12-21-2012 - Are We Doomed?
Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:45 am
According to their calendar, the Maya believed that their world would end on Dec 21, 2012. Of all the dates put forth by prophets and cultures for a doomsday, this is one with an authentic almost eerie feel to it. But what will happen?
A Mayan date utilises three calendars. The third calendar, known as the "long count", is a continuous record of days that starts over every 5000 years or so. The current Long Count began in 3114 BC. And it will end very soon.
A typical Mayan date looks like this:
12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi 4 Zotz
4 Zotz is the Haab date.
3 Cimi is the Tzolkin date.
12.18.16.2.6 is the Long Count date.
The basic unit is the kin (day), which is the last component of the Long Count. Going from right to left the remaining components are:
unial........1 unial = 20 kin = 20 days
tun..........1 tun = 18 unial = 360 days = approx. 1 year
katun.......1 katun = 20 tun = 7,200 days = approx. 20 years
baktun.....1 baktun = 20 katun = 144,000 days = approx. 394 years
The kin, tun, and katun are numbered from 0 to 19.
The unial are numbered from 0 to 17.
The baktun are numbered from 1 to 13.
The Long Count is a great cycle of 13 baktuns (roughly 5,126 years), where the use of 13 may again represent the growth of the moon from new to full. The current cycle began on 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku which correlates to Aug. 13, 3114 BC.
The I Ching, which is composed of 64 hexagrams, or six-line figures. It struck them that 6 x 64 = 384, which is exceptionally close to the number of days in 13 lunar months (29.5306 x 13 = 383.8978), and that maybe the I Ching was originally an ancient Chinese calendar. Further multiples had astronomical significance:
1 day x 64
x 6
= 384 days
= 13 lunar months
384 days
x 64
= 67 years, 104.25 days
= 6 minor sunspot cycles (11.2 years each)
67 years, 104.25 days
x 64
= 4306+ years
= 2 Zodiacal ages
4306+ years
x 6
= 25836 years
= 1 precession of the equinoxes
2012 minus 67 years = 1945, a year of great change
2012 minus 4,300 years (67x64) = 2300 BC, the beginning of historical time
2012 minus 275,000 years (4300 x 64) = the emergence of Homo sapiens
2012 minus 18 million years (275,000 x 64) = the height of the age of mammals
2012 minus 1.3 billion years = the beginning of life on our planet
Ancient cultures recognised four major dates within each year: the two solstices (when days are at their longest or shortest) and the two equinoxes (when the lengths of day and night are equal). They could tell when these dates were approaching by watching which stars were on the horizon at sunrise and sunset, and where they were relative to the sun. If you watched for long enough, for hundreds of years, then it became apparent that the stars were moving slightly out of position each year. The star that was due east at the winter solstice sunset 70 years ago is one degree out today. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 190-120 BC) is widely acknowledged as the discoverer of the precession of the equinoxes, yet the ancient Egyptians and Maya were also aware of it.
Our galaxy has a centre which all the stars take millions of years to revolve around, and it is located in the starriest part of the Milky Way, as seen from Earth. On four occasions within the 25,800-year cycle our galactic centre aligns with the sunrise of a solstice or equinox. The last time it occurred was on a fall equinox 6,450 years ago, approximately the dawn of Old World civilisations. On Dec 21, 2012, which is a winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere) this centre will align with our sun once more.
Reality or Conspiracy Theory?
A Mayan date utilises three calendars. The third calendar, known as the "long count", is a continuous record of days that starts over every 5000 years or so. The current Long Count began in 3114 BC. And it will end very soon.
A typical Mayan date looks like this:
12.18.16.2.6, 3 Cimi 4 Zotz
4 Zotz is the Haab date.
3 Cimi is the Tzolkin date.
12.18.16.2.6 is the Long Count date.
The basic unit is the kin (day), which is the last component of the Long Count. Going from right to left the remaining components are:
unial........1 unial = 20 kin = 20 days
tun..........1 tun = 18 unial = 360 days = approx. 1 year
katun.......1 katun = 20 tun = 7,200 days = approx. 20 years
baktun.....1 baktun = 20 katun = 144,000 days = approx. 394 years
The kin, tun, and katun are numbered from 0 to 19.
The unial are numbered from 0 to 17.
The baktun are numbered from 1 to 13.
The Long Count is a great cycle of 13 baktuns (roughly 5,126 years), where the use of 13 may again represent the growth of the moon from new to full. The current cycle began on 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku which correlates to Aug. 13, 3114 BC.
The I Ching, which is composed of 64 hexagrams, or six-line figures. It struck them that 6 x 64 = 384, which is exceptionally close to the number of days in 13 lunar months (29.5306 x 13 = 383.8978), and that maybe the I Ching was originally an ancient Chinese calendar. Further multiples had astronomical significance:
1 day x 64
x 6
= 384 days
= 13 lunar months
384 days
x 64
= 67 years, 104.25 days
= 6 minor sunspot cycles (11.2 years each)
67 years, 104.25 days
x 64
= 4306+ years
= 2 Zodiacal ages
4306+ years
x 6
= 25836 years
= 1 precession of the equinoxes
2012 minus 67 years = 1945, a year of great change
2012 minus 4,300 years (67x64) = 2300 BC, the beginning of historical time
2012 minus 275,000 years (4300 x 64) = the emergence of Homo sapiens
2012 minus 18 million years (275,000 x 64) = the height of the age of mammals
2012 minus 1.3 billion years = the beginning of life on our planet
Ancient cultures recognised four major dates within each year: the two solstices (when days are at their longest or shortest) and the two equinoxes (when the lengths of day and night are equal). They could tell when these dates were approaching by watching which stars were on the horizon at sunrise and sunset, and where they were relative to the sun. If you watched for long enough, for hundreds of years, then it became apparent that the stars were moving slightly out of position each year. The star that was due east at the winter solstice sunset 70 years ago is one degree out today. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 190-120 BC) is widely acknowledged as the discoverer of the precession of the equinoxes, yet the ancient Egyptians and Maya were also aware of it.
Our galaxy has a centre which all the stars take millions of years to revolve around, and it is located in the starriest part of the Milky Way, as seen from Earth. On four occasions within the 25,800-year cycle our galactic centre aligns with the sunrise of a solstice or equinox. The last time it occurred was on a fall equinox 6,450 years ago, approximately the dawn of Old World civilisations. On Dec 21, 2012, which is a winter solstice (Northern Hemisphere) this centre will align with our sun once more.
Reality or Conspiracy Theory?