The Mayan Prophecy and Doomsday 2012
Does the Mayan Calendar Prophesy the End of the World?
Nov 14, 2009
The movie 2012 has spurred tremendous interest in modern doomsday theories. Why are so many people talking about 2012, and what can the world expect? Did the ancient Maya, advanced in timekeeping and astronomy, leave behind hidden wisdom still buried deep within the dense jungles of the Yucatán? Are their secrets being revealed to humanity in this generation as a warning, an omen of doom to come? Or is the Mayan prophecy just a grand cosmic hoax?
What's the Big Deal About 2012?
The reason for all the speculation and doomsday talk is simple, if not somewhat eerie: the Mayan calendar suddenly and abruptly ends on Winter Solstice, December 21, 2012, and nobody knows why. Even with modern advances in science, technology, and archaeology, not even the most respected Mesoamerican scholar has understood why ancient Mayans ended their calendar on this date.
The prophecy from this ancient culture would be wholly insignificant had their system of timekeeping been proven inaccurate. Yet the Mayan calendar is recognized as one of the most complex and accurate records of timekeeping in world history, rivaling even our own Gregorian calendar.
Did the ancient Maya purposefully choose December 21, 2012 as the date for the end of the world? Does time literally stop on this date? Did they foresee global cataclysm, as so many are predicting? Or did they prophesy a more positive event – a shift into an entirely new paradigm of raised human consciousness, a new spirituality, the opening of a new dimension, or perhaps even the ability to travel through time?
2012: Doom or Enlightenment?
Popular media including The History Channel has aired numerous programs highlighting the Mayan prophecy. Talk of galactic alignments, Planet X/Nibiru, pole shifts, floods, earthquakes, UFOs, alien invasions, interdimensional shifts, cosmic rays, solar flares, mass extinctions, black holes, supernovae, pandemics, and Bible prophecy has crossed over from fringe New Age beliefs to the broader population.
So what happens in December 2012? Should spooked citizens begin reading survivalist books, constructing concrete safety shelters in backyards and basements, and stocking pantries with food? Or does “doomsday” arrive not with global mass extinction, but rather in the form of a great spiritual awakening?
On his official website, How to Survive 2012, Patrick Geryl is unapologetically alarmist regarding the events of 2012. Zechariah Sitchin believes the mythical planet Nibiru will strike Earth causing pole shift, death, and destruction. Michael Drosnin believes the planet is doomed unless humanity heeds the warnings predicted in the Bible code.
Yet at the same time, others believe the Mayan prophecy ushers in a new age of enlightenment. Daniel Pinchbeck believes this glorious new era is symbolized by the mythological return of the Mesoamerican Feather-Serpent god Quetzalcoatl. John Major Jenkins sees a “spiritual mitosis,” a period of raised human consciousness. José Argüelles believes a new interstellar solar age, a harmonic convergence, psychically beams earthlings into the cosmos and beyond.
The movie 2012 clearly presents the doomsday view. So who is right, the doomsayers or the enlightenment camp? The hard archaeological evidence for any major event to occur based on the Mayan prophecy is scant. Yet many are convinced that Nibiru, pole shift, sudden weather changes, earthquakes, superstorms, comet strikes, solar storms, and a 26,000-year great galactic alignment conspicuously effects the human race.
Everyone has their theories regarding the Mayan prophecy. Maybe it’s the end of the world; or maybe it marks a brand new beginning. Or, like the hype surrounding the year 2000 and the Y2K computer bug, presumably life will go on as usual on December 22, 2012.
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