Mayan Calendar insights

How and why was the Dreamspell calendar invented? June 24th, 2009

How and why was Argüelles Dreamspell calendar invented?

by Carl Johan Calleman

The question of how and why José and Lloydine Argüelles invented the Dreamspell calendar, rather than using the one used by the Maya for thousands of years, is long-standing. It however comes in a somewhat new light in the biography of José, written by Stephanie South, and also the response to this by his ex-wife Miriam Tarcov. I would, from another perspective than her, here like to point out that what has been revealed may have had very significant consequences also for people at large, some of whom had been hoping for José to provide them with guidance about the Mayan calendar. It should then first be said that José Argüelles understood early on, and certainly before almost all others including myself, that the Mayan calendar is a critical source of knowledge for humanity in our own time. In the years 1986-87 he hence played a very significant seminal role through writing the Mayan Factor and promoting the Harmonic Convergence. Yet, although the Harmonic Convergence had been based on the true Mayan calendar (1 Imix and 2 Ik in this count given to him by Tony Shearer) José Argüelles later decided to change this to the Dreamspell calendar for reasons that have never been clarified and it seems that it is only now that we can clearly put together the puzzle that explains this.

Hence, I have earlier suggested that the Dreamspell “Mayan” calendar in fact is designed so as to give the birthdays of José and Lloydine exactly the “master numbers” 11 and 22 in the tzolkin (http://www.calleman.com/...cles/hidden_agenda.htm). Large numbers of people, mostly under the illusion that they are using the true Mayan calendar, have then in fact unknowingly given their energy to the “masters” who designed it. Moreover, the kin numbers of everyone using this calendar are then defined by their relationships to the “masters” on whose kin numbers it was based. This scheme seems optimal for creating a cult of its inventors, something that the energies of the true cosmic Mayan calendar would never have allowed. I see no reason to doubt that this scheme is the origin of their calendar since neither José nor Lloydine have cared to provide an alternative explanation and naturally it would be the easiest thing in the world to do so. It is possible that only José knows how the Dreamspell tzolkin actually was designed, but also the new biography ignores the topic of why a new “Mayan” calendar was invented as a replacement for its true cosmic form.

At one point in the biography we are however given a hint to the explanation of the design of the Dreamspell calendar through a dream that José Argüelles relates: “when the Eastern Sun meets the Western Sun at the 33rd degree”. Curiously, even if this dream is presented as significant the actual meaning of the number 33 to José is never explained and remains hidden. It is however not very farfetched to assume that it was this attraction to the number 33 that led him to invent the Dreamspell calendar in such a way as to give himself and Lloydine the kin numbers 11 and 22, since, as we know, 11 + 22 = 33. This may have lasted until 33-year old Stephanie South came along and gave a new meaning to the dream of the man who wrote the Mayan Factor after having studied the Maya for 33 years and obviously was attracted to this master number.

Is there then any reason to believe that the Dreamspell calendar is something other than just a personal calendar of José Argüelles? Well, it certainly does not seem so, given the predominance of the number 33 in Argüelles’ personal mythology (which incidentally is the highest degree in freemasonry) and the power he associates with his own kin number in other writings: http://www.tortuga.com/...meditations/28med26.pdf

“Again, here the sign of the return of the heavenly city Tollan, and over here the sign of the Star Traveler, the avatar – this time with signs of the Spectral Monkey, kin 11 and kin 22, which as we all know add up to 33. This is meditation 26 and we are entering the 33rd Harmony. Everything really is that psychedelic that we could be here explaining this to you, and that we are the numbers that talk and you are the numbers that listen, and we are all numbers together.”

or
“Trungpa Rinpoche [Argüelles Buddhist Teacher] was the eleventh Trungpa. Pacal Votan was the eleventh ruler of the dynasty of Nah Chan. The Avatar Spectral Monkey [José Argüelles] is the third eleven to make the 33. The Mystery is to understand the 33. Today we are in the 33rd Harmonic. You won’t understand this mystery if you can’t get rid of your ego. This is profound. This is the meaning of mystery.”

Based on these passages who can doubt that Argüelles transformed the Mayan calendar into the Dreamspell count to fit his personal mythology? By itself, I see nothing wrong with creating such a personal mythology in calendar form and to different degrees we all have personal mythologies and even personal timelines. What seems profoundly wrong however is when other people, in this case sincere and innocent seekers of the Mayan calendar, without their own knowing are pulled into such a mythology. Considering Miriam Tarcov’s posting above we probably should not be surprised either that Argüelles considers it “psychedelic” that kin 11 and 22 talk while the other kin listen. While such a suggestion to an outsider sounds fairly absurd it is in most cases probably not what the seeker of the Mayan calendar originally had signed up for either. In my view the negative result of this hidden agenda of the Dreamspell calendar is that thousands of people have been cheated on their access to the true Mayan calendar, which is a key factor for everyone wanting to approach the future in a meaningful way. The Dreamspell scheme has even left many in the dark about the very existence of a true Mayan calendar. Hence, in the name of consumer rights, is it not time that the inventors of the Dreamspell calendar, as well as anyone teaching it, should be obliged to clearly explain why the original Mayan calendar was changed? Could there ever be peace between the counts unless there is complete transparency as to their origin?
Carl Johan Calleman
www.calleman.com