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2012: The Mayan Prophecy:
So, here we are at
last ...2012 AD... The final year of the Mayan calendar. Or is it..?
The internet,
media, and bookshelves are inundated with references to the Mayan 'End-time', but what exactly
is it and what does it mean to us...? The Mayan perception of
time was cyclic, without a beginning or end, so it is likely that
any reference to an end-time includes a simultaneous start-time,
perhaps opening the way to understanding any indication of prophecy.
The 'Tzolk'in' or 'Cholq'ij'
is one of 17 different calendars operated by the Mayans. It was a
ritual calendar based on the cycle of Pleiades. (End-time: Dec 21, 2012)
Article:
(UniverseToday. May, 2012) - 'Mayan
Glyphs Refer to 17th B'ak'tun'.
A new archaeological discovery in the ruins of
Xultun has proved that the end of the 13th B'ak'tun
was neither considered the end of the calendar nor
the end of the world by the Mayans.
"It is very clear that the 2012 date, while
important as Baktun 13, was turning the page...
Baktun 14 was going to be coming and Baktun 15 and
Baktun 16...The Mayan calendar is going to keep
going and keep going for billions, trillions and
even octillion years into the future"
(Link
to Full Article)
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How
does the Long-Count (LC) Work.
The Mayan Long Count starts
at “0.0.0.0.0″ and operates in
base-20. Each zero goes from
0-19 and each represent a tally of
days. So, the
first day in the Long Count is
denoted as 0.0.0.0.1. On the 19th
day we’ll have 0.0.0.0.19, on the
20th day it goes up one level and
we’ll have 0.0.0.1.0. This count
continues until 0.0.1.0.0 (about one
year), 0.1.0.0.0 (about 20 years)
and 1.0.0.0.0 (about 400 years).
Therefore, if one picks an arbitrary
date of 2.10.12.7.1, this represents
the Mayan date of 1012 years, 7
months and 1 day.
Experts are
divided as to when the Long Count
ends, but as the Maya used the
numbers of 13 and 20 at the root of
their numerical systems, the last
day is generally assumed to occur on
13.0.0.0.0. (while others believe it
could just as easily be 20.0.0.0.0.) Assuming that their
calendar was set to end on the 13th B'ak'tun,
13.0.0.0.0 represents 5126 years and
the start date for the
Long-count (0.0.0.0.0.), corresponds
to the date of August 11th 3114 BC.
The Mayan Long Count therefore ends
5126 years later on 21st December,
2012 (or 23rd December, 2012 by
some)
Mayan archaeo-astronomers are in debate as
to whether the Long Count is designed to be followed by 0.0.0.0.1
after 13.0.0.0.0, or whether the calendar continues to
20.0.0.0.0 (approximately 8000 AD) and then resets. There are
several inscriptions that continue way past the 13.0.0.0.0 date,
supporting the idea of an endless system.
The Earliest
Long-count Inscription:
The earliest long-count inscriptions
are all associated with Olmec
settings. The oldest is on a small section of wall panel at
Chiapa de Corzo from 36 BC
(4).
The next oldest, and most often described is from
Tres Zapotes on (Stela C) a rectangular
stone block with a post-Olmec Izapa-style mask on one side, and
a Long Count date expressed in bars and dots on the other
(below). The date, 7.16.6.16.18 6 Eznab (31 B.C.), comes from a
time over 300 years before the first Mayan
remains. This means that the long-count system was transferred
to the Mayans from the Olmecs.
Of particular
interest is the start-date of the Long-count calendar, inherited
by the Mayans from the Olmecs. as it clearly refers to a time of
importance to them, in addition to being the start date for
another great cycle on the other side of the world, namely the
Hindu 'Kali-Yuga', which began at 3,102 BC, a matter of only
12 years apart.
(More about
Tres Zapotes)
The 2012 Inscriptions:
There are only
three inscriptions (from over
15,000), which make mention the end of the 13th B'ak'tun. Two inscriptions - The
'Tortuguero tablet' and
the 'Comalcalco brick' were carved around 1,300 years ago
and both are cryptic in one way or another.
The Tortuguero
Inscription is found on 'Monument 6', at Tortuguero, Mexico.
It describes something
that is supposed to occur in 2012 involving Bolon Yokte, a Mayan
god associated with both war and creation. It includes the only known
confirmed inscription
depicting the end of the current 13-Bak'tun era in
2012. Erosion and a crack
in the stone make the end of the passage almost illegible. There
are several interpretations of the inscriptions:
 Grube, Martin and Zender have stated
it refers to “the end of the 13th b’ahktun which we
will see in the year 2012” and as to what will
happen, they say, “…utom, “it will happen” (O4)
followed by something that we cannot read (P4) and
he “will descend” yem (O5). The last glyph begins
with ta followed by something. However, this is not
the end of the world.”
This interpretation
is supported by Markus Eberl and Christian Prager.
They identify the fragmentary word translated above
as "descent" seems to be the same one used during
building dedications. They also point to a panel on
Temple XIV at Palenque, which shows that a positive
event took place on July 29, 931,449 BCE involving a
vision serpent named Sak Baak Na' Chapat and his
deity K'awiil, which was overseen by B'olon Yokte'
K'uh.
Gillespie and Joyceand also Houston and Stuart
have concurred that the inscription on Monument 6
concerns the god(s) Bolon Yokte’ K’uh - specifically
“…a calendrical event in the early 21st century AD,
at which time, apparently, the god may 'descend'.”
Stuart has recently given a more complete
translation: “"The Thirteenth Bak'tun" will be
finished (on) Four Ahaw, the Third of K'ank'in. ?
will occur. (It will be) the descent(?) of the Nine
Support (?) God(s) to the ?."
Gronemeyer gives an epigraphic analysis and
calendrical reconstruction of Monument 6 in his
Master’s thesis,
with illustrations. It has been indicated that 'Bolon
Yokte' K'Uh' could refer to the 9 Lords of the Night who featured in both Aztec
and Mayan calendars yet remained unnamed in the
latter, as the Nine Lords of the Underworld were
known as 'Bolon ti ku'.
Most recently, Gronemeyer and MacLeod
have scrutinized Monument 6 again and offer a new
interpretation of the passage dealing with the
13-Bak'tun ending. According to them,
the inscription announces the witnessing of the
deity Bolon Yokte' K'uh who will be publicly
displayed by the occasion of his investiture. By
applying several linguistic and ethnographic
parallels, this may happen by the enrobing and/or
parading of an effigy of the said deity.
(5)
The Comalcalco
Brick is odd in that the
moulded or inscribed faces of the bricks were laid
facing inward or covered with stucco, suggesting they were not
meant to be seen. David Stuart a specialist in Mayan epigraphy
says that the date inscribed on the brick is a "Calendar Round"
a combination of a day and month position that will repeat every
52 years. He emphasised that the date could be describing some
important historical event in ancient times and not of things to
come. (2)
The 'Calendar
Round' (CR) is a different calendar system to the 'Long-count' (LC).
The Calendar-round operates over cycles of 52 years, so the date
referred to could be any one of numerous dates. However, of
particular interest is the fact that there is another connection
between the Comalcalco Brick and the Tortuguero Inscriptions as in
649 AD, Comalcalco was conquered by Bahlam Ajaw, the very man
responsible for the now famous Monument 6 at Tortuguero.
The Newest
Discovery is from the 9th century ruins of Xultun, and was
painted onto the walls of a small square chamber with a stone roof.
It testifies to the fact that at that time, the Mayan scribes did
not consider the end of the 13th B'ak'tun as the end of the world,
but rather just the end of one cycle and the beginning of another.
The Xuoltun glyphs testify to at least 17 B'ak'tuns.
(Link
to Full Article)
The Meaning of the Date (21 Dec, 2012):
According to the
Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known
to the K'iche' Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in
the fourth world. The Popol Vuh describes the first three
creations that the gods failed in making and the creation of the
successful fourth world where men were placed. In the Maya Long
Count, the previous creation ended at the start of a 14th b'ak'tun.
The previous creation ended on a long count of 12.19.19.19.19.
Another 12.19.19.19.19 will occur on December 20, 2012, followed by
the start of the 14th b'ak'tun, 13.0.0.0.0, on December 22, 2012.
(3)
Article: Dec 2, 2011. BBCNewsOnline:
(Quick Link)
'The calendar used by the ancient Maya civilisation does not predict the end of the world in December 2012 as some believe, according to experts. Only two out of 15,000 registered Mayan texts mention the date 2012, according to Mexico's National Institute for Anthropological History, and no Mayan text predicts the end of the world'. (1)
December 21, 2012 is also the
Winter Solstice, and provides us with a view that will not be seen
again in any of our lifetimes. The Sun will conjunct the
intersection of the Milky Way in the ecliptic, giving us view of the
Sacred Tree as called by the Maya, the cosmic cross or the Tree of
Life.
The image of the
Mayan 'Tree of Life' on the tombstone of Lord Pakal is
graphically shown at Palenque.
(Divination)
(The
Oracles)
(Catastrophism)
(Archaeoastronomy)
(2012: The Elephant in the Room)
(Mexico
Homepage)
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