The 2012 Maya phenomenon comprises a range of beliefs which, according to many, will cause cataclysmic or transformative events to occur on December 21, 2012. This date is regarded as the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.
Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae have been proposed as happening on this date, although none have been accepted by mainstream experts.
A New Age interpretation of this transition is that it marks the start of time in which Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world as we know it or a similar catastrophe.
Scenarios suggested for the end of the world include the arrival of the next solar maximum, or Earth’s collision with a black hole, a passing asteroid, or a planet called “Nibiru”.
Scholars from various disciplines have dismissed the idea of such cataclysmic events occurring in 2012. Professional Mayanist scholars state that predictions of impending doom are not found in any of the extant classic Maya accounts, and that the idea that the Long Count calendar “ends” in 2012 misrepresents Maya history and culture. Astronomers and other scientists have rejected the proposed events as pseudoscience, stating they’re contradicted by simple astronomical observations.
Doomsayers foresee doom and destruction, that December 21st 2012 will be the day the Earth will be destroyed. Some think it will be due to nuclear war, some say it will be because it’s biblical judgment day. Even others take the ending of the Maya calendar more literally, and claim the Universe will just cease to exist.
The Maya divided their Long Count into five lumps of time, called Great Cycles. And every cycle had a well defined end. For example, after period number one, a Jaguar came by and ate everyone on Earth..according to the Maya..
The second cycle ended in air, the third in fire, the fourth in flood. And what about the last period, the stretch of time we’re currently in? The Earth will be destroyed by earthquakes, is the interpretation some scholars give to the sketchy remains of the Maya culture.
Actually the Maya’s never predicted anything concrete about 2012. That myth may have originated due to our ignorance of Maya culture. When the Spanish ransacked the land, they burnt literally every Maya book they could find. Only a handful of scriptures survived. And in them, there’s not a clue about what happens when the Maya calendar ends, perhaps that Jaguar in the first cycle ate their homework.
So what awaits in 2012 is open to debate and interpretation, as with so many open questions, countless doom preachers, semi-prophets and other experts have popped up to provide semi coherent answers. The interpretation you hear most, that 2012 will mark the coming of a new, glorious age of wisdom and peace, the Age Of Aquarius at last, with a world full of peace, love and understanding is as good as it gets.
The reasoning behind this is actually not that farcical, The Maya’s didn’t believe in endings, their conception of time was circular, with every end being the beginning of something new. So, 2012 shouldn’t be an exception. The Maya’s had a highly developed philosophy of the cosmos. They saw the cosmos as the true mother of things. Consequently, the Maya’s thought the cosmos is all around us, and within us. Every plant, every animal, every man is sheer Cosmos.
December 21st 2012 may be the day on which this inner cosmos is reconnected to the divine outer cosmos. The Sun will mount its unique position to form a gateway between the Universe and the souls of every living creature on Earth. Our linear conception of time will crumble and with that fear and hatred will vanish. It will be purification at it’s very best, when everyone is soaked in cosmic understanding and divine love.
So there it is: on December 20th, you’ll threaten to kick in your television if your team’s striker fails to hit the target, you’ll yell at your spouse and cheat on cards, or cheat on your wife and yell at the poor hand you’ve been dealt, but the very next day you’ll be calmed down into a peaceful Age of Aquarius sheer Cosmos hippy, with only love and understanding to guide you for the rest of your life. Despite it being bleak mid-winter, it’ll be the summer of love for all humanity..
And what of the IMF prediction, is it equally gloomy, does it predict the end of days for capitalism as we know it, or does it predict a new dawn? Er..well no, it’s esoteric predictions are not quite as universal or as ‘loved-up’. The International Monetary Fund’s forecasts having been leaked, (as usual), ahead of official publication next week make for a grim 2012..
Recession is imminent for the Eurozone given the 0.5% contraction prediction, all that remains is the carefully selected adjectives to be used by the EU commission (by committee and treaty) to describe the recession; feather lite, quiet, whisper, paper thin..?
The IMF slashed its global growth forecast for this year, blaming the eurozone debt crisis. It predicts that the world economy will grow by 3.3% rather than 4% as predicted previously. Italy’s economy is forecast to shrink by 2.2% and Spain’s by 1.7% as their tough austerity measures and weak bank lending plunge the countries into at least two years of recession.
[quote]The global recovery is threatened by the growing tensions in the euro area. The most immediate political challenge is to re-establish confidence and put an end to the euro area crisis, supporting growth.[/quote]
The eurozone as a whole will shrink by 0.5% this year, compared with the IMF’s last forecast of 1.1% growth in September.
So who’ll come closest by December 21st, the Maya or the IMF? Well given that the Maya prediction is an urban myth, in as much as it doesn’t actually exist, it’s not a fair contest. However, the best outcome would be a union between the two; the harmonium of the new age, a dawn of a new realisation by the ‘powers that be’, married with a gentle recession from which the planet and it’s inhabitants could emerge re-energised and begin to flourish and prosper..oh and the renminbi to become tradable..
Well I thought I’d slip that in there as it stands about as much chance of coming true as the IMF or Maya prediction.
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