Yet the story of how an aging academic found meaning and joy through a belief system that time nearly forgot - a system trampled beneath the hooves of gold-crazed invaders - is the stuff of legends. And it's true.

"Belief is not a concept in scientific inquiry," said Holmer, an avid skier and fly-fisherman who served in Vietnam and has taught at ISU for more than 20 years. "You either accept or reject based on the evidence."

But isn't there a touch of redemption that accompanies acceptance?

In 1973, Holmer spent a summer in the highlands of Central Mexico after his first year of graduate school. While there, he met a traditional Aztec calendar keeper, one of the last of a line of priests who were routinely burned at the stake during the Spanish colonization.

The young student and the old man spent days discussing the intricacies of the Aztec calendar, a complex spiritual code based on the interplay of deities and the natural world.

"He told me a whole lot of things that nobody really knew," Holmer said. "He said, 'Don't try to go back into the minds of the ancient Aztecs or you'll go crazy. Look around yourself at the political leaders and the criminals, find out their birthdays, and you'll see what it means.'"

During the next 30 years, Holmer immersed himself in work, but never forgot the experience. Now nearing the end of his career, he said the death of several friends and family members prompted him to write the book he'd long dreamed about.

"I thought if I don't start doing this stuff I've always intended to do, I'm never going to get it done." Holmer said.

Earlier this month after finishing teaching a class, Holmer found a message waiting for him on his phone: The book had been released. Somewhere out there, two copies had already been sold.

Holmer's book, "The Aztec Book of Destiny," details how the date an individual was born was, and still is, used by cultures such as the Aztec, Toltec and Maya to determine personality and fate.

It's an idea some might scoff at, but after entering 37,000 historical figures into a computer database and analyzing the results, Holmer found striking results.

The Dalai Lama, for example, shows great potential for religious leadership. Elvis Presley, on the other hand, possesses a creative flair but tends dangerously toward drug and alcohol abuse.

"I don't necessarily believe it, but I accept they were onto something," Holmer said. "This is a lot like astrology, but it doesn't have anything to do with the planets."

"Everybody knows, theoretically, what their strengths and weaknesses are and their vulnerabilities."

Holmer said the Aztecs, a powerful empire that dominated Central Mexico until the conquistador Hernán Cortés arrived in 1519, thought all objects had a spiritual component.

In their minds, each day had a spiritual force compelling it.

"The first thing that happens when you're born is you absorb this spiritual energy and you carry it until the day you die," Holmer explained.

The problem was, after 30 years in academia, Holmer felt he had largely forgotten how to write effectively.

He started poring over newspapers, magazines and the books of Dan Brown and Mitch Albom in order to rejuvenate his creative verve.

"I've become convinced I wrote better as a college junior or senior than I have ever since," Holmer said. "I think a lot of times academics don't even talk in real English. I started reading historical novels and thinking differently."

Holmer hopes to write four more books, but for now he's satisfied bringing to light the words of one of the last Aztec calendar keepers. After that summer in 1973, he never saw the old man again.

"The last time I saw him I said I would like to come back next summer," he said. "But it was clear to me he was saying good-bye and I began to realize that."

"One of the reasons we study anthropology is to take us out of our little world," Holmer continued. "I really wanted to try to undermine racism and ethnocentrism."

"We all develop our own approaches and they are all extremely creative."

An individual born on March 4, 1980, would be classified as a 10 Flower or "Matlactli Xochitl" in Aztec. He, like all others, would have a shadow soul, a spirit soul and an aura soul, and a deity for each one.

In Holmer's book, each person is rated on their potential in art, music, theater, literature, religion, politics, business, science, and sports.

Unlike the traditional Western calendar, the Aztec calendar doesn't rotate around the seasons, but encompasses 260 days, the average human gestation period.

The book is published by BookSurge, an amazon.com company, and is available online and, Holmer hopes, at area bookstores.