Scott August Signature Anasazi Flute
The 2012 Signature
Flute
from Cedar Mesa Music and Earth Tone
Flutes
Beginning with the first book I ever read about the Mayans I have been fascinated by their calendars. They have three. Two that are similar to a couple of Aztec calendars, the 365 day solar Haab calendar, and the 260 day zolk'in calendar, which work together like gears of different sizes. In order for them to return to the same combination takes 52 years, the Mayan version of a century. For the Aztecs the celebration of the new century was the New Fire ceremony. The New Fire ceremony can be found in cultures through out Meso America and the Pueblo Southwest, although most are celebrated on a yearly cycle. The other calendar used by the Mayans is called the Long Count and was used for expressing dates longer than 52 years. The Long Count cycle is thought to be 5,125 years long. and by most accounts we are currently living during in the fourth repetition of the Long count. (The long count calendar system is not unique to the Mayan. Most Meso American cultures, including the Aztecs had a similar calendar and its origins appear to go back to the Olmecs, the first and oldest "high culture" of Meso America.) In the Popol Vuh, the oldest surviving Mayan story of creation, each repetition of the Long Count is considered a world, and the world we are currently in is the fourth world, i.e. the fourth Long Count. (The Pueblos of the American Southwest also believe we are in the fourth world.) In the first world the Mayan gods of creation, including the deity "Heart of Sky" created the Earth out the void and began their first attempts to create humans. The current Long Count began on the date August 11th, 3114 BC by the Gregorian calendar according to some calculations and will end on December 21st, 2012.
THE
FLUTE We poked around online and found some references to the glyphs illustrating the ending Long Count date of 13.0.0.0.0, what we would call December 21, 2012. Geoffrey did some more research while I was on the road and came up with the designs. (shown at right.) In the meantime I went through my collection of flutes based on Aztec, Mayan and Quechua artifacts. None of them had the scale I was looking for. However, an alternate fingering on the Anasazi (Ancient Pueblo) flute that I use to produce some very uncommon pitches was exactly the evocative sound I was hearing in my head. I played it for Geoffrey, both on the Anasazi flute and on a piano and we both decided this was the perfect scale to use. The flute is based on the root note of A and produces the pitches: A-C#-D#-E-G-A. Expressed as intervals the notes are Root - Maj 3rd - Augmented 4th (flatted 5th) - 5th - Min 7th - Octave. This is a rare and exotic flute, with a mysterious scale and sound. Perfect for the End of Time or the beginning of a New Era! Earth Tone flutes is currently taking pre-orders. You can place your order by e-mailing Earth Tone flutes at etflutes@hughes.net or by phone (707) 839-5199 © 2011 Cedar Mesa Music All rights reserved.
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THE
MAYAN LONG COUNT
There
is speculation about whether or not the world will
end in an Apocalypse on that date or if the fifth
Long Count will start and we will enter a new
world, a new era. Either way, it is a date of great
importance in the Mayan culture and is provoking
interest among the rest of the world.
Recordings
by
Scott
August
