The “end” of the Mayan Long Count Calendar is nearly upon us! The way I see it, we have two choices. A: buy into the sloppy and pseudo-scientific hype, stock up on canned corn and ammo, and pray that Nick Cage will save us all from the inevitable ancient jungle aliens and solar space volcanoes. Or B: do a little research, learn some cool new facts about how the universe really works, and maybe cut down on the T.V. time. If option B sounds more like your style, here’s a list to get you started.
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Mayan Doomsday Prophecy
First of all, the Mayan calendar doesn’t ‘end’ in 2012, despite many claims to the contrary. Most archeologists agree that the ancients never viewed this year as the end of the world. “It’s the time when the largest grand cycle in the Mayan calendar – 1,872,000 days or 5,125.37 years – overturns, and a new cycle begins,” said Anthony Aveni, a Maya expert and archeo-astronomer from New York.
The Maya believed that the dawn of our current creation cycle began in August 11, 3114 B.C, and they recorded this date as Day Zero (even though it preceded their civilization by thousands of years). This December, the era will come to an end. The complex, cyclical calendar will roll over again to Day Zero, beginning another long cycle, just as it has before.
