2012 Mayan Calendar

What does the 2012 Mayan calendar tell us about our future? Did this much revered ancient civilization predict our demise, or will mankind be flipping the calendar to 2013 with ease? Not everyone agrees on what the Mayan 2012 prophesies mean, but their predictions have some people preparing for the end.

This temple is actually a Mayan calendar.

As we begin to close in on the year 2012, there has been an increase in the discussion of the Mayan prophesy regarding that year. Several new books on the subject have even been published, but what is the fuss all about?

At the heart of the debate is a calendar created by the Mayans that lasts for 5,126 years, and then stops abruptly on December 21, 2012. Accompanying the calendar are the writings of a Mayan philosopher named Pacal Votan who said that the world will "transform" on that date, since it marks the end of a 26,000 year period.

Mayans believed that 26,000 years was the length of time one cycle of evolution lasted. In fact, they believed that the world and the history we know, the one that includes their civilization, is actually part of the fourth such evolutionary cycle the Earth has been through.

Words like "transformation" and "evolutionary cycle" are a bit vague, and indeed many people who believe the Mayan prediction do not agree on exactly what they mean. Some people believe that December 21, 2012 will be an "end of times" event. This prediction takes on different names in different belief systems, including the Apocalypse and Judgment Day. To others, this event will be less dramatic. They believe a kind of spiritual awakening will occur or that there will be a redressing of the balance between man and nature.

The one thing everyone agrees on is that the last day of the 2012 Mayan calendar doesn’t indicate that everything will suddenly change on December 21. Rather, they say that there will be a steady build up to the event, one that should be underway right now. This has believers and skeptics alike searching for clues to support their arguments.

People on both sides of the debate about the Mayan 2012 prophecies generally turn to the same set of arguments to bolster their cases. Here are a few commonly argued points from both camps.

• The Mayans are widely regarded to be one of the most advanced ancient civilizations, and they accurately discovered, devised or described mathematic and astronomical facts we still accept today.

• The Mayans are not the only civilization to have settled on the idea of 26,000 years as being a unique point in time, and that December 21, 2012 is the day that marks the end of that period. In fact, a host of Native American tribes, the Egyptians and several other groups have made similar predications.

• Patterns of climate change could be indicators of the slow slide to the evolutionary transformation predicted.

• The Milky Way and the center of the sun will be aligned on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years.

• Past civilizations have left us with many predictions, and historically, none of them have come true. Why should we consider the Mayan predictions to be any different?

• Mayan writings don’t actually predict an end of world event, and scientists believe it would be impossible for them to have understood the alignment of the Milky Way and the Sun without modern technology.

• People have a long history of looking for meaning in certain dates (Y2K anyone?) and they have yet to pan out.

Although anti-global warming campaigners are largely made up of people who base their viewpoint in science, Mayan believers have wholeheartedly embraced their idea of climate change as proof positive of the prediction coming true. The vast majority of the new writings about 2012 and the Mayans cite global warming as a central point, and the idea is capturing the attention of people who take the Mayan predictions as a reminder to be environmentally conscious.

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