Mayan Prophecy December 21, 2012

Rassia

 Many people had the belief that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. One reason that many human beings believed this is because they misinterpreted a date on the Mayan Calendar.The specific date of December 21, 2012 had a specific meaning,which many experts believed was the end of one cycle and the beginning of a new one, for the Mayans. Some believed that the world was going to end. Others believed that the world would turn into total chaos, and some even believed that Jesus Christ was going to return on this date. However, many people did not understand how to read the calendar correctly, so they got the wrong meaning for this date.

As Chris Holly mentions in his article“2012: The Mayans and Other Strange Predictions of Our Time”, there is no one person on planet Earth that can fully explain the Mayan calendar. He explains that even scientist could not explain the meaning of this date on the Mayan Calendar. He also states that many scientists thought that the interpretations of this date were blown out of context and proportion due to the lack of knowledge of how to read the Mayan Calendar.  Others found the fact that many people thought that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012 to be quite comical. Rich Deem is one of these people. He even creates and article, “The Real 2012 Prophecy: Mayans, Nostradamus, and Planet X, Oh My!”,giving his satirical thoughts of what this particular date meant (Deem).
Even though these thoughts seem comical now, we have to look at it from the perspective of when these thoughts were wondering through our heads back in 2012. If the millions of people who really thought that the world was going to end had been thinking logically, they would have realized that no living person on Earth can predict the date of the world’s destruction. Many people argued that many of the signs that were in the Bible either were happening or had already happened. However, the Bible also states that the return of Jesus Christ, thus the world’s end, could not be predicted by any person on Earth.
Some people who thought that the world was supposed to end on December 21, 2012 still believe that this belief is true. However, if they use basic critical thinking skills, they would realize that this obviously is not true, because the world is still revolving today. With this being said, many people should make sure that they completely understand the material that they are reading before they announce publically their wrong beliefs. Had someone who knew how to read the Mayan Calendar correctly and to the fullest, many people would not have panicked about the world ending on December 21, 2012, and that could have saved a lot of people from suffering from the decisions that they made from believing this false fact.
Works cited:
 Deem, Rich. “The Real 2012 Prophecy: Mayans, Nostradamus, and Planet X, Oh My!”. Godandscience.org. 20 January 2012. Web. 3 October 2015. This article is satirical. The purpose of this article make fun of the crazy assumption that the world would end on December 21, 2012. This source is unique because not only does it make fun of this assumption, but it also gives the real explanation of this date. This source is helpful because it explains the meaning of this date. The audience for this article is the general public.  As written on the satirical website, the audience for this article is anyone who thought that the world was going to end on December 21, 2012.

Grant, R. Jeffrey.  2012 Doomsday with Pyramid. Photograph. Rapture Forums. Rapture Forums, 2015. Web. 15 October 2015

Holly, Chris. “2012: The Mayans and Other Strange Predictions of Our Time”. Decmeber212012.com. 21 December 2012. Web. 30 September 2015. This article talks about the many beliefs that people had about this date and why they are incorrect. The purpose of this article is to explain the false assumptions and give the true meaning of this date. This source is unique because it both explains common mistakes and the true meaning of the date. This source is helpful because it explains why these assumptions were wrong. The audience for this article is the general public. As written on this satirical website, the audience for this website is anyone who would like to know the true meaning of this date on the Mayan Calendar.

Links for further research:
Evidence for Godhttp://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/2012_prophecy_review.html
This article is satirical, so the information that it provides is what others thought this date meant on the Mayan Calendar, and what the author thought (playfully) this date meant.

December212012.comhttp://www.december212012.com/articles/mayan/2012-The_Mayans_and_Other_Strange_Predictions_of_Our_Time.htm
This article talks about the many beliefs that people had about December 21, 2012, and why these assumptions were incorrect.

Chiron Communicationshttp://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tzolkinmaya/esp_tzolkinmaya09.htm
This article talks about why only Mayan experts are able to interpret the Mayan calendars, and not anyone else. 

Mayan Prophecy: The End Is Here

Author: Jacob Robertson

It is our last year on Earth! Don’t worry about what you eat, skip that day at the gym, go buy that dream car you have always wanted! The world is going to end December 21, 2012! Well... at least according the Mayans “Long Count” Calendar it is. This calendar is a cyclic calendar, which means the calendar starts a new cycle when one has ended. For the long count calendar, this cycle was named the “Grand Cycle.” This cycle is believed to last approximately 2,880,000 days long. With the start date being on August 11, 3114 BC, that would make the final day of the cycle land on December 21, 2012. Making many believe that the end of the cycle means the end of the world as we know it (“How Does the Mayan Calendar Work?.”) 

Ancient Mayan Long Count Calendar

There are many different theories of what will happen on this date. Some believe the world would end with a terrible natural disaster. Such as a worldwide earthquake, tidal wave, or a huge volcanic eruption. Others believe that the earth will collide with a “Planet X” causing magnetic poles to shift, reverse of gravitational pulls, or our entire solar system getting sucked into a giant black hole (December 21,2012). Since the “Grand Cycle” on the long count calendar ends on December 21,2012. This is the cause of many people believing that the Mayans predicted the end of the world.

According to Dr. John Carlson, Director of the Center for Archeoastronomy at NASA, the whole entire “Prophecy” is a misconception. The Mayan calendar does not end on December 21,2012, and there were no prophecies made by the Mayans about the end of the world. The Mayans were a flourishing civilization. They mastered astrology and created their own written language. Most impressive to Carlson was their expansive sense of time. To keep track of such long intervals of time the Mayans created the “Long Count” calendar, which is the most complex calendar system ever developed. The Mayan theologist believed the world was created August 11, 3114 BC. Making the start of the calendar look like “130000.” On December 21, 2012 the Mayan calendar would read the exact same way. By Mayan scholar terminology this time period passed is 13 “Bak’tuns.” Which is significant interval in Mayan theology, but not a destructive one. He says no artifacts found of the ancient Mayan civilization have anything leading to a prophecy of the end of the world (NASA).

Some believe that this year, the world will end in horrible fashion. Others say the world will not end, that it is all a misconception of information. Which side do you believe? Will the world really end on December 21, 2012? I guess we will all have to wait until the day comes to see for ourselves. 


Work Cited: 

“Beyond 2012: Why the World Didn’t End.” NASA.com, 22 Dec. 2012. https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html. 

Coulter, Martin. APOCALYPSE: Weinland claims the world will end next summer, 24 June 2018. Dailystar.co.uk, https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/711536/End-of-the-world-doomsday-prophet-prophecy-biblical-bible-church.

 “December, 21 2012.” History.com, 21 Aug. 2011.https://www.history.com/topics/religion/december-21-2012.

"How Does the Mayan Calendar Work?.” Timeanddate.com. https://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/mayan.html. Accessed on 26 March 2019.

“Doomsday 12-21-12 Preparing for “End of The World”!!!-Mayan Calendar 2012.” YouTube, posted by Mass Tea Party-Wake Up America!, 20 Dec. 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDyOOpDWPpI.
     
Mayans. Long Count Calendar, 11 Aug. 3114 BC. National Anthropology Museum, Mexico DF, Mayan Calendar, https://www.mayan-calendar.com/ancient_longcount.html.

Links for further research: 

Cartwright, Mark “Maya Architecture.” Ancient.eu, 20 Sep. 2015. https://www.ancient.eu/Maya_Architecture/. This web article written by history writer, Mark Cartwright, he explains the many different structures that the Mayans built, also their influences and materials they used to build. The Maya were aware of the mysterious Olmec civilization, and observed their ways especially at Teotihuacan, which was the largest, most influential, most revered city in the New World. The Mayans took this information and started creating their own unique structures. The Mayans used readily available materials to build such as limestone, sandstone, and volcanic tuff. The Mayans are most well known for their huge pyramids they built, such as Temple IV which was 65 meters high. 

“Mayan Scientific Achievements.” History.com, 17 May. 2010. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-americas/mayan-scientific-achievements. This article written by the editors of History.com, provides information about the Mayans accomplishments. The Mayans were far ahead of their time with the elaborate cities they constructed out of metals and their advanced use of the wheel. They made up a rainbow selection of glittery paints they made out of mica, a mineral that is still used to this day. They had a great understanding of astrology so much that one of their pyramids “Chichen Itza,” was oriented to the suns locations in the spring and fall equinoxes.

Oliveira, Ivo “The 2012 phenomenon: The End of The World?.” Fairobserver.com, 24 Feb. 2012. https://www.fairobserver.com/culture/2012-phenomenon-end-world/. In this web article written by Ivo Oliveira, she states all of the worldwide panic going on and the explanations of what will happen on the unavoidable date of December 21, 2012. There are some new age movements which believe the end of the Mayan long count calendar to be start of new human spiritual enlightenment, leaving behind what they call “Age of Decline.” Others have the doomsday theory. These people are sure that the winter solstice happening on that day will do something devastating to the world.