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The solar eclipse is indeed a momentous, or at least visually
entertaining and curious happening in astrology.
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Astronomer Martin Meinshausen claimed that the Dresden Codex,
a Mayan manuscript, contained recordings of lunar and solar
eclipses.
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The Dresden Codex was for the Mayans a way to predict eclipses.
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\noindent
{\it Sample Paragraph}
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From what we have seen concerning this section of the 
Dresden Codex, it seems likely that Martin Meinshausen
proposed that this data was related to the timing of
series of solar or lunar eclipses.  Our current understanding
of the motions of the sun, earth, and moon shows that after 
the first eclipse in a series, subsequent eclipses can follow 
at periods of 6 lunar months, approximately 177 or 178 days.  
At the end of a series of eclipses, a final interval of 5 
lunar months, or approximately 148 days, may occur between 
the last two.  The occurrences of exactly these numbers
177 and 148 in the Dresden Codex is the strongest evidence
for this interpretation.  The lists of three consecutive
day names in the 260-day Sacred Round of the Mayan calendar
occurring above these numbers may indicate dates on which
actual eclipses occurred in the past, or give patterns for 
predicting future eclipses. 
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