Since the world is supposedly ending sometime today on 12/21/12, I decided to do a little bit of research into the whole subject and since I apparently can’t get enough of reading my own words lately, I figured I’d share what I’ve learned. At least I’m wasting a good 3 minutes of your day, no? Plus, I’m delayed at the airport, so what else am I supposed to do?
First, you have to know that the Mayan Calendar is called the Long Count Calendar and it was most likely used as a way to explain scientific occurrences and for kings to record their accomplishments and become a key part of the universe. There are some missing dates in the Long Count calendar, but those are commonly attributed to be due to brought and climate changes.
The big deal started back in the 196os when an archaeologist named Michael D. Coe published a book called “The Maya.” In the book, he suggested that the Mayan calendar would end in either 2011 or 2012 and jokingly implied that it would mean the end of the world. According to an anthropological archaeologist named Sonja Schwake, most of the people who believe the world was supposed to end today cite a monument from Tortugero, Mexico that mentions the date December 21, 2012. However, the main glyph that would reveal what the Mayans thought about 12/21/12 is broken off. So no Mayan calendar or ruin or monument actually says anything about the world ending in December 2012. Other scholars have no doubt that the Mayan calendar is pretty freaking bad ass and some have praised its accuracy as a calendar, but don’t believe that the calendar ending means that the world is ending. What actually happened today was that we entered into the 13th baktun (from the 12th baktun, naturally). A baktun is 20 katun cycles of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar and lasts about 400 years or 144,000 days. According to scholars, the current sequence of 13 baktuns has been running since 3114 BC, which is 5,125 years. So we’re entering into a new life cycle, a new era, not entering into the end of days.
So that’s basically it. Nothing exciting or glamorous. Nothing that Fox Mulder would get a boner about. No fiery comments or massive ice storms or angels or aliens coming to save us. I’m glad that the world isn’t going to end, but it’s definitely going to be weird without having that looming “12/21/12” mythology anymore. What are we going to look forward to/dread from here on out?! Maybe now that godawful Mars 2112 restaurant in NYC can put itself out of its misery.
