José Argüelles

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José Argüelles (b. January 24, 1939, Rochester, Minnesota) is the founder of 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.

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[edit] Fame

He gained notoriety for his role in the Harmonic Convergence event, and his mystical book about the Maya calendar, The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology. This book first popularized the Hunab Ku symbol. After Mayan Factor's financial success, Jose and his wife Lloydine produced "Dreamspell: The Journey of Timeship Earth 2013" and a game/tool "Telektonon: The Talking Stone of Prophesy". The former is the source of Arguelles' 13 Moon/28 Day Calendar.

[edit] Criticism

Although Argüelles states that his tools and calendar are clearly not a Mayan calendar, much criticism of it focusses on the fact that his works remain completely unsupported by any professional Mayanist scholar[citation needed]. Amongst many criticisms leveled 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[citation needed]. What's more, Argüelles' calendar is based on a different day-count than the traditional Mayan calendar. As mathematician Michael Finley 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."[1]

His calendar is also not correctly synchronized 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.

Argüelles 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". [1] Argüelles is now one of several individuals who have contributed to the spread of Mayanism, a collection of beliefs based on metaphysical speculation about the ancient Maya.

[edit] Planet Art Network

José 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 Argüelles' 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".

[edit] Bibliography

  • Argüelles, José (1987). The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology. Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. ISBN 0939680386. 
  • Argüelles, José (1988). Earth Ascending: An Illustrated Treatise on Law Governing Whole Systems. Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. ISBN 0939680459. 
  • Argüelles, José; Miriam Arguelles, Chogyam Trungpa (Foreword) (1995). Mandala. Shambhala. ISBN 1570621209. 
  • Argüelles, José (1996). The Call of Pacal Votan: Time is the Fourth Dimension. Altea Publishing. ISBN 0952455560. 
  • Argüelles, Jose (2002). Time and the Technosphere: The Law of Time in Human Affairs. Inner Traditions/Bear & Company. ISBN 1879181991. 

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Quotation is from Finley (2002)

[edit] References

Anastas, Benjamin (2007-07-01). "The Final Days" (reproduced online). The New York Times. The New York Times Company. 
Barkun, Michael (2003). A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23805-2. OCLC 51305869. 
Finley, Michael (2002). Jose Arguelles' Calendrical Dreams. The Real Maya Prophecies: Astronomy in the Inscriptions and Codices. Maya Astronomy. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
Lamy, Philip (2001). "Ufology". Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism. Ed. Brenda E. Brasher. New York: Routledge. pp.410–413. ISBN 0-415-92244-5. OCLC 46792684. 
Sitler, Robert K. (February 2006). "The 2012 Phenomenon New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar". Novo Religio 9 (3): pp.24–38. Berkeley: University of California Press. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024. ISSN 1092-6690. OCLC 86912726. 
Upton, Charles (2001). The System of Antichrist: Truth & Falsehood in Postmodernism & the New Age. Ghent, NY: Sophia Perennis. ISBN 0-900588-30-6. OCLC 45799654. 
York, Michael (1995). The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-8000-2. OCLC 31604796. 

[edit] External links


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