I would like to consider myself a semi-expert on ancient Mayan culture. It is what I went to school for and what I like to read about constantly in books, online articles, magazines, etc.
Like many of my friends and colleagues, maybe even some of you constant internet visitors, I am quite sick of reading about the "Mayan Apocalypse" and how we are all going to die in some sort of Christian like end of days time. The Mayan religion says nothing of the sort; what is currently believed by most people (end of days) is purely a misinterpretation of a calendar. For example, we don't go crazy on January 31st every year just because our calendar ends, right? The Mayan calendar just happens to be 144,000 days long (aka Long Count) during this particular cycle (Bak'tun).
Here is an excerpt from the Archaeology November/December 2012 issue. I think this will help clarify and explain the basics concerning this time in the Maya religion.
“2012 marks the completion of a cycle of 13 Bak’tuns,
corresponding to 5,125 years and its meaning is fundamental in Maya
mythology. Rather than marking the end
of a period, 2012 represents the BEGINNING of a new era given that calendric
cycle changes are an opportunity for positive renewal, according to Maya
philosophy…
13 Bak’ tun
On December 21, 2012 we’ll celebrate the end of the Oxlajuj
B’a’tun or 13 Bak’tun and the start of a new era that should be seen as an
opportunity for positive renewal to generate changes in our society and human
nature in general. This is the Maya
philosophy and is based on the knowledge and interpretation of the legacy left
by the ancient Maya in their calendars.
Measuring time has always been central in Maya
Cosmology. The Long Count was one of the
calendars bused by the ancient Maya, especially to record important historical
events. This time measuring system
consists of counting the days from an initial date or <<year
zero>>, measured according to five periods (K>in, Winal, Tun,
K>atun and Bak’tun) based on a vigesimal system. The greatest period, the Bak’tun, consists of
144,000 days.
The initial date of the Long Count was recorded by the Maya
in several monuments…The date was not recorded as 0.0.0.0.0, but as 13.0.0.0.0,
and corresponds to day 4 Ajaw on the Tzolkin Calendar and 8 Kumk>u on the
Solar Calendar or Ja’ab. According to
the inscription at Quirigua, the initial event of the Long Count can be
interpreted as a creation, expressed metaphorically as the positioning of three
scared stones by a pair of creator gods.
The fact that the starting date is 13.0.0.0.0 indicates that
this is, at the same time, the date when a previous cycle ended. From this data, the Long Count is then
considered to be the measurement of cycles of 13 Bak’tuns, ie 1,872,000 days
(5,125.26 Gregorian years). The end of the
cycle that began on August 11, 3114 BC, will be December 21, 2012, which in
Maya connotation is 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ajaw 13 Kankin…
Much has been said about the end of this cycle, once it
reaches the 13 Bak’tun, often with an apocalyptic connotation. However, for the ancient Maya this didn’t
represent the end of the Long Count or the end of the world. This can be proven by the nature of
interpretations of the Tortuguero monument and by two inscriptions Cobá, which
recorded Long Count dates far greater than the cycle of 13 Bak’tuns.
The 13 Bak’tun is not to be confused with the catastrophes
of other Mesoamerican cultures’ mythologies, such as the <<Era of the
Suns>> of the Aztecs or the failed creations narrated in the Popol
Vuh. Either way, the meaning of these
myths is not focused on disasters that wiped out humanity, but in the social
and spiritual transformations, that occurred.”
- Credits Counterpart
International, Archaeology November/December 2012.
So to summarize - no apocalypse. It is like an ascension to a higher plane of existence, but consciously not on a subconscious level. I've read somewhere that the Mayans believe that everyone in the world will awaken to this new consciousness, and honestly it is something that I hope for. People need enlightenment and need to be more open minded, but also realize that it will take hard work in order to get there...anyway before I go off on a tangent, I just thought I should tell people whats up, and hopefully not too many people will go bat-shit-crazy on the 21st.
