Jose Arguelles
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José Arguelles (b. January 24, 1939, Kasson, Minnesota) is the New Age spiritual leader for the Planet Art Network and the Foundation for the Law of Time. He holds a Ph.D. in Art History and Aesthetics from the University of Chicago, and has taught at numerous colleges, including Princeton University and the San Francisco Art Institute.
He has gained notoriety for his role in the Harmonic Convergence event, and his mystical book about the Maya calendar, The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology. After Mayan Factor's financial success, Jose and his wife Lloydine produced "Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013" and a game/divinatory tool "Telektonon: The Talking Stone of Prophesy". The former is the source of Arguelles' 13 Moon/28 Day Calendar.
Arguelles' interpretation of the Maya calendar remains completely unsupported by any professional Mayanist scholar. Amongst many criticisms levelled at it, it is pointed out that the interpretation merely co-opts an ancient tradition by recasting it in New Age terms, unknown, unused and undocumented among the Maya. Many of Dreamspell's influences come from non-Mayan sources, such as the I Ching and pop psychology. What's more, Arguelles' calendar is based on a different day-count than the traditional Mayan calendar. As mathematician M. Finlay notes:
- Since the 365 day Maya haab makes no provision for leap years, its starting date in the Gregorian Calendar advances by one day every four years. The beginning of Arguelles' year is fixed to July 26. Thus his count of days departs from the haab as it was known to Maya scribes before the Spanish conquest. Arguelles claims that the Thirteen Moon Calendar is synchronized with the calendar round. Clearly, it is not.
His calendar is also not correctly synchronised with that observed by the Maya. For example, in the traditional count January 1, 2005 is 5 Muluk, while in the Dreamspell it is 2 Etznab.
Arguelles countered this criticism by stating that his calendar is "correct and biologically accurate...for the whole planet", and that he is the "heir of the legacy of Pacal Votan and the instrument of his prophecy, Telektonon". [2]
[edit] Planet Art Network
Jose and Lloydine founded the Planet Art Network (PAN) in 1983 as an autonomous, meta-political, worldwide peace organization engaging in art and spirituality. Active in over 90 countries, PAN upholds the Nicholas Roerich Peace Pact and Banner of Peace, symbolizing "Peace Through Culture".
The Planet Art Network operates as a network of self-organized collectives, centralized by a shared focus of promoting the world-wide adoption of Arguelles' Dreamspell 13-Moon/28 day Calendar. The network upholds the slogan "Time is Art", suggesting that time is a vehicle for our creative experience, instead of the familiar saying "Time is Money".
