You can experience the equinox on March 21st and September 21st. That's when the sun is directly over the equator, giving us equal amounts of day and night. The solstice happens on June 21st and December 21st, with the sun reaching its highest or lowest point. Fun fact: the summer solstice is the longest day of the year, while the winter solstice is the shortest.
Spring and Fall Equinox in Yucatán
On March 21st and September 21st approx. you can witness the incredible accuracy of Maya astronomy as it was integrated into architecture and share a moment in time with the ancient Maya. The Maya, stargazers that they were, planned their lives around the sun; their daily lives centered on the sowing and harvesting of their crops, especially corn.
At the spring equinox the Maya planted the crops, and the autumn equinox was their signal to begin the harvest.
The Maya built complex structures using advanced geometry and astronomy to map the cycles of the sun. For the Maya, the most relevant positions of the sun were the spring and autumn equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices.
The Equinox at Chichén Itzá
The equinox phenomenon can actually be viewed in Chichén Itzá on the El Castillo pyramid for several days, so if it is raining or cloudy or you just can't get there, it is visible a day or two before and after the official equinox date.
During the equinox the sun casts its rays on the pyramid during the afternoon, forming seven isosceles triangles that resemble the body of a serpent 37 yards long slithering downwards until it joins the huge serpent's head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway. It is said this snake is trying to make it to the well of sacrifice which is in the same direction.
The Equinox at Dzibilchaltún
At the Maya site of Dzibilchaltún, at dawn on the mornings of March 21 and Sept. 21, the sun sends its beams through the two windows of the temple of “Las Siete Muñecas” (seven dolls) providing a lovely spectacle of Maya exactitude. The site opens at 4 am. This dates can change depending on the year, it could be one day prior or one day after.
Dzibilchaltún is located 16 km north of Mérida and while it doesn't have the giant pyramids of Chichén Itzá and Uxmal, it does have its own cenote and the Franciscan chapel that blends in with the archaeological site.
Note: As of August 2024, the archaeological site of Dzibilchaltún remains closed until further notice.
Long Story Short
In Yucatán you can see the equinox in Chichén Itzá and also in Dzibilchaltún. The Equinox in Dzibilchaltún is in the morning at dawn in the temple of "The Seven Dolls". The site opens at 4 am. The Chichén Itzá equinox takes place in the afternoon, which makes it possible to see the two phenomenon on the same day. The spectacle can be observed in Chichén Itzá one or two days before and after the official date.
The Dresden Codex
The Dresden Codex, one of three paper-bark books that survived the mass destruction of documents by Spanish zealots in 1562, is filled with numbers—mostly calculations for lunation cycles and Venus tables. One of the Maya main calendars, the Haab, is tied to the earth’s rotation cycle. They calculated it at 360 days, with five “extra days” at the end that were considered unlucky time.
It’s known that the number four held great importance to them. Although there is no firm reason for this, archeologists suggest it could be because the body has four limbs with the heart at its center; a house has four corner posts; a milpa or cornfield has four entrances; and the sun has four paths that takes it on its seasonal journeys—two solstices and two equinoxes.
The Maya also had what was known as four cosmic points, which may relate to the four points of the sun’s daily journey: sunrise, noon, the sun on the horizon at dusk, and lastly the nadir just before the sun moves into the underworld. Scholars call these the four points of the Maya cosmos, and emphasize these are not like our cardinal directions of north, south, east and west.
The most relevant positions of the sun are the equinoxes and the solstices, even to us today. For the Maya, skygazers that they were, these were of supreme importance, and they paid homage to these positions.
Equinox at the Kukulkán Temple
If you’ve ever ventured to Chichén Itzá on a spring or fall equinox to watch the astounding performance of the sun’s descent from the top of Temple Kukulkán to the bottom of the staircase that ends at the serpent’s mouth, you’ve no doubt been awed by this experience.
Onlookers believe they share a moment in time with the ancient Maya, for legend has it that the Maya also witnessed that same image a thousand years ago. Kukulkán, one of the most monumental of all their sacred works, was the Maya god of rejuvenation and his effigy symbolized the renewal of life.
Why did the Maya immortalize the equinox in this bi-annual spectacle of astronomical showmanship? Although no one knows for sure, scholars believe rites of agriculture may have been the basis for the concept and design of Kukulkán's slithering serpent. Since Kukulkán symbolizes rejuvenation, the March date coincides with planting cycles, and a September date coincides with annual harvests, which in itself is a renewal of life, for it allows food for the winter months.
The equinox was unique because on that day, in March and September, night and day are equal.
The solstices represent a similar idea, as they’re a twice a year occurrence and on those days the sun reaches its highest or lowest altitude in the sky above the horizon at solar noon.
December solstice is the traditional beginning of the earth’s yearly cycle.
The Maya Temples and the Sun
One 2012ologist, John Major Jenkins, believed the solstice was so important that the Maya placed buildings in alignment with its zenith.
Jenkins, author of "Maya Cosmogenesis 2012", believes that a stellae at Izapa (a site in southern México that may or may not be Maya) leaves a code for us to decipher. In particular, Group F Ballcourt, which displays what Jenkins calls creation imagery, is aligned within one degree of December solstice sunset and June solstice sunrise direction. He claims this could have been no coincidence.
Archeo-astronomer Anthony Aveni states there are at least 73 city alignments to the solstice throughout the Maya world. He thinks there is evidence for a solstice-based calendar. He leans on June because it marks the time of the peak rainy season in the year.
At Chichén Itzá, the equinox sunset is visible through a window in Caracol observatory’s tower. And the great ballpark at Chichén Itzá, the largest known ballcourt in the ancient Maya world, encodes many alignments involving the Milky Way and the solstices. The ballcourt was aligned with the Milky Way at midnight on the June solstice 865 A.D. and if one stood in the center of the ballcourt on that night, the arc of the Milky Way could be seen, touching the opposed horizons to which the lengthwise axis of the ballcourt pointed. Overhead one would have seen where the Milky Way and the ecliptic cross.
This incredible symmetry was planned on a grand scale. The whys and wherefores, we may never know, but what we know for certain is this: the Maya were well aware of the solstice and equinox dates, and they paid homage to them in the most obvious way. They created ethereal stepped pyramids that have lasted for centuries and align with both equinox and solstice, and are still viewed in wonder to this day.
First published in Yucatán Today print and digital magazine no. 285, in September 2012.
Last updated in September 2023.
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