[.ca] Mayan Factor (ISBN 0939680386)

A breakthrough that has been eclipsed:
When this book first came out it presented radically new ways to interpret history, time, and consciousness. Unfortunately Mr Arguelles became convinced of his identity as a reincarnated Pacal Votan (Lord of Time) and created another system of Mayan glyphs called the Dreamspell. Dreamspell is not based on the pure interpretation of the Mayan Tzolkin. It is an invention that detracts from the original Mayan teachings. So while the book does provide some interesting introduction to the Mayan calendar it is based on imagined predicates of an incomprehensible Dreamspell system. The author has been changing this concept and his websites almost continually. A more authentic source on this subject is by Carl Johan Calleman. His books Solving the Greatest Mystery of Our Time: The Mayan Calendar and The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness form the crux of an authentic system of study and understanding based on genuine MAYAN galactic concepts. The Mayan Factor has simply been eclipsed.

The Spiritual Context of Energy:
Jose Arguelles presents a harmonic balance of the nature of Energy and Mayan spirituality in "The Mayan Factor." Although some of the concepts can seem intimidating at first, Arguelles' masterful use of language allows the reader peel away the layers of traditional Western thought on the subject of Energy to reveal a core of Mayan philosophy steeped in spirtuality. This book is what I call a "long lingering lesson," meaning the longer you allow Arguelles' message to linger in your thoughts, the more poignant the lesson becomes! For me reading the Mayan Facor was like sipping a glass of 1996 Bordeaux; when I was done I was refreshed, yet thirsted for more, and the world didn't quite look the same anymore! I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Mayan culture, energy, or anyone looking for a unique perspective on humanity's place in the grand scheme of things!

The Dreamspell system:
This has a very extensive academic/mathematical flavor to it. The author points out cycles of history & relates his system to the I Ching and DNA. Do NOT expect to read through only once- it may take more than one sitting and/or reading to digest enough to gain much understanding. Also, you may be put off if you do not believe in an extraterrestrial source for ancient civilizations. Note: this does NOT explain how he arrives at the calculations of the different kin for the Dreamspell oracle, but there are a few websites that have the information posted.

Incoherent, unsupported:
I wanted to give this book a chance, and wish I hadn't bothered. It reads like an acid ramble -- cosmic assertions tumble over startling insights, with no notion sustained beyond two sentences, properly connected to others, or backed by evidence. I kept waiting for him to settle down and present out some facts and build his case, but he just keeps laying bricks on air. I researched some of the more checkable facts, and found him generally wrong: for example, Isamu Noguchi's "The Sculpture to be Seen From Mars" looks nothing like the "face on Mars" (which was an illusion anyway), which he says shocked him into realizing the transmission of universal information. The irony is that despite savaging Western science as unable to understand the Maya, he is so absorbed in his own insights and revelations and discoveries that he never tries to see the Maya through their own eyes, as any good scientist would, and so fails to truly respect the subject he supposedly exalts.

An Alternative to Argulles:
This is for reviewer CHRISTOPHER FUNG. If you found Argulles' work to be a load of mallarky, you might find an alternate study of the Mayan Calendar interesting. Swedish Mayanist/authro Carl Johan Calleman has written a book on the subject and he is in strong disagreement with Argulles' conjectures (and this whole Dreamspell business). He even sets a completely different date for the end of the Mayan Calendar (a year earlier). Hope you find this info useful.