But we already knew the ending, and we had seen what we came for. It was a bit like being kicked out of a theater before the play was finished. We didn't get a chance to watch the snake disappear as the sun set because guards began herding the crowd from the grounds. It looked as if the snake would slither down the pyramid at any moment and head straight to the Sacred Cenote, a ceremonial sinkhole 200 feet wide.įrom the cenote, archaeologists have dredged gold and jade artifacts and the bones of sacrificial victims.Īt 5 p.m., the triangles thinned. The seven sunlit triangles had connected to the staircase, creating a continuous, wavy image all the way to the illuminated serpent's head at the bottom. The crowd was hushed, fascinated by the unfolding natural drama.īy 4:45 p.m., the equinox serpent was fully formed. Almost imperceptibly the rippling shadow created a line of descending triangles, one by one. Gradually, the shadow cast by the Castillo's tiers fell on the west balustrade of the north staircase, and a triangle of light formed at the top. By 4 p.m., we were still waiting for the snake. So far, Chichen Itza claims the only snake.Īt 3:40 p.m., several hundred people had gathered on the northwest side of the Castillo. Solstice daggers light pierce Indian petroglyphs at many places in the Southwest, such as the Petrified Forest and Chaco Canyon, N.M.
At Newgrange, a passage grave built 5,000 years ago in Ireland, the winter solstice sun shines into a roof box and penetrates inner chambers. Light and shadow displays at archaeological sites around the world mark time in similar ways. Two Chichen Itza guards said they had seen the snake as many as five days before or after March 21, although viewing is best on the equinox. Even in March its appearance is not precise. The snake can appear at the beginning of fall, but rainy weather in September often obscures it. "It all points to a spring equinox ritual," Mr. Intentional or not, the snake clearly was a part of Mayan ceremonies. Appropriately enough, the pyramid also is known as the Temple of Kulkulcan, the feathered serpent god. A moving snake would have made the Castillo the main attraction. Stone carvings of rattlesnakes decorate several buildings at Chichen Itza. The serpent was an important symbol, associated with a powerful god, new life and the passage of time. "But there is enough circumstantial evidence that I happen to believe it." The 52 recessed panels on the pyramid's sides also may refer to the 52-year cycle of the Mayan solar calendar.Įxperts hotly debate whether the Mayas deliberately built the Castillo so that the equinox serpent would appear. Including the top platform, the steps add up to 365, the number of days in a year. Ninety-one steep steps are etched into each of its four sides.
The serpent dragon spring equinox full#
Towering more than 80 feet above the northern part of Chichen Itza, the Castillo - or "castle" - is full of astronomical symbolism. The monumental carved snake heads at the bottom basked in the sun. Shadow covered most of the Castillo's north face, except for the west side of the staircase's balustrades. Later, we swam in the hotel's pool as bougainvillea petals fluttered down to the water. Overlooking tropical gardens, it's the perfect place to relax after a hot, sweaty hike in the ruins. The day was getting steamy, so we went back to the Mayaland Hotel, a Spanish colonial-style resort built in 1930, for a club sandwich and a beer in the patio bar. Just a few feet higher and the heavens open for anyone curious enough to watch.
:origin()/pre10/8430/th/pre/i/2011/223/4/4/spring_equinox_by_dornenbluth-d467s2m.jpg "the serpent dragon spring equinox")
From there, it's easy to see how little altitude is needed to get above the dense scrub jungle that covers the Yucatan. A sign warns ofīut almost anyone can walk up the two broad sets of stairs to the Caracol's upper platform where the tower sits. Rubble blocks the stairs on the outside of the cylindrical tower. and it's nearly impossible to get close to those windows. Visitors aren't likely to be in the ruins when any of these things happen, since the ruins are only open from 8 a.m. Most people will have to take the experts' word for it. Krupp is director of the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.) Opposite corners of the Caracol's upper platform also align with sunrise on the first day of summer and with sunset on the first day of winter. Krupp in his book "Echoes of the Ancient Skies." (Mr.
The serpent dragon spring equinox windows#
Two windows in its crumbling upper tower line up with Venus' most northern and southern setting points, writes E. But the ruin does have celestial significance. It's unclear how much astronomy was done at the Caracol.
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