We are well aware of the complexity and accuracy of the calendar created by the great civilization of Maya, flourishing between 300 AD and 900 AD in Mesoamerica. The calendar consists of three separate calendars of days, weeks and years, used in combination to link earthly, lunar, solar and galactic cycles. While we remain in awe of the many achievements of the Maya, we must give pause when searching from antiquity for wisdom of our future.
The Prediction of the Mayan Calendar
That the Mayan Calendar "ends" on December 21, 2012 is a myth. Rather, a 5,200-year Age of the 4th Sun ends, and a new era of the same length begins the next Great Cycle. The calendar will be reset for a new Age. The Maya have predicted that on this date, Earth's positions in the heavens will shift, astrologically, from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius.
These predictions also correspond with dates from the Bible, the Torah, ancient Egypt and Greece, and other Sun Kingdoms of the Americas, with only as little as a 100-year occasional difference in some of the texts.
New Age Predictions
Today, people have offered their own predictions for the end of the world based on the "end" of the Mayan calendar. Theories of the planet Nibiru, or some other large Planet X, colliding with the Earth are popular, along with the normal host of cataclysmic occurrences. People, and entire countries, are scared into preparing for survival of 2012. Anticipation of extreme war, super volcanoes, earthquakes, meteors, disease and global warming have caused some countries to start building underground bunkers, and people are already being inoculated against the many diseases they may contract while trying to survive in Africa.
NASA Predicitons
The date of the foretold "doomsday," is the date of the winter solstice of 2012. The sun will be aligned with the center of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic for the first time in nearly 26,000 years. However, according to NASA Astrobiologist David Morrison, this alignment evokes curiosity but does not mean the magnetic or gravitational poles of the Earth will change, or cause harm. What normally occurs during every winter solstice will again be seen in 2012. Furthermore, he says, there is no threat from the fictional Nibiru or any other large body of matter coming toward the Earth. Evidence would have been noted by satellites for the last decade, and by now would be visible to the naked eye.
Plan for the Future
Survival kits are handy to have in case of any unforeseen emergency, but as for surviving 2012, plan for 2013 and beyond. According to the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, one of the greatest days the Mayans had planned was the commemoration of the accession of the remarkable Palenque ruler K'inich Janaab' Pakal (July 27, 615 AD) to be held on October 21 in the year 4772. Historians believe that in addition to the beginning of a new Age, the Mayans were preparing for an opportunity for worldwide human enlightenment and spiritual transformation.
Reference: Ancient Long Count Mayan Calendar, accessed October 12, 2010.
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