Mission Campus

You certainly didn’t expect to find a huge Aztec calendar in the middle of the street, but this is the emblem that has been chosen to adorn the facade of the Mission Campus. It’s the largest mural representation of this famous calendar adapted from the Mayan calendar. The Aztecs, like the Mayans, were keen astronomers, carefully observing the movement of the stars in the sky. Calendar systems were then born from these observations, making it possible to predict the passage of time. The Aztecs, who lived in what is now Mexico, saw time as something cyclic, rather than linear, and measured it with an astronomically-based system of interconnected triple calendars. The one you’re looking at was created with over 660 hand-painted ceramic tiles. In the center, you see the face of the solar god Tonatiuh, sticking his tongue out. He is considered the 5th sun, the symbol of the present day. He is surrounded by 4 squares representing the 4 suns of previous eras, all of which were destroyed by a natural cataclysm. Surrounding the face is the ritual calendar. It’s made up of 20 elements, each containing 13 numbers, giving the 260 days of the cycle. These numbers are not chosen by chance. According to Aztec beliefs, the universe is made up of multiple layers, including 13 skies and 9 underground levels. The 260-day cycle corresponds to the 9 months of pregnancy and the agricultural cycles. It’s a sacred and harmonious number. This calendar featured days full of myth and symbolism, which were used to program religious events. And on the outside is the solar calendar, 365 days long, divided into 18 months of 20 days and an additional period of 5 intermediate days considered harmful or dangerous. These two cycles coincided every 52 years, bringing a dreaded period that could signal the end of time. Whatever it is, this Aztec calendar pulls us, almost in spite of ourselves, into an atmosphere of unsolved mystery, and never ceases to make us think, allowing our imagination to run wild.