"The waters of creation reveals their tools in many forms." "Stories from the ancient ones both mythical and scientific." "Often combined to shape great wisdom teachings." "This is how I learned about my people  the Maya." "My grandmother told me many stories." "She learned this stories from the old ones before her, stories that would pass down from old to young since the dawn of time." "Now I will tell you what I know  starting from the beginning." "In the beginning before Earth, Sun and Moon  there was only stillness in the dark waters,.." "... everything lay silent." "Our gods Heart of Sky and Feathered Serpent  where resting in the middle of the waters,.." "all coiled up in the iridescent blue-green feathers." "In these dark waters the gods began to stir,.." "they wondered, "How should we make the world."" ""How should we begin?"" "They began by measuring out the four directions:" "North," "South," "East and West." ""Earth", the gods cried and the Earth rose from the deep." "They called forth the first mountain and it rose of its own will." "This was the dawning of the Maya world." "It is here from this Earth that we begin the tales of the Maya Skies." "The movement of the Sun, the Moon and the stars guided the lives of my ancestors." "We Maya live near the Equator in the lands that a now called Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, ... Honduras and El Salvador." "I'm taking you to a special place." "deep in the jungle where the great Maya city Chichen Itza was built  in the heart of Yucat?" "n peninsula" "My earliest ancestors must have endured many hardships in this tropical wilderness." "Surviving in this dense and dangerous world wasn't easy." "Yet they were able to create a powerful and complex culture." "Let's go back to the time when my ancestors built this great city in the jungle." "A time when our astronomers learned the language of the skies,.." "... so that my people could be led by the Sun, the Moon and the stars." "Our ancient tales say these were the first stars our gods created  to bring the world out of darkness." "Look, there is the constellation Gemini." "For us, it is Owl, the messenger of the gods." "His are the eyes of night." "And there's the constellation of Orion." "We see it as a turtle carrying three stones on its back." "The three stars are called the hearth stones of creation." "They're like the hearth stones of my family's cooking fires,.." "... which lie at the centre of our homes." "We believe the gods created the world with three levels:" "the Sky, the Earth, ... and an Underworld called Xibalba where the Lords of Death reign." "Come with me to this cave known as Balankanche,.." "... where sacred rituals took place." "See that huge formation that seems to hold up the roof of the cave?" "It reminds me of the story telling how the Sky, Earth and Underworld were created." "The gods lifted up the sky and placed the sacred Ceiba tree - the Tree of Life... in the middle of the three levels." "The upper branches are in the Sky  and the lower branches and the trunk are on the Earth  and the roots are in the Underworld." "After our world was connected together by the Tree of Life,  the gods created us - the Maya people." "First the gods took earth and made people from mud." "But the mud people washed away in the rain." "Then the gods tried wood." "But the gods were not pleased with the stiff wooden people." "The gods tried yet again." "This third time they used a sacred plant - they made my people from corn, which sustains life." "And the gods were pleased." "There is a magical story about the birth of corn  and the creation of the sun and the moon." "Long ago when the world was new, there was only night." "And the only light was starlight." "In this new world there were two brothers  Hunahpu, Xbalanque." "They weren't just ordinary boys." "They were twins,.." "...and one day they would become the Sun and the Moon." "Above them flew a beautiful giant macaw." "The twins were famous hunters,.." "... and with one clay pellet from their blowguns, they shot the proud macaw, because he boasted that he was the Sun and Moon." "Oooh, they knocked out his silver eyes, his turquoise teeth,.." "... and now he circles the sky as the Big Dipper." "Hunahpu, Xbalanque grew up to be ballplayers." "The game was played with a rubber ball they had to hit with their hips through a stone ring." "They needed great skill and stamina." "because later their lives will depend on it." "The twins were not only champion ball players." "The also possessed the magic powers of their dead father..." "Hun Hunahpu, ... whose bones were moldering in the Underworld the grim and fearful land of Xibalba." "The boys were play the noisy game all day." "This angered the Lord of Death, who lived under the earth." ""Calm down to Xibalba", the god of Death howled." "The boys knew that if they play with the awful Lords, they would risk their lives." "But they were not afraid." "The would go to the Underworld with a secret plan  to rescue the soul of their dead father." "As the road to the land of Death." "they sang this song." "The twins traveled inside the mountain, inside the dark earth and arrived at great ball court of Xibalba." "The Lords of Death were hungry to play." "They knew they would defeat these mere boys." "The gods were fierce players, but the twins fought back." "In the end Hunahpu and Xbalanque  use skill and trickery to defeat the Lords of Death." "Then they found their father beside the ball court." "They placed the fathers head on the ground and tended it." "Their father was reborned as the god of corn." "We Maya belive that corn is the sacred substance of life." "Corn is as precious to us as Venus - the planet that helps guide our daily lives." "They are both part of the ongoing rhythm of life, death and rebirth." "Fulfilling their destiny the Hero Twins rose into the sky  and became the Sun and Moon." "The creation of the Earth and Sky was now complete." "It is said that when the first sun rose, my ancestors came out from the darkness  and prays the miraculous light." "With the setting of the sun they counted the first day." "They watched the first moon leaping like a rabbit in the night sky and they followed its course and marked the first night." "The the sun rose again  and they watched the travel across the sky." "And my people saw it as a radiant flower,.." "... giving life to all that flowers on earth." "This is how my ancestors used the sun and the moon  to measure time." "To survive in this land my ancestors had to know when it was time to plant  and when to harvest." "This period were marked by what we now call seasons." "They knew when the seasons would come, but they didn't know what cause them." "The answer lies in the tilt of the Earth and the light of the sun." "Imagine if you could see the Earht and Sun these big you would see that when the northern hemisphere tilted toward the Sun,.." "... more light falls directly on the North, bringing the summer  and bringing winter to the south, which is tilted away from the sun." "6 months later the Earth is traveled to the other side of the sun,.." "... but Earth still tilts in the same direction." "Now the southern hemisphere get more direct lights, bringing the summer seasons to the the South and winter to the North." "Because we Maya live near the Equator, we don't experience the effect of the Earth's tilt as much." "So we don't have large temperature changes in summer and winter." "We are always warmed by the nearly direct rays of the sun." "But the Earth's atmosphere connects all parts of the globe and changing temperatures further North and South still have their effect on us,.." "... bringing the long dry spells in the winter and the heavy rains of summer." "How did my ancestors know about the skies?" "The began by watching the horizon" "First they marked the place on the horizon where the sun rose at the East," "They used stakes and shadows to measure and track the movement of the sun." "Day by day they continued to mark the sun journey as it travel for the North bringing the heavy rains of summer." "They kept track as the Sun moved south,.." "... leaving the winter land bone dry." "This is how we began our long journey of scientific discovery." "Here we built our first observatories to study the skies." "Our sky watchers marked the equinox Sun the two times of the year when night and day are nearly the same length." "There is one equinox day in the spring and on in the fall." "Our astronomers discovered the longest day of the year - the summer solstice." "And the shortest day - the winter solstice." "They marked the days, when the sun reached its highest point in the sky, ... the Zenith Sun." "This happens twice a year." "The first zenith sun yearly journey marks the beginning of the rainy season." "The second zenith sun marks the time for harvesting." "On these two zenith days the sun passes directly overheaded noon and casts no shadow." "This can only be seen in the tropics." "Like other ancient people, my ancestors created a calendar  to track the yearly cycle of the sun." "Our day keepers, the Ah Kin Mai, started counting the days." "Ah Kin Mai means "Counters of the Sun."" "They began counting with the second zenith sun - the harvest sun." "My ancestors counted by 20's." "20 days made one month." "18 months made 360 days." "5 days were added for ritual and celebration." "And that made a yearly calendar of 365 days." "This calendar was only the beginning." "Our mathematician were the first people to create and use the concept of zero." "This allowed them to count days into the millions." "This knowledge of mathematics and astronomy would lead to the creation of the incredibly accurate and complex calendar system." "The passage of the Zenith Sun marks the centre of our great city of Chichen Itza  on the Yucat?" "n peninsula of Mexico." "Wherever we settled my ancestors knowledge of the sun and the calendar  helped to survive and flourish." "The temple of the Warriors faces the setting Zenith Sun,.." "... where we have ceremonies to honor the creation of our world." "As we say, "Time travels in the footsteps of the sun."" "And my people followed the sun path." "Let's continue our journey through the city of Chichen Itza  where our major temples are aligned to the zenith Sun and the equinox sun." "This temple is called Kukulk?" "n  or the temple of the Feathered Serpent." "Each side of the great pyramid has 91 steps." "When we add the step on the top platform  we have 365 steps in all." "The same number of days in the year." "The play of sunlight on this great pyramid celebrates the journey of the sun." "It serves as a solar calendar for our people." "The spring equinox marks the time for planting  and awaiting the summer rain." "On this day when the sun set directly in the West  the light snakes down the ground staircase." "Legend tells that on this day  the Feathered Serpent god travels to the deep well of Chichen Itza  to bring the gift of water to our people." "Like the Feathered Serpent god, our rulers cared for the needs of our people." "On the day the zenith sun reached the middle of the sky  the Maya rulers, who represented the bond between sky and earth  celebrated the beginning of our calendar." "They made offerings to the gods, and the gods brought life-giving rains." "For over two thousand years our astronomers observed the sun, moon and planets  and recorded the cyclical movements with astounding accuracy." "One of the most extraordinary accomplishments of our sky watchers  was the ability to predict total solar eclipse  which can been seeing from the same place on average  only once in 370 years." "To see a total solar eclipse you have to be in exactly the right place at exactly the right time." "Now imagine stepping into space to have a closer look  at just what happens during this rear occurrence." "As the new moon passes between the Earth and the Sun  the Moon blocks the light from the Sun." "See the shadow it forms on the Earth as the Earth, Moon and Sun align?" "By foretelling an eclipse our astronomers demonstrated  their knowledge of our connection with the grand order of the skies." "Here we have Venus  the brilliant wondering light in the sky." "Venus was very special to my people." "It was our oracle signaling the coming of good times of rains and abundant crops." "or bad times of drought and scarcity." "In order to understand this vital messages of Venus  our astronomers recorded the planet's mysterious movements across the sky." "When they looked at Venus night after night at the same time in the same place  they could see its position changing  and over time it seemed to be dancing in the sky." "Our astronomers discovered that Venus stays in the western evening sky for about 9 month." "The 9-months passage matches the time needed for us  to plant, tend and harvest our corn." "Just as it reaches its brightest point it dies into the setting sun  where disappears for about a week." "Then Venus reapears in the East for another 9 months." "During this period it rises in the sky,... drops toward the horizon and then disappears again." "This time it is out of view for over 2 months." "Over time you will see why we call it a wasp dancing in front of its hive." "For centuries our astronomers kept precise records of Venus in the almanacs." "And they built this observatory called El Caracol." "Here our sky watchers studied Venus's every shifting patterns." "El Caracol is carefully aligned with the motions of Venus" "The grand staircase that marks the front of El Caracol  faces 27.5 degrees north of west." "... an almost perfect match for Venus's most northerly position in the sky." "Also, a diagonal formed by the northeast and southwest corners of the building  aligns with both the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset." "Today we understand what actually happens when Venus seems to disappear." "From this perspective you can see that when Venus, the Earth, and the Sun are aligned,... ..." "Venus becomes invisible to us ... because it is hidden from our view by the glare of the sun." "Our astronomers knew that the movements of Venus came back to where they started every eight years." "It seemed that wherever Venus went it always came back home." "We now leave the magnificent city of Chichen Itza,.." "coming forward in time to where we are today." "We have seen the incredible achievements of our ancient astronomers and mathematicians." "Without the use of modern instruments  they measured the paths of the Sun, Moon, and planets with amazing accuracy." "They predicted eclipses, and aligned the temples perfectly with celestial bodies." "Uncovering the patterns in nature was the basis of Maya science." "Giving order to time and space, created order in our cities, ceremonies, and daily lives." "What our ancient astronomers achieved is what scientists do today – ... observe, record, predict – ... make sense of an ever-changing world." "For the past thousand years our Maya astronomy and mathematics were cloaked in mystery." "It is only recently that our secrets have been revealed to the world,.." "... and so much more has yet to be uncovered." "One such discovery is our Long Count Calendar  that spans over 5000 years." "August 11th, 3114 B.C.E  to December 21, 2012 A.D.." "For my ancestors it was a time of celebration  to come to the end of a complete calendar cycle." "My people see all things as bound together,.." "... the earth and its people, the sun, the moon and the stars." "We are children of the stars  yet connected to the earth like the roots and branches of our great Ceiba tree,.." "...the Tree of Life." "We are over 7 million Maya living today,.." "... still carry the tradition of our ancestors." "Like the cloth that my grandmother weaves,.." "... as her mothers have done for two thousand years,  our science, art, and mythology are interwoven." "The story of the hero twins becoming the sun and moon,.." "... and our ancient astronomers accurately predicting the solar eclipse  are examples of how we Maya integrate all of our knowledge... into one beautiful tapestry that expresses the richness of our culture  and guides us in our daily lives." "We still stand today as our ancestors stood  on the morning of the very first sunrise,.." "... awaiting the light of a new dawn  rising in our Maya skies."