21st December 2012 End of the world?
Will 21st December 2012 be a defining date in time? Are three years all we have or are we falling for another doomsday hoax? In the following pages Anu Gulmohar brings you the convictions of the scholars, scientists and seers…

Dr Synthia Andrews gets us up-to-date with the Mayan Calendar…

You may have heard that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012. Who decided this and where did the idea come from? The answer lies 2,000 years ago in the jungles of the Yucatan where the culture of the Maya flourished. Living in highly developed communities amongst pyramids and palaces, the Maya were some of the most advanced astronomers of the ancient world. Without telescopes or modern equipment they observed the movement of planets, the Milky Way and other galaxies, and understood advanced astronomical concepts. They calculated the true length of the year (365.2425 days), the precession of the equinox (25,630 years), and the eccentricity cycle of the earth’s orbit (100,000 years), to name a few of their accomplishments. They were extraordinary mathematicians, architects and timekeepers. According to the Mayan calendar, time is running out. The calendar of the current period ends on December 21, 2012.

The debate as to what this means rages. To the Maya, the end of one calendar marks the end of a particular cycle and the beginning of the next. What makes the end of this calendar cycle different is that more than one cycle and more than one calendar are coming to an end. The Maya maintained a series of calendars tracking different astronomical cycles and on December 21, 2012, several events coincide. First, the 5,126 year Long Count calendar ends, marking the completion of a Great Cycle. Five Great Cycles equals a Grand Cycle of 25,630 years, marking a full progression through the precession of the equinox. A Grand Cycle was known to the Maya as an “Age” or “World.” In 2012, both a Great Cycle and a Grand Cycle come to close marking the end of a Mayan “World.” Hence, the mistaken belief that the world is ending. Second, approximately every 26,000 years the solar system crosses the equatorial plane of the galaxy, aligning us with the centre of the Milky Way. According to John Major Jenkins our solar system is currently crossing the plane of the Milky Way, a process that takes about 36 years. On Dec 21, 2012, as the Great Cycle ends, we will be in alignment with the centre of the galaxy. Third, an amazing alignment occurs in the sky on this date between Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn under the constellation of the Winged Horse. One has to wonder how the Maya knew of these events when they created their calendar.

While this isn’t true that the world is ending, it is an extremely significant time where the world as we know may change beyond recognition. The end of one Age marks the beginning of a new Age. We are in that transition now; the old is being destroyed and replaced with the new. The Katun prophecy in the Mayan holy book, the Chilam Balam, describes the old leaving through upheavals in social structures and environmental stress. Socially, the Katun predicts economic collapse, loss of faith in governments, starvation, riots and loss of faith in religion.

Environmentally, it predicts pestilence, plague, and an increase in the intensity of volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and hurricanes.

Not all, however, is cataclysmic. There is light in the predictions of the new world to come. The Maya believed the centre of the Milky Way is the home of Hunab’ ku, or the creator. It’s said the alignment of the solar system with the Hunab’ku will bring an influx of spiritual energy to the planet. The new Age will be the “Golden Age,” a time of shifting paradigms where science and religion both become more focused on advancing human consciousness. It’s a time when people have better access to innate human spiritual ability and are awaken to self-realisation. It is claimed that there will be transparency in governments and institutions and the advent of leaders we can trust.

Not all the researchers agree that the Mayan Long Count calendar ends in 2012, a date that was determined by archaeologists deciphering glyphs on stele and monuments. Some researchers, like Carl Johan Calleman, believe the actual end of the Long Count will happen in October of 2011. The only people who really know are the Mayan day keepers who are still alive today. Today’s Mayan elders are soon to reveal five additional calendars that may shed light on the change underway.

The Mayan prophecies are fascinating, but should we believe them? One reason you might want to is the accuracy of the Maya’s astronomical data. Their calculations of alignments, cycles, and celestial events rival today’s computer calculations. As the Hubble Space Telescope is sending more pictures of galaxies back to earth, NASA is only now able to confirm astronomical observations of the ancient Maya. If they could see this far out into space and this far into the future, couldn’t they be correct in their predictions?

However, the main reason people are taking the 2012 predictions seriously is because they are proving extremely accurate. Today’s headlines reveal a world in chaos as the world economy collapses, social structures are stressed and in some places people are fighting for food. Climate change may provide the mechanism for intensifying storms, tsunamis and earthquakes as well as pestilence and plagues.

The message of the Mayan calendar may well be to let go of all that is not working in our current paradigm and to create the world we want to live in; one based on truth, justice and peace between all the people.

          

	Comments
	JAIDEEP CHATTERJEE From DURGAPORE-- 2/3/2010 8 ARINDAM,PRASOON,PRASHANTO!! EVEN IF THIS IS TRUE THEN HOW COULD I READ AND WRITE FOR MY FAVOURITE JOURNAL THE SUNDAY INDIAN??

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