(4)Ocelotl[AH-say-lah-tl]: Ocelot, the 14th of the 20 Aztec day-signs. The Mayans call it Ix, or Jaguar. The ocelot, or jaguar, jungle cats, were used as a watch-animal and as protectors against vermin. The day-sign therefore suggests protection and a sense for darkness, evil and negativity, according to astrologer Bruce Scofield. On a spiritual level, he says, a quiet retreat from civilization is needed to receive impressions from dreams and spirit. The Ocelot or Jaguar, in short, signifies the wisdom derived from contemplation and keen sight.
(5)Venus: This planet and its cycle were central to the Mesoamerican calendar, said to be given to the Indians of Mesoamerica by the god Quetzalcoatl [KET-zal-Kwat-ul], god of light and co-creator of the world. Venus, the brightest of the planets from Earth's point of view, is also associated mythologically with the Roman goddess Venus, the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar, the Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth, the Phoenician goddess Astarte, and the Hindu goddess Kama--all goddesses of love and/or fertility who are not always kind and gentle and can be fierce at times, even voracious.
(6)Lady of Filth: An epithet of Tlazolteotl (TLA-sole-tay-ah-tl), the presiding deity of the 14th of the 20 day-signs of the Mesoamerican calendar, Ocelotl. A witch goddess of purification who was a consumer of human evil, stimulating people's desires but forgiving the same desires. She was associated with the phases of the moon. The first half of the lunar cycle--that is, the waxing moon--symbolized Tlazolteotl as a witch; the second half of the cycle--the waning moon--symbolized her as a purifier. One could confess one's sins to Tlazolteotl through a priest as intermediary in order to be purified.
(12)Coatl (KWAH-tl): Serpent, the fifth of the 20 Aztec day-signs, representing the intensity of the life-force and of death, its opposite. The Mayans call it Chicchan.
(18)Lady of Precious Jades: An epithet of Chalchihuitlicue (CHAL-chee-Weet-lee-kew-ee), the ruling deity of Coatl. She wore a headdress of circles of jade(symbolic of water), a pleated paper fan insignia representing water plants, a half-moon nose ornament and two feathers at either side of the headpiece. She was the goddess of ground water, of storms and all the other wild forces of nature, the temporary beauty of nature, and the violence of young growth and love. She was high-voltage energy, explosive power and sexual energy.
(19)Sky-Father: Zeus, who oppressed Prometheus for bringing fire to humanity. Cronos, who swallowed his children. Jehovah. The Odin of Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung opera cycle. William Blake's Urizen.
lizards: Symbolic of independence, detachment and distance, like lizards, which hatch as a group but then go their own way when they grow up. The Aztecs considered the lizard a strange animal, crafty, unpredictable, and full of strange emotions, sex and irresponsible gaiety. Lizard(Cuetzpallin[KWETZ-pah-leen]) is the fourth Aztec day-sign and is ruled over by Ueuecoyotl[YOU-eh-coy-oh-tl], the old trickster god known as Coyote. The Mayans call it Kan. It is associated with fertility.
vultures: Associated with old age and riches, with dominance and submission, with hierarchy and status, with differences, imbalances and discrepancies, aloofness and superiority, unpredictable fates and unusual occurrences, and nightmares by the Aztecs--i.e., the transformative power of darkness. Vulture(Cozcacuauhtli[COS-ca-kwah-tlee]) is the 16th of the Aztec day-signs and was ruled over by Itzpapalotl[EATS-pap-a-lah-tl], "the black obsidian butterfly", the beautiful but deadly goddess of nightmares, darkness and other evils of the night. The Mayans call this day-sign Cib.
(22)Xolotl(SHOW-lah-tl): "Lord of the evening star," the Aztec god representing the dark side of Venus, a monstrous creature who recycled the bones of the dead to create new human beings. He ruled over the 17th Aztec day-sign, Earthquake, or Movement(Ollin[OH-leen]), signifying artificial structure, stability in the midst of change and the rituals needed to maintain it. The Mayans call this sign Caban(Incense)
(23)winging up to Sky-Father whence they came: In Norse mythology, ravens brought Odin the news of the world.
(27)the earth trembles ever so slightly, once: 1 Earthquake on the Aztec calendar is a day associated with hasty reactions, dealing with emergencies and constant change.
(29)A meteor flashes, etc.: "When you wish upon a star,"etc.
(36)Vultures feed on the Sky-Son's rotting corpse: As Zeus' vulture or eagle fed on the liver of Prometheus, which grew back in the night for the next day's torture.
(39)Monkeys: Monkey(Ozomatli[OZ-oh-mah-tlee]) is the 11th of the Aztec day-signs. The Mayans call it Chuen. It signifies humor, gaiety, entertainment, excitement, concealing what you are to fit in or pull off a scheme, joie de vivre, music, dance, and other arts, and eroticism, especially feminine eroticism. It signifies the crafts that create goods and services. But most of all, it signifies the culture.
(41)There are ten of them: 10 in Aztec numerology is the number of serious responsibility and making things happen, and 10 Vulture signifies making distinctions.
(43-45)He lies atop the pyramid, the Sky-Son, etc.: Like Endymion as much as Prometheus. When the Greek moon-goddess Artemis(Diana to the Romans) fell in love with Endymion, she made him fall asleep on a mountaintop and he never woke up, but was her lover eternally. ("A thing of beauty is a joy forever," John Keats wrote in his poem "Endymion.") Artemis, goddess of the hunt, of nature, of wild animals, of virginity and of all young things, loved Endymion, who from then on was finished as an actor on the stage of the world.
(46-51):Yet with strange eons, etc.: Perhaps the end of evolution is mind--or spirit if you will--without body.(I got this idea from Arthur Clarke's 2001 as much as from H.P. Lovecraft, via Metallica. "The Thing That Should Not Be" is a really good tune, by the way.)
(52):Cipactli[SEE-pah-tlee]: The primordial alligator of Aztec myth, from which Quetzalcoatl and his brother Tezcatlipoca[TEZ-cat-lee-po-ka], god of darkness, created the world; analogous to the primordial dragon of other mythologies. The Mayans call it Imix. I mean things secret, hidden or mysterious, madness or inspiration, the Great Mystery, the primordial, the most primitive part of our natures.(The base of our brain: the medulla oblongata, or brainstem, which controls the involuntary functions.)
(59):After an earthquake, etc.: The great earthquake which has been prophecied to destroy civilization at the end of its current cycle on 21 December 2012. This is in all likelihood strictly metaphorical.