2012 and the Mayans
This week seems to be armageddon week on The History Channel, and a common theme is the end of the Mayan calendar at December 21, 2012, 11:11am GMT.
The Mayans used several different calendars for different purposes, but the one being talked about is called the Long Count Calendar which basically divides a 5125 year period into several smaller units. The 5125 year cycle is about 1/5th of the time it takes for the earth to precess one time on its axis; that is, the time to transit all 13 of the Zodiac signs. (Yes, there are 13)1.
Each 5125 years represented an Age of mankind and was built up of smaller units.
A Uinal was a period of 20 days.
18 Uinals made up a Tun or period of 360 days.
20 Tuns were known as a Katun, and was approximately 20 years.
20 Katuns were known as a Baktun, or a period of approximately 394 years.
And finally, 13 Baktuns constituted a Mayan Age of 5125 years.
Now, in our calendar, the year ends on December 31, but that doesn’t mean the world ends just because our calendar does. We simply start over on January 1. Likewise, the end of the Mayan calendar does not mean the sun will not rise on December 22, 2012. The calendar will start over. (There are a lot of myths concerning the end of the age however).
One of the problems with the Mayan calendar was that of correlating it to our modern calendar. That was solved when there was a celestial event consisting of a total eclipse of the sun which was recorded by the Mayans and corresponds to our calendar date of July 6, 790AD. This fixes the relationship between the two calendars such that this current Mayan Age began on August 13, 3114BC.
If the Mayans were correct in equating 5125 years as an identifiable ‘Age’, then history should reflect this as true.
Jose Arguelles wrote:
“August 13, 3113 BC is as precise and accurate as one can get for a beginning of history: the first Egyptian dynasty is dated to ca 3100 BC; the first ‘city,’ Uruk, in Mesopotamia, also ca 3100 BC; the Hindu Kali Yuga, 3102 BC; and most interestingly, the division of time into 24 hours of 60 minutes each and each minute into 60 seconds [and the division of the circle into 360 degrees], also around 3100 BC, in Sumeria. If the beginning of history was so accurately placed, then must not the end of history, December 21, 2012 also be as accurate?”
Notice the discrepancy of one year from 3114 to 3113? This has been a common error stemming from the fact that there was no year zero. 3114 BC is actually the year -3113, but no matter, his observation is accurate.
If the Mayans are right, we should see some evidence that historical periods are reflected in the structure of Mayan timekeeping. Tortuga.com has a good graphic to illustrate the relationship of historical periods to the Mayan calendar.
While I do not know for sure what will happen on Dec 21, 2012; I do know from simple observations that the world is changing fast. Some think we will have a monumental instantaneous lifting of our consciousness, while others think we will be destroyed. Perhaps both are true.