Man In Moon May Be Mayan

[Guest guest]

Man In Moon May Be Mayan

Student Of Ancient Civilization's Lore Finds Lunar Connection To

Carving

By Ken Bradford

South Bend Tribune

11-19-4

 

ELKHART -- Mike Berry saw it and knew it was important.

 

He just wasn't sure what it was.

 

"I just knew it was Mayan," he said.

 

Berry had been looking at photographs a friend had taken of the

moon.

 

On that day, for whatever reason, the dark pattern on the lunar

surface made a strong impression on him.

 

"It was a moment of recognition, a moment of affirmation," he said.

 

And, for all he knows, maybe he's solved a Mayan riddle.

 

Berry, of Elkhart, isn't an astronomer or an archaeologist or a

historian.

 

But he's an intensely curious person who enjoys delving into the

unknown.

 

"I'm just a prolific reader," said Berry, a train engineer since

1978. He spends 10 to 12 hours a week reading, mainly about history.

 

He knew a little bit about the Mayan culture from a trip to Cozumel

and Tulum in Mexico 30 years ago. His mother, Eleanor Berry, had

been a student of ancient civilizations, including the Greeks,

Egyptians, Mayans and Aztecs.

 

With the friend's moon photo in front of him, he began his research

online. Within an hour, he found his Mayan.

 

The moon figure was a dead-on match for the depiction of Lord Pakal

in the lost Mayan city of Palenque in southern Mexico.

 

His study of Palenque and Pakal opened another level of intrigue.

 

The Mayans were known for their study of astronomy. It made sense

perfect sense to him that a tribute to their shaman-king, who died

in A.D. 683, would mirror the face they saw on the moon.

 

But then, Berry found another path to explore.

 

Among archaeologists, Pakal is an intriguing figure.

 

Interest increased in 1952. After four years of digging through

debris in a secret passageway, Mexican archaeologist Alberto Ruz

Lhuillier found a sarcophagus that contained Pakal's bones.

 

The sarcophagus lid contained a drawing that has been interpreted as

Pakal, at the instant of his death, falling into the underworld.

 

Some observers find the shape of the throne suspicious. To them, it

looks more like a rocket ship.

 

That interpretation got a lot of attention in 1968, when Swiss

author Erich von Daniken -- in "Chariots of the Gods" -- used the

Pakal figure as proof that ancient deities actually were

extraterrestrials.

 

Berry looks at the evidence and comes up with a completely different

conclusion.

 

He sees the scene as looking forward instead of backward. For him,

the lid is presaging the 1969 Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

 

The Mayans, as a culture, kept a close touch with the supernatural.

Their kings, wizards and wise men used their knowledge of the

present to predict the future.

 

These seers created an elaborate calendar, suggesting when crops

should be planted and harvested and when wars should be fought.

 

They also predicted the significant events that would change their

world and ours, including the end of the world as we know it in

December 2012.

 

It would make sense, then, for the Mayans to be intensely interested

in mankind's greatest achievement, the Apollo 11 moon landing.

 

And when he placed a photo of the sarcophagus drawing on top of a

moon map, Pakal's eye marks the exact spot of the 1969 lunar

landing.

 

He's interested in finding others who are interested in Lord Pakal,

the Mayan culture and the moon. His e-mail address is

michaelberry50.

 

"I know I'm going to get some ridicule and some non-believers," he

said.

 

But he knows what he sees. And he knows you can see it too, if you

wish.

 

1994-2004 South Bend Tribune

 

http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/11/18/

local.20041118-sbt-LOCL-B1-Man_in_moon.sto