloan people incorporated astronomy into their architecture.

Our civilization was highly developed socially, intellectually and artistically. At the top were nobles, while at the bottom were serfs, indentured servants and slaves. Our faith shared ideologies of other religions, like that of the Maya, including the rite of human sacrifice. Within our cities were breathtaking temples, palaces, plazas and statues which represented our society’s devotion to the many Aztec gods. The Aztec calendar is based on a solar cycle of 365 days and a ritual cycle of 260 days. The calendar played a central role in the religion and rituals of our

The second calendar that the Aztecs created was a 365 day solar calendar to keep track of the days. Once and every 52 years both cycles started on the same day. The Aztecs also created a sun stone at Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec’s empire. The Aztec calendar stone was 13 feet in diameter and weighs around 24 tons. In the center of the sun stone is a picture of the sun god.

Author of “Understanding the Seasons of God” expands the spiritual aspects of time and seasons in second book.

These people built fake mountains by piling rock, and building a foundation on top to build a temple. The Mayans developed these temples further by adding sculpture, and painted faces onto these pyramids. The whole building would then be covered with plaster, and painted red or other bright colors. The Temples were often small, and had three dark rooms in their interior. One of the rooms would be an inner sanctuary where the king preformed his rituals (Liz 1-6). That temples were, in fact, religious buildings is beyond question; structures of the same shape were still in use when the Spaniards arrived and described with horror the bloody sacrifices that took place within the temple walls. Some Mayan temples have multiple doorways and suites of interconnected rooms. In some rooms, plaster-and-stone thrones look through doorways onto courtyards where one can easily envision crowds of religious supplicants (Culbert 165). Many temples also contain architecture that curiously corresponds with certain astrological phenomenon. Most temples constructed during the Classic period have a total of 365 stairs, and openings that align with the summer and winter solstices. When the temples were built, the architects aligned the temples with the sun, the moon, and the stars (Liz 1-6).

The ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches are like any other calendar. It is used to count hours, the time of years, and months. “When counting years, people use them with the 12 Chinese Zodiac [signs] . . .” (Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches). The Yellow Emperor also known as Huangdi summand Da Rao Shi to make a calendar. Da Rao Shi created the calendar system. He studied the four seasons and the differences between earth and sky.

Since the first Egyptian farmers discovered the annual reappearance of Sirius just before dawn a few days before the yearly rising of the Nile, ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean have sought to explain the movements of the heavens as a sort of calendar to help guide them conduct earthly activities. Counting phases of the moon or observing the annual variations of day length could, after many years' collection of observations, serve as vital indicators for planting and harvesting times, safe or stormy season for sailing, or time to bring the flocks from winter to summer pastures. With our millennia of such observation behind us, we sometimes forget that seeing and recording anything less obvious than