Analysis of the Nazca Mandala...

Jayro Luna

Analysis of the Nazca Mandala: Some Mathematical Considerations and Others

not so much ...
Jayro Luna

ABSTRACT:
In this article, we analyze the enigmatic figure of the "Nazca Mandala" that differs from
the standard of the other figures of the Nazca plateau, because it is neither figurative nor
anthropomorphic or zoomorphic. It presents mathematical and geometrical
interpretations regarding the structure of the figure as well as aspects related to the
esoteric meaning of the figure. The article is still a partial result of research done on the
subject, but already has sufficient elements for this text to present it with academic and
scientific substance. In this article, we also analyze and critique interpretations that have
been tried for an understanding of the figure. As a requisite for understanding what is set
forth here, a certain familiarity with the mathematical and esoteric meaning of the magic
squares is necessary.

Keywords: Nazca Plateau, Nazca Mandala, Semiotic Neo-structuralism, Magic Squares,

Esotericism.

Note of Warning: First, I apologize for the quality of my English language mastery, still
somewhat primal. The text originally written in Portuguese. However, I insist on
presenting this troublesome version in terms of the English language in order to acquaint
a larger number of people with the results of my research.

1. Introduction

The Nazca Plateau is a world-known place, located in southern Peru, cut by the Pan-
American Highway. The place, of desert characteristic has become famous for the figures
drawn in the soil of such size that can only understood from a position in the sky, that is
to say, flying. Figures that resemble various animals (dog, hummingbird, monkey, whale,
etc ...) and other representations (the astronaut, for example) provoke the imagination of
scholars, scientists and curious in search of its real meaning, the purpose of their work
and of who actually would have done them.
Here we will focus on a particular figure whose nature escapes the pattern of Nazca
inscriptions, it is the figure commonly known as the "Nazca Mandala", also known as
"Star" or "Nazca Cross."
The region is divided into two sets of figures, one, larger and located in the flattest
part, called "Nazca Plateau" because it is situated in the direction of the city of Nazca. A
second set, smaller, on more rugged and elevated terrain, called "Palpa" because it is
located near this village. The Mandala is located in this second set.

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

Figure 1

The Map above is relatively simplified, not showing all the figures, the
following map, more detailed, refers only to the Palpa, so that we can perceive the set of
figures in which the mandala is located:

Figure 2

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

Note the position of the Mandala ("La Estrela"). The set of Palpa in relation to that of
Nazca, has more anthropomorphic figures (Paracas Family, The Traveler, The Woman, the
Fertility). We will not dwell here on the anthropological questions about the theories that
determine the mode of making, or what people did them and why, nor do we turn to the fantastic
assumptions about extraterrestrial travelers. It is easy to find videos, documentaries and other
material on these assumptions. Our goal is simply to show some observations we have made about
the structure of the Nazca Mandala, which in our view presents some very specific peculiarities
correlated with researches that we have developed about the nature and characteristics of so-called
"magic squares". Nor will we give basic explanations of magic squares, usually - as mathematical
curiosities or as a very peculiar kind of matrix. Anyway, let us get right to the point.

2. The Structure of the Nazca Mandala

The Nazca Mandala differs from the other local figures by its non-anthropomorphic
or zoomorphic constitution. A grid of squares and lines that cross this grid at different
angles. Another aspect is also that its lines, although visible, are fainter than the lines that
make up the other figures. Located in the denominated part of Palpa is located a little
above the terrain of the Nazca lines.
Joseph E. Mason1 in an article published on a non-academic page presents an
interesting observation on the structure of the mandala in question, noting its resemblance
to an 8x8 magic square, known in the cabalistic and alchemical texts as the "magic square
of Mercury." In fact, it is easy to recognize an 8x8 grid in the Nazca Mandala:

Figure 3

Above (fig.3), we have an aerial view of the Nazca Mandala, below (fig.4) are marked
the lines of the grid, including the lines that cut the great in different angles:

1
MASON, Joseph E. The Nazca Sun-Star as the Magic Square of Mercury. Available in:
http://www.greatdreams.com/numbers/nazca/nazca.htm

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

Figure 4

The figure may bewilder our perception a bit, but continuous observation allows us
to see various aspects of the figure. The 8x8 grid has squares marked in a darker tone,
because on the floor of Palpa they appear in a lighter tone than the others do. There are
three for each corner of the grid and twelve central squares that form a cross. The
association of the Nazca Mandala with the magic square of Mercury occurs only in
principle by the number of squares of the grid (64), since the numerals corresponding to
the magic square of Mercury not inscribed in each square. Thus, we insert the numerals
and from the very indications of the lines and the colors of the squares, we prove that in
fact it is a magic square 8x8:

Figure 5

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

The magic square of Mercury - hereinafter referred to as this - gives as a sum of each
column, line or diagonal the value 260. But this is a basic condition of the magic square.
This, like those of another order, holds a series of internal relations involving 4, 8, or 16
numbers that add up in each specific relation 260. The ancients knew of these intrinsic
properties of the magic squares. In the case of Mercury the following figure is very
illustrative of these internal relations:

Figure 6

The detailed explanation of the meaning of this illustration would give

another article, but the reader can get some interesting information in the book of Henry
Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim2, pages 945, 946 and 950.In the case of the numerals
marked in the Nazca Mandala, we note that if we add two opposite sets of trios of number
marked, plus the two central numbers perpendicular to the diagonal formed by the two
sets, we obtain 260. Example:

a) 9 + 2 + 64 = 75
b) 1+ 63 + 56 = 120
c) 29 + 36 = 65
d) 75 + 120 + 65 = 260

If the reader wants to exercise his ability to make head count, try the other numbers
in the other set. In the central cross, the vertical rod adds 260, as well as the horizontal
bar of the cross. From these aspects, it seems clear to us that the 8x8 grid of the Nazca
Mandala is not only a grid of empty squares, but a square of magic square.
Then, we will demonstrate how the knowledge of who did this figure in Nazca went
beyond the knowledge until now divulged about the use of the magic squares. We hope,
perhaps, to put in the reader a question mark about the usefulness of this figure as well as
the amount of knowledge required to produce it and especially what it can actually mean.

3. The intersections of magic squares and the dynamics of their transformations.

What we are going to emphasize in this section of this text involves the markings
that exist in the Mandala of Nazca in the mentioned four corners and in the central units.
There are several non-academic articles on the Internet about the interpretation of these
markings, but in our view, they are in conjecture without much support, making constant

2
NETTESHEIM, Cornelio Agrippa de. Three Books of Hidden Philosophy. So Paulo,
Madras, 2012.

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

references to the symbology of the cross and the astronomical relations that can drawn
from the interpretation of the angles formed by the lines that cross the grid.
Note that if we look closely at the figure, there are two overlapping grids, the
second, with respect to the first one a 45 angle of slope in the southwest-northeast
direction. From this orientation it is perfectly identifiable a smaller central grid of 4x4
extension. In the esoteric scope, known as "magical square of Jupiter". A basic square of
this type has 16 units in total and the sum of each line, column or diagonal gives 34. If
we look at the magic square of Mercury again, that cross turns into a magic square of 4x4
if we only add the units of the chants (values: 19, 22, 43 and 46). In analyzing this new
magic square contained in the grid of Mercury we observe that it keeps the same
properties of the magical square of Jupiter, in the sense that each line, column or diagonal
adds the same amount, but now the value is 130:

22 44 45 19

35 29 28 38

27 37 36 30

46 20 21 43
Figure 7

O quadrado mgico assim obtido, guarda tambm todas as relaes intrnsecas a um tpico
quadrado mgico de Jpiter, no sentido de que todas as relaes existentes internamente entre
conjuntos de 4 e 8 unidades do quadrado esto mantidas. Elas podem ser exemplificadas pelo
seguinte conjunto de diagramas (fig.8):

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

Figure 8

Most internal transmissions of the product of 4 units added to 34 are placed there,
but there are still, we do not intend to extend at that point, it is only to give an idea of
what we call internal relations. Note that the 4x4 magic square obtained from the magic
square of Mercury in the Nazca Mandala maintains all these properties, only now with
the value of 130, that is, half the value obtained by a set of 8 units without a square of
Mercury.
But the most interesting, to our understanding, comes now, for we observe the
three units placed in the corners of the square of Mercury. It does not seem to us that their
goal is merely to compose values within the Mercury square. For, just as we can obtain a
4x4 magical square from the central part of Mercury, we can also obtain a square of order
6x6 if we follow the directions of the Nazca Mandala itself.
Agrippa presents a method for constructing a square of the Sun (6x6) based on a
series of inversions from a vector taken from a signal found in the square of Saturn (3x3).

Figure 9 The Saturns Seal

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

This gravure called the saturn seal is the result of marking on the cells of a 3x3
square. The diagonal sum 15, the two compass-shaped signals, add different values (6
and 24, respectively the smallest and largest possible sum of 3 cells), but whose average
is 15. Note the following figure, as Agrippa uses this "Seal" to promote inversions in a
6x6 grid, in which the cells are filled in the order of 1 to 36 starting from the cell of the
lower left corner, and after it promoted the inversion of the diagonals3.

Figure 10

In the case of the Nazca Mandala, we have an 8x8 grid and we want to produce a grid of
a magic square 6x6. Thus we apply the solution of Agippa in the grid of Mercury, observing the
limit of 6x6 and then we inverted only the tips of the diagonals of the square of the Sun:

Figure 11

3
For a more detailed explanation we indicate: AGRIPPA, H. C. Three Books of Occult
Philosophy. So Paulo, Madras, 2012, p. 938.

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

Or by presenting otherwise the changes made, for a more objective presentation:

Figure 12

Note that the square of the Sun now formed gives as sum of each line, column or diagonal
the value 195 (3/4 of the sum 260 of Mercury). The square of the standard Sun gives as sum 111.
The grid now formed starts at number 10 and jumps from six to six numbers two numbers (10,
11, 12, 13, 14, 15, -, -, 18, 19, 20 ...).
Now, about the three cells marked at each corner of the Mercury grid, as well as
the twelve-cell cross at the center, we can ask why this is so, given that the Mandala is
known to have been produced in a time prior to colonization and Christianization. In this
sense, the community that produced it, in principle did not have the cross as a religious
symbol. Assumptions raised by scholars, academics, and non-scholars. But careful
observation of the properties of the 8x8 Mandala solves the problem in a way that requires
no symbolic interpretation other than the mathematical characteristics of the Mercury
grid.
In a first step let us approach the three cells from each corner (sum 130 each set)
such that they close a 4x4 square:

8 58 63 1

49 56

9 16

64 2 7 57
Figure 13

We have a 4x4 grid (Jupiter) that lacks the values of the four central cells. Each
diagonal gives as value 65 (1/4 of Mercury), the two lateral columns and the first and last
complete lines that are, add 130 (1/2 of Mercury). We are immediately tempted to place
in the four central cells the values of the Mercury central and in doing so we obtain:

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

130

8 58 63 1 130

49 29 28 56 162 260

9 37 36 16 98

64 2 7 57 130

130 126 134 130 130

260

Figure 14

The sum of the second and third lines does not give 130, but the sum of the two
gives 260, as well as the second and third columns added also gives 260. Moreover, if we
replace the four central cells by the values adjacent to them in the diagonals of the great
one of Mercury we maintain the same pattern, until reaching the corners:

15
130 130

8 58 63 1 130 8 58 63 1 130

49 22 19 56 146 260 49 15 10 56 130 260

9 46 43 16 114 9 55 50 16 130

64 2 7 57 130 64 2 7 57 130

130 128 132 130 130 130 130 130 130 130

260 260
Figure 15

As for the figure of the central cross, if we now replace the four central cells by
the numbers above and below the central cells, and then by the numbers to the right and
left of these cells we have the same pattern:
130 120
8 58 63 1 130 8 58 63 1 130
49 44 45 56 194 260 49 35 38 56 168 260
9 20 21 16 66 9 27 30 16 82
64 2 7 57 130 64 2 7 57 130

130 124 136 130 130 130 122 128 130 130
260 260
Figure 16

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

In this way, the figure of the cross appears, since they refer to the numbers that
complete this 4x4 grid. As well as marking the numbers of the corners of the 8x8 grid.
The producers of this figure observed an intrinsic property to the grid. For a better
visualization of like done, let us see the grid schematized below:

Figure 17

Now observing the figure of the Nazca Mandala from another angle, note that
under the Mercury grid there is another one, which is located at 45 in the NE-SO
direction (fig.4). The grid that now appears formed by the magic square of order 12x12,
thus containing 144 cells. These are easily observable, since they are more prominent a
central part, forming a new square of Jupiter (4x4) and on the outside, contiguous to this
grid 12x12, located inside the two central rows and columns, two cells, thus forming a
species of cross. This magical square of Jupiter is totally inserted in the area of the
previous magical square of Jupiter, since the size of its cells is smaller. The larger magical
square of Jupiter, whose sum gives 130, in terms of ascending numerical order, begins
with cell number 19, and every four numbers, jumps another four, then resumes the count
(19,20,21,22, , 27,28,29,30 ...) ending at number 46. A magic square with regular order
that goes from 130 would start at number 30 and end at 45. Note that 45 is the number of
degrees of slope of this second square of Jupiter. Let us see what is the regular numbering
of a square of order 12x12:

Figure 18

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

The sum of each line, column or main diagonal gives 870. In the figure above,
we have already divided the grid 12x12 into 9 squares of Jupiter (4x4), with the center
giving 290 for each row, column or main diagonal. The others, even though they always
have the same value (290) for row or column, vary the value of the main diagonals to less
than or greater than the value 290. It happens that if we add up and average the two
opposing Jupiter squares (p. the light blue in the upper right corner of the figure and the
white in the lower left corner) we have the average value of 290. Thus, it seems to us, the
emphasis given to the central square 4x4.

91 90 181
80 66 67 77 290
68 78 79 65 290 290
55 54 109
148 290 290 142 290
290 290
Figure 19

From the central cells, by adding the cells that placed adjacent to the columns
and central lines, we obtain by summing up rows and columns the value of 290.
Moreover, by adding laterally these adjacent cells (the four columns or the four of the
lines), we also have 290 (1/3 of the sum of the 12x12 grid).
Thus, we have here exposed in this text how the grids of the Nazca Mandala
seem produced from a deep knowledge of the properties of the magic squares.
The last point that we will address in this text, refers to the double circle circumscribed
in the grid of 8x8, as can be observed in the following figure:

Figure 20

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 Analysis of the Nazca Mandala... Jayro Luna

The circle, or wheel, as we call it, can represented by a sequence of twelve

cells of the 8x8 grid, namely:

8 58 59 5 4 62 63 1

49 15 14 52 53 11 10 56

41 23 22 44 45 19 18 48

32 34 35 29 28 38 39 25

40 26 27 37 36 30 31 33

17 47 46 20 21 43 42 24

9 55 54 12 13 51 50 16

64 2 3 61 60 6 7 57

Figure 21

As the cells are selected, they enter the wheel, the sum of them gives 390 (or
260 +130) and if we want to sum them in groups of 4, alternating one sequence, get 130
for each group. Other options for forming the cells composing the wheel can attempted,
show results with the values (130, 260, 390).
We still have a lot to talk about the Nazca Mandala, for example, about the
several lines that leave the center, including and especially the curved lines that form
rosettes, velica pisces, stars and that from the analysis of cells of the two great superposed
grids (Mercury - 8x8 and 12x12) we can define its origin in relation to the same grids.
And yet, all the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures of the Nazca plateau
(including Palpa) can be understood from the formulation of griffins circumscribed to
Mandala. In this sense, we assume that the Mandala was the first figure to be built on the
site, or at least the first to be planned. But this is a subject for other texts.

4. References:

FARRAR, Mark S. Magic Square. USA, ed. Author, 2007

MASON, Joseph E. The Nazca Sun-Star as the Magic Square of Mercury. Disponvel
em:
http://www.greatdreams.com/numbers/nazca/nazca.htm
LUNA, Jayro. Alguns Apontamentos Semiticos Breves Sobre a Obra Esotrica de
Raji Guenol: Selos de Planetas e Quadrados Mgicos em: Revista Dilogos,
Garanhuns (PE), n. 10, nov. 2013, p. 119-144. Disponvel em:
http://www.revistadialogos.com.br/Dialogos_10/Luna_Guenol_Selos.pdf
NETTESHEIM, Cornelio Agrippa de. Trs Livros de Filosofia Oculta. So Paulo,
Madras, 2012
PASLES, Paul C. Benjamin Franklin's Numbers: An Unsung Mathematical Odyssey.
New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 2003.

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