2012

Hi all,



You have undoubtedly noticed the Mayan Long Count calendar in the news this week. Headlines read "Not The End of The World" and similar.



Widely quoted was Sven Gronemeyer who said There's nothing apocalyptic in the date.



Another expert, etchings specialist Erik Velasquez, said There is no prophecy for 2012 - it is a marketing fallacy.



They are both technically correct, for archaeologists are yet to discover any Mayan writings that describe an apocalyptic event for Dec 21, 2012.



I don't know what prompts these experts to make media statements, but they are certainly trying to pre-empt the other 2012 stories that I expect will appear later this month. Do they like to see their name in the newspapers, or are they part of a conspiracy to hide the truth? Or perhaps just a little bit of both?



Regardless of their level of expertise, their comments are only opinion, not fact. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The best evidence of what the Mayans probably believed about the end of their Long Count calendar can be found in the Popol Vuh.



In Mayan mythology (as told in the Popol Vuh) each Long Count cycle is a world age in which the gods attempt to create pious and subservient creatures.



The First Age began with the creation of the Earth, and it had upon it vegetation and living beings. Unfortunately, because they lacked speech, the birds and animals were unable to pay homage to the gods and were destroyed. In the Second and Third Ages the gods created humans of mud and then wood, but these also failed to please and were wiped out. We are currently in the Fourth and Final Age, the age of the modern, fully functional human.



The previous ages all ended with humans being destroyed by a natural disaster. The current age is about to end, just 12 months from now. Would it be fair to presume that the Mayans were expecting another natural disaster? I think so, and the orthodox experts surely know deep down that it is a possibility, but they won't share that with us, in case they get told off for scaremongering.



Regards,