Analyzes contemporary Yucatecan and Chiapanecan Maya narratives. Recovering Lost Footprints, Volume 2 is an in-depth analysis of the sociohistorical conflict impacting Indigenous communities in Latin America. Continuing the project he began in volume 1, Arturo Arias analyzes contemporary Peninsular and Chiapanecan Maya narratives. He examines the works of Yucatecan writers Jorge Cocom Pech, Javier Gómez Navarrete, Isaac Carrillo Can, and Marisol Ceh Moo. For Chiapas, Arias looks at the works of Tseltal novelist Diego Méndez Guzmán, Tsotsil short-story writer Nicolás Huet Bautista, and Tseltal narrative writer Josías López Gómez. Arias problematizes the nature of Western modernity and the crisis of Western models of development in the present. By way of his analysis, he suggests that we are facing a historical impasse because we have neglected native knowledges that offer alternative codes of ethics and beingness that emerge from Indigenous cosmovisions. The text skillfully contributes to and strengthens debates between US-centered and Latin American cultural studies theorists, as well as the hemispheric expansion of Native American and Indigenous Studies. Recovering Lost Footprints, Volume 2 is inspired more by the past as it impinges upon a continuing, constantly expanding present. Arias’s reading of Maya literatures forces us to reconsider the space-time structure of Western thinking. Indeed, this book is intriguing precisely because it views literature from an Indigenous perspective, evidencing how that social space is full of multiple contrasting experiences and historical processes. “By drawing attention to the articulation between the contemporary literary production and its relationship to Mayan cosmovision in a broad sense, and focusing on the different traditions preserved through diverse languages and customs, this rich, comprehensive overview offers glimpses of a very different worldview.” — Cynthia Margarita Tompkins, author of Affectual Erasure: Representations of Indigenous Peoples in Argentine Cinema

By 1,800 years ago, speakers of proto-Ch’olan, the ancestor of three present-day Maya languages, had developed a calendar of eighteen twenty-day months plus a set of five days for a total of 365 days. This original Maya calendar, used extensively during the Classic period (200–900 CE), recorded in hieroglyphic inscriptions the dates of dynastic and cosmological importance. Over time, and especially after the Mayas’ contact with Europeans, the month names that had originated with these inscriptions developed into fourteen distinct traditions, each connected to a different ethnic group. Today, the glyphs encompass 250 standard forms, variants, and alternates, with about 570 meanings among all the cognates, synonyms, and homonyms. In The Maya Calendar, Weldon Lamb collects, defines, and correlates the month names in every recorded Maya calendrical tradition from the first hieroglyphic inscriptions to the present—an undertaking critical to unlocking and understanding the iconography and cosmology of the ancient Maya world. Mining data from astronomy, ethnography, linguistics, and epigraphy, and working from early and modern dictionaries of the Maya languages, Lamb pieces together accurate definitions of the month names in order to compare them across time and tradition. His exhaustive process reveals unsuspected parallels. Three-fourths of the month names, he shows, still derive from those of the original hieroglyphic inscriptions. Lamb also traces the relationship between month names as cognates, synonyms, or homonyms, and then reconstructs each name’s history of development, connecting the Maya month names in several calendars to ancient texts and archaeological finds. In this landmark study, Lamb’s investigations afford new insight into the agricultural, astronomical, ritual, and even political motivations behind names and dates in the Maya calendar. A history of descent and diffusion, of unexpected connectedness and longevity, The Maya Calendar offers readers a deep understanding of a foundational aspect of Maya culture.

A contemporary and practical guide to Mayan astrological techniques • Discusses the logic and meaning of the 20 day-signs of the Mayan calendar • Explains the many cycles of Mayan astrology, such as the 9-day cycle of the Night Lords and the 13-day trecena • Contains extensive tables of Mayan astrological data, allowing readers to cast their own Mayan horoscopes How to Practice Mayan Astrology presents a contemporary guide to one of the most sophisticated astrological systems ever developed. Like other ancient peoples, the Maya looked to the cycles of the planets as markers of time and designators of order. The predictable cycles they observed became codified in the Mayan calendar and astrological system as a way of organizing the seeming chaos of human life. Mayan astrology is based on 20 named days that are cycled 13 times to create a 260-day calendar, the Tzolkin. The authors explain the symbolism, logic, and meaning of the 20 day-signs; how these signs reflect 260 possible personality types; and how they can be used for divination. They also explain the important role of the Four Directions and the planet Venus in one’s personality matrix and life issues. Included are extensive, easy-to-use tables of Mayan astrological data, allowing readers to determine their day-signs, to see how these signs are also influenced by the cycle of the Night Lords and the 13-day trecena, and to cast their own horoscopes.

According to José Stevens and Lena Stevens, business leaders and shamans share many important traits: the abilities to solve problems, to achieve goals, to see the big picture, and to forecast events. What their previous book, Secrets of Shamanism, did for the growth of the individual, The Power Path does for the growth of business managers and entrepreneurs. On the basis of years of study with shamans, the authors share a new way of thinking about the nature of power. By applying shamanic traditions of power to the workplace, readers learn how to improve work relationships, to understand employees' strengths and limitations, and to inspire effective teamwork — techniques aimed ultimately toward increasing business success.

The Mayan Messages are a collection of 260 channeled messages, one for each day of the sacred Tzolkin Mayan calendar. In today’s world, there is much debate over what may or may not happen in the year 2012.The Day Keepers of the Mayan calendar speak from the “Other Side,†encouraging the reader to look within, on a daily basis, for ways to create the reality one chooses to experience.No matter when the world comes to an end, these pearls of wisdom will allow you to create a life filled with peace, joy and abundance. . . NOW and in every moment, no matter what chaos is spinning around you.Consider purchasing a copy for your local church, school, jail or public library. Contact the author for possbile discounts on multiple book orders! A portion of the sale of this book is used to supply the Mayan Messages to jails and public libraries throughout the United States. For more information, visit our website at: www.t-a-d-a.com