religious center built and inhabited by the Maya in the seventh through tenth centuries A.D., and later incorporated the more blood-thirsty practices of the Toltec through the thirteenth century. Today it is a huge tourist attraction aboveground. Belowground, the Nightkeepers practice their rituals and magic in a series of subterranean caverns that run beneath the ruins.
Skywatch—Built in the 1930s and renovated when the Nightkeepers were reunited, the training compound is located in a box canyon in the Chaco Canyon region of New Mexico.
Xibalba—The nine-layer underworld of the Mayan and Nightkeeper religious systems, home to the Banol Kax, boluntiku, and makol. The spiritual entrance to Xibalba is found in the darkest spot at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The religious (metaphorical) entrances are the passageways at the tops of Mayan pyramids, as well as natural caves, especially those leading to subterranean rivers.
Things (spells, glyphs, prophecies, etc.) ajawlel —The slave-master’s glyph, worn by a Nightkeeper who has formed a reciprocal blood link with a human servant. barrier—A force field of psi energy that separates the earth, sky, and underworld, and powers the Nightkeepers’ magic. The strength of the barrier fluctuates with the positions of the stars and planets; the power of the magi increases as the barrier weakens. chac-mool —An iconographic idol dedicated to the rain god, Chaac, the chac-mool is formed in the shape of a seated human figure, and may be used as an altar, a throne, and/or a place of blood sacrifice. copan —The sacred incense of the Nightkeepers. This is a variation of the Mayan incense, copal, and is associated with the great ruined city of Copan, located in modern-day Honduras. demon prophecies—A cycle of seven prophecies that will be triggered in the final four years before the end date. If a prophecy is fulfilled, the barrier thins slightly. If it is thwarted, the barrier strengthens to the same degree. These prophecies, revolving around the seven death-bat sons of Camazotz, are inscribed on a series of Nightkeeper artifacts that were sold off to fund the Nightkeepers’ activities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Now those relics must be recovered if the Nightkeepers hope to thwart Camazotz and his sons. hunab ku —A pseudoglyph associated with the 2012 end date, in modern times the hunab ku is not a glyph within the Mayan writing system, but rather is the mark that the Nightkeeper king wears on his biceps, denoting his proximity to the gods. intersection—Located in the sacred tunnels beneath Chichen Itza, this is the one point on earth where the earth, sky, and underworld come very near one another, and where the barrier is its weakest.
This is where the gods can come through to create Godkeepers, and where the underworld denizens focus their attacks during each solstice and equinox. jun tan —The “beloved” glyph that signifies a Nightkeeper’s mated status. k’alaj — The slave mark worn by a human who is blood-bound to a Nightkeeper master or mistress. pasaj och —Roughly translating to “open door open,” this, coupled with a blood sacrifice, is the basic command a Nightkeeper uses to form an uplink to the barrier’s power. starscript—Ancient writings carved into temples or artifacts in such a way that the glyphs do not reflect normal sun- or moonlight. They are visible only by starlight when the moon is dark. thirteen prophecies—A long-term prophetic cycle describing milestone events leading up to the apocalypse. The last of these mentions the Nightkeepers’ king making the ultimate sacrifice in the final four years before 2012. tzomplanti —A ceremonial pile formed of stacked human skulls, used as a beacon or a warning sign. writs—Written by the First Father, these delineate the duties and codes of the Nightkeepers. Not all of them translate well into modern times.
On December 21, 2012, the world will end.
At least, that is what some believe the ancient Maya intended to signal when they set their five-
thousand-year backward-counting calendar to zero out on that day, at the exact moment the sun, moon, and earth will align at the center of the Milky Way in a cosmic dark spot the Maya believed was the mouth of the underworld, Xibalba.
Modern scientific support for the 2012 doomsday theory comes from astronomers and physicists, who predict that this Great Conjunction, which occurs only once every twenty-six thousand years, will trigger magnetic reversals, terrible sun-spots, and potentially cataclysmic planetary events. This has caused historians and spiritualists alike to credit the Maya with a level of astronomy not seen again through history until modern times.
However, the ancient Maya’s knowledge of the Great Conjunction—and the havoc it will bring —
comes from a far older people: the Nightkeepers.
Descended from the only survivors of a great civilization wiped out in 24,000 B.C. during the last Great Conjunction, the Nightkeepers are mortal magic users sworn to pass down their skills from generation to generation until the 2012 conjunction, when they will be the only ones capable of defeating the Banol Kax , a group of all-powerful demons who were bound in Xibalba by the Nightkeepers’ ancestors, and will be released on December 21, 2012. On the day of the Great Conjunction, the demons will break through the barrier separating the earth and underworld. They will destroy mankind and rule the earth . . . unless the Nightkeepers stop them.
Ancient prophecy says that there should be hundreds of Nightkeepers at the end of the age, and among them will be the Godkeepers, a group of incredibly powerful warrior-females, each of whom will be able to wield the powers of a god with the help of her blood-bound mate and the Nightkeepers’ magic, which is based on bloodletting and sex.
Together, the legends say, the Godkeepers and their mates will be instrumental in the Nightkeepers’ battle against the Banol Kax and the 2012 doomsday. But in the final four years before the zero date, when the demons begin their assault on the barrier, the Nightkeepers number less than a dozen scattered and untrained magi. The last king, Striking-Jaguar, reunites the surviving Nightkeepers in time to block the Banol Kax from attacking the earth. In the process, however, he claims a god-bound human woman as his mate rather than sacrificing her, defying an ancient prophecy and triggering the final countdown to the end-time.
Now the Nightkeepers must recover the Mayan antiquities that bear the seven lost demon prophecies, which will guide them in battle as the end-time approaches.
However, they’re not the only ones on the hunt for the missing artifacts. . . .
PART I
PENUMBRAL LUNAR ECLIPSE
The earth shadows the moon, making it appear orange or bloodred. May be associated with shifts in the earth’s electromagnetic fields, heightened spiritual sensitivity, and rebirth.
February 6 Present The smell of
