There is a concept that is truly abstract and yet like no other theory have we accepted it as universally and complicitly as we accept breathing or life itself. Perhaps the reason is because the sun and the moon make it ever so tangible. If you haven’t guessed what I’m referring to, it’s time and how we measure it.
After all, if it wasn’t for the Romans we might still be following the seasons exclusively with no months, marking our seasons with festivities falling around the spring and autumn equinoxes or the extremities of each year with solstice ceremonies. We could have made the year in ten months of 36 or 37 days and considering our nomenclature, we probably did until Augustus and Julius Caesar actually moved time!
Logically, with the moon, we ought to have thirteen months. The 28-night cycles of the moon multiplied by 13 leave a single night extra in a 13 month lunar year. Additionally, we could be evolving to a 20 hour day with 72 minutes in each hour, thus sticking with midday and midnight falling at the same points in each 20-hour period. And what would we change if we extended a few seconds with each second lasting a few fractions more?
So, what does this have to do with South America? When considering what is truly American it is essential not to neglect indigenous Amerindians. So, from the Eskimos in the extreme north to the ‘red indians’, the Mohicans, Tomahawks, etc to the great civilizations of central America, the Aztecs, the Arawaks and the Caribs to the South American ancient civilizations; the Incas and the Mayans are most famed and our contemporary Amerindian civilizations which are too numerous to list. The Yanomami, the Caeté, the Chechua and the Aymara to name a few. Well, the Aztecs are famed for their ferocity in battle against the Spanish colonisers and yet Cortez also described their cities as more sophisticated than any found in Europe in the 17th century. Historians have described their rituals and ceremonies as savage. The Incas are renowned for their mountaintop cities of hierarchical nobledom and there are many structures that have been admired from satellites for decades.
Yet, perhaps it is the intelligence and mathematical genius of the Mayans that is most neglected and it was their measure of time that is of interest in this article. For it was the Mayans who spanned each year with 13 lunar months and their calendrical systems that opened an eye on a 364 night long year.
However, time flies and the more you make best use of it, the more you realise how useful it really is. And becoming more aware of how long it takes to shower or to boil an egg or how long we leave lights on at night all contribute to how we can become more ecologically efficient in our daily and nightly lifestyle habits. For instance, taking a 3-minute shower as opposed to a 5-minute shower makes a saving of 40% in every usage and taking a cold shower will zero your usage of gas or electricity. Time is inextricably intertwined with the gyrations of the planet we share, whether we follow it or make better use of it, as we progress further into this new millennium.
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O céu è muito LENINE 2008 “Labiata”
O céu é muito pra o sol, alcança sol aqui gravíta, o tempo é longo pra quem ficar
A terra gira pro nos dois, um ano é pouca pra depois, o mundo é largo pra quem fita
A lua é manta par o mar, reia tanto para a vida, lua é longe e sol é mais, pra quem não acredita
A lua é manta par o mar, reia tanto para a vida, lua é longe e sol é mais
O ceu é muito pra o sol, alcança sol aqui gravíta, o tempo é longo pra quem ficar
A terra gira pro nos dois, um ano é pouca pra depois, o mundo é largo pra quem fita
A lua é manta par o mar, reia tanto para a vida, lua é longe e sol é mais, o que voçê não acredita?
A lua é manta par o mar, reia tanto para a vida, lua é longe e sol é mais
