XMS and Genetic Code

German medical scientist Dr. Martin Schönberger is attributed with the initial observation that the 64 hexagrams of the genetic code are analogous to the 64 codons of the DNA genetic code.  His book, I Ching and the Genetic Code: The Hidden Key to Life, is regarded as the inaugural work on this topic.
 Other authors have convincingly discussed the similarity between the I Ching and the genetic code, including Steve Krakowski, whose work borrowed from Schönberger's, as well as Mark White M.D. Both these authors' work is cited by the current author.
Krakowski's work seeks to integrate Hebrew language, 22 Tarot trumps, genetic code, and I Ching.  Dr. White's introduction of "dodecahedral language" brings the discussion squarely into the realm of tangible objects by mapping the 64 hexagrams onto the twelve-faceted, twenty-verticed Platonic solid lovingly-called a "12-tope." 

xiantian magic square

The figure at right poses a comparison between the XMS (xiantian magic square, at right), and the tzolkin calendar (lower right) of the Maya. The author holds that there is a deep connection between these two objects, and uses math and art in his work to promote said thesis.

The XMS is a particular arrangement of the 64 hexagrams on the 8x8 grid whereby any hexagram is mated to its complementary opposite located at 180 degrees of rotation.  Each hexagram on the grid is both indexed, and assigned a scalar value; the scalar values of complementary pairs sum to 65.  This relationship is also proven by the fact that when the hexagrams are rendered into their numerical equivalents, all rows, columns, and main diagonals sum to 4 * 65 = 260.  The latter number is emblematic of the tzolkin calendar of the Maya people.

Arguelles and "His" Tzolkin

The 260-day tzolkin (at right) is displayed as a 13x20 grid with a highlighted subset of 52 days identified by Tony Shearer as galactic "portal days" or by Jose Arguelles as the "Loom of the Maya."  [The author is seeking/awaiting an detailed account of their derivation].  Arguelles' greatest achievement, arguably, was the popularization of Mayan calendrics.  This was also his greatest folly as well, since his efforts -- even post-mortem -- have taken on the trappings of new-age religion.  Nonetheless, Arguelles was possessed of a peculiar spiritual intuition which makes the current author reluctant to throw out the bathwater for fear that the baby may still be in it.  References to the Loom of the Maya viz. tzolk'in often involves references to DNA or the genetic code.  The pattern formed by the portal days is held by some to resemble the helical shape of DNA.  The following passage is from a site that promotes Arguelles' work:

This form of the Tzolkin as the "Harmonic Module," (shown above), inclusive of the 52 shaded squares which form what is called the "Loom of the Maya," is based on Dr. Jose Arguelles' presentation in The Mayan Factor, and is distinct from the form of the Tzolkin as taught and followed by the Quiche Maya of Guatemala. For instance, the 52-unit loom is a bi-lateral symmetry pattern which reflects the basic pattern of our DNA double helix, and was passed down from a secret lineage of Yucatec Mayan shamans, received and revealed by the works of Dr. Jose Arguelles. Integrating the galactic code of light into the genetic code of life, this "portal" formation is a resonant structure linked to the activation of our full DNA potential. Find out when these galactic activation portal days occur, and receive indepth descriptions of the 13 Tones of Creation and the 20 Solar Seals by utilizing the 13-Moon Natural Time Calendar.

So, while the Arguelles camp appears to recognize a connection between time and inner space (body its subtler structures), no evidences are offered to ground its bold assertions.

DETAILING the XMS and SUBSTANTIATING its RELATION to GENETIC CODE

The colored partitions of the XMS grid originate from a simple mathematical transform of the hexagrams that assigns a yao-number to each.  [The origin of the concept of yao-numbers is discussed in greater detail elsewhere; suffices it to say, they were not invented by the author.]  

Yao-groups and Yao-numbers

Yao-numbers range from 144 (hexagram #2, all YIN) to 216 (hexagram #1, all YANG), with intervals of 12 between the seven groupings.  The midpoint of the yao-number scale is found at 180.    
Yao-numbers measure the YIN- or YANG-ness of an hexagram on a continuum.  Thus, the 22 YIN-dominant hexagrams (having yao-numbers less than 180) are red-colored, while the 22 YANG-dominant hexagrams (having yao-numbers greater than 180) are blue-colored.  The remaining 20 hexagrams that are balanced in terms of YIN and YANG (yao-number 180) are white-colored; they also divide the grid in half.

While the similarity of the figures formed by the 20 white-colored cells and that of the 52 portal days forming the Loom of the Maya is superficial and debatable, what is less-debatable is that the 20 white-colored cells partition the grid into 22 pairs, curiously identical to the number of human autosomes, which are indistinguishable by sex.  The uncounted (23rd) pair of human chromosomes is responsible for sex-differentiation, and is necessarily different between males and females.  
The white-colored group of 20 hexagrams is fairly representative of the 20 essential amino acids of the human genome.

Thus, in a single diagram we have represented salient characteristics of the genetic code:

22 yang hexagrams <==> 22 chromosomes contributed by the male
22 yin hexagrams <==> 22 chromosomes contributed by the female
20 neutral hexagrams <==> 20 essential amino acids
An admittedly-vague helical or chromosomal shape

The analogy seems fairly solid so far; Argulles, we're not done with you just yet.