Time cycles, as discussed in the sources, are recurring patterns of time that were of great importance to ancient cultures [1, 2]. These cycles were not just ways of measuring time, but also ways of understanding cosmic processes, and they were often associated with specific numbers and geometric forms [1, 3]. The sources emphasize that ancient civilizations had sophisticated systems for tracking and understanding these cycles, using both observation and mathematics [1, 4].

Here's a breakdown of key aspects of time cycles as presented in the sources:

• The Great Year (Precessional Cycle): The most significant time cycle discussed is the Great Year, or precessional cycle, which is approximately 25,920 years [2, 5]. This cycle is the result of the Earth's axis slowly rotating or "wobbling" over long periods of time [5]. It was considered to be of great importance to ancient cultures [2, 5].

  • The motion of the Earth on its axis is described as a slow, hourglass-like motion and is the vector summation of all the gravity forces of the solar system acting on the Earth [5].
  • This cycle is often divided into four seasons, each lasting approximately 6,480 years [6, 7]. Each of these seasons was considered to be inaugurated by some type of great transformative event or catastrophe [8].
  • The number 6480 is also the total angular measure of the dodecahedron [7].
  • Half of the Great Year is 12,960 years, a period after which the seasons reverse [9].

• Platonic Month: A division of the Great Year, the platonic month, is 2,160 years, which is 1/12th of the Great Year [10, 11].

  • The number 2160 is also the total number of degrees in a cube and the diameter of the moon in miles [11, 12].

• Cerro Cycle: The ancient Chaldeans used a cycle of 3,600 years [13, 14].

  • This cycle relates to the total number of degrees of the icosahedron [14, 15].

• Decans: A decan is a period of 10 degrees of the ecliptic, which is equal to 720 years, or 10 days on the sacred calendar [16, 17].

  • Two decans are equal to 1440, which is also the number of minutes in a day and the number of degrees of an octahedron [16, 18].

• Sacred and Secular Calendars:

  • Ancient cultures often used both secular calendars, which were approximately 365 and 1/4 days, and sacred calendars, which were 360 days [19, 20]. The 360-day calendar is based on subdivisions of the circle, with each degree representing one day [21].
  • The sacred calendar allowed for easy subdivisions into other time cycles [22].
  • The five days that made up the difference between the secular and sacred calendars were often considered to be unlucky days, or days when no activity was performed [20, 23].
  • A platonic month in the sacred year is described as 30 days, equal to 43,200 minutes [24].

• Recurring Numbers in Time Cycles: Specific numbers repeatedly appear in the context of time cycles, including:

  • 1440, the number of minutes in a day [18, 25].
  • 86,400, the number of seconds in a day [26, 27].
  • 43,200, the number of seconds in a 12-hour span, or the number of minutes in a 30-day platonic month in the sacred year [24, 28].

• 720, the number of minutes in a 12-hour span [29, 30].

  • The number 72 also represents the average human lifespan in years [31, 32].
  • 1296, the number of square inches in a square yard, and also a number of years related to great cycles [33, 34].
  • 2160, the number of years in a platonic month [11, 12].
  • 6480, the number of years in a season of the Great Year [14, 35].
  • 25,920, the number of years in the precessional cycle, or the Great Year [2, 5].

• Vedic Yugas

  • The Vedic tradition describes a divine year as 360 human years [36].
  • They also describe the Yugas, which are the ages of the world and are described with sacred numbers.
    • The shortest of the Yugas, the Kali Yuga, is 432,000 human years long [37, 38].
    • The entire Maha Yuga is 10 times the length of the Kali Yuga [37].

• Interconnectedness: These time cycles are not isolated but are interconnected with each other and with spatial measurements [3, 39]. The same numbers often appear in measures of both time and space, suggesting a unified system of knowledge [3].

• Catastrophic Events: The sources suggest that catastrophic events, such as ice ages and climate changes, seem to align with the cycles predicted by the Great Year [8, 40, 41]. This suggests a cyclical pattern to both environmental and geological events [8].

• Symbolic Significance: The numbers associated with these time cycles are not merely for counting but are carriers of information and have symbolic meanings [3, 42]. These numbers are often used as mnemonic devices, each associated with a range of interconnected phenomena [43].

• Encoding in Texts: Ancient texts, such as the Vedas and the Bible, encode references to these time cycles through symbolism, numbers, and geometric relationships [44, 45].

In summary, time cycles are a fundamental concept in the ancient understanding of the cosmos. The sources indicate that these cycles were not only used for measuring time but also for understanding the interconnectedness of the universe, and that they were often encoded with specific numbers and geometric forms. The evidence suggests that ancient cultures possessed a sophisticated understanding of these cycles, which they used to make sense of the world and their place within it.