13..0.0.0.0.4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in

We are what we eat, so I have been a lasagna since last night. I was the night before too so that means, and I believe in full disclosure, that I am actually leftover lasagna. So anything you read here, you need to consider the source.

Goodman

Way back around 400 AD, which is before I was born, a lonely Mayan (oops -- already editorializing -- I really don't know if he was lonely or not) stone carver happened to carve the fateful phrase '13..0.0.0.0.4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in' onto a tablet. At least that is what Joseph Goodman thought was carved when he viewed it in 1897. The tablet was damaged and that was what he, with a bit of extrapolation, thought it said. This inscription was some sort of reference to the end...the end of what, we are not sure. That phrase appeared to be a date. To translate that date into something meaningful took some work because those old Mayan people had a different kind of calendar which involved cycles which are completely different from our annual cycles. But he figured that the date would be, more or less, December 21, 2012. He liked this date because it happened to fall on the solstice -- which was kind of cool.

There are others that say that the 'damaged' phrase isn't a date at all and that Mr. Goodman was liberal with his extrapolation.

So this is where the end of the world thing came from? Not exactly. It seems that the Mayans actually wrote documents too. There was this thing called the Dresden Codex and on the last page it talks of great floods. Well since it was on the last page it must refer to the end of times, and Goodman's find talked about December 21st -- obviously they were talking about the same thing. Catastrophe on that date.

That's it?

Well, in 1966 Michael Coe found some Aztec references to 'Cycles of Destruction'. Since the Aztecs believed in destruction and the Maya had an end date, it seemed kinda' reasonable to tie them together. Maybe they were on to something. It's beginning to sound kind of scary.

The Maya

That is me appearing to be exhausted and hugging the steps about two thirds of the way up. Not true - I was studying ancient carvings in the steps. I translated one that said, "Matt was here". My investigation was ongoing.

I have heard that the extinct Maya were an advanced civilization so maybe we should pay attention. In fact there are more Maya alive today than ever were -- complete with their own language. And they may be perturbed to learn that they are extinct.

We tend to think of the Maya as a great centralized nation, like Rome or Babylon or something. Actually, they we were many distinct tribes each with its own government and religion and there only communication with each other was to kill the other one. The largest tribes were the Tikal and Calakmul and they had fierce wars between themselves. They hated each other. When the Spanish invaded they were not confronted with a unified nation, but with tribes that had to be conquered one by one.

13..0.0.0.0.4 Ajaw 3 K'ank'in

This is from Google Images. Not sure if it is the true thing or not.

This was the damaged markings on a tablet by one tribe. It is from Monument 6 from the ruined site of Tortuguero in Chiapas. The Dresden Codex were documents of another tribe. To continue, another tribe discussed the anniversary of the coronation of K'inich Janaab Pakaal, who was the king of the Palenque tribe, to happen in the year 4772. You will note this is a little bit later than the year 2012. There is another calendar reference which projects events billions of years into the future.

Somehow these other calendar references are forgotten about.

December 21, 2012

Well Sylvanus Morley wrote a book in 1915 about Maya hieroglyphics. In the book he specifically referenced the Dresden Codex and proclaimed that it predicted the end of the world...and the hieroglyphic date of December 21, 2012 pinpointed the precise time.Then in 1946 Morley wrote The Ancient Maya in which he elaborated on the theme. It should be noted that Mayan experts laughed off the book. Actually it was Michael Coe, in his book The Maya that introduced the notion of Apocalypse into the Maya lexicon. (Actually, Professor Coe did not believe it had anything to do with us, but thought that was what the Maya believed.) It was the word 'Apocalypse' that set the stage.

Now we understand the root of it all.

But how did it get from there to galactic alignments, a rogue planet crashing into earth, harmonic convergence, and all the rest?

Do you remember Erich von Daniken of Ancient Alien fame? He said that it was prophisized by the Maya that aliens from space would return to earth on the fateful day. (Actually he quoted the wrong date -- but a minor detail). Then Frank Waters wrote  The Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth World of Consciousnessin which he talked about Quetzalcoatl, who actually was Aztec and not Mayan, and the fact that extraterrestrials were coming and tied it into the rising of Atlantis. Oh, he happened to mention the wrong date -- the same one that von Daniken happened to mention.

It goes on. December 12, 2012 was then tied in with  I Ching and would be a day of Transformation of Consciousness. The Harmonic Convergence thing came from Shirley MacLaine's book Out On A Limb.

PlantX/Nibiru

Note the Maya said nothing about this. But it is speculated that the rogue Planet Nibiru will crash into the earth on December 21 of this year. It is interesting that this is the second date predicted. It was originally predicted to happen in May of 2003. When it didn't happen, the date was revised to coincide with the now popular date this December. The reason they know that Nibiru is going to hit is because the aliens of Nibiru have been channeled and they told us. No evidence of any planets heading our way.

Geomagnetic Reversal

The so called 'reversal of the poles' will occur on December 21st. The Maya mentioned nothing of this. There have been many magnetic reversals in earth's history which actually didn't cause much disruption. It kind of screws compasses up though. But a reversal takes about 7,000 years to happen...it is a slow process. It is not Zap! Oh, there is no evidence that one is beginning.

Solar Flares Which Will Cause Magnetic Reversal

Aha. We are entering an active period of solar flare activity. The peak is supposed to be in May, 2013 -- and there is no evidence it will be greater than any previous high solar activity. And, solar flares have nothing to do with the earth's magnetism.

Galactic Alignment

Somehow on December 21st we are supposed to be aligned with the sun and the center of our galaxy where there is a massive black hole. All of that gravitational sucking on the earth will destroy us. Actually we came closer to this 'galactic alignment' in 1998 than we will in 2012. It must have done something because I think that was the year I had a car accident.

But there is also another type of galactic alignment now being proposed. The sun and planets are going to pass through the galactic disc as it does every 25 million years and when it does all life on earth is destroyed. Uh, we are moving away from the galactic disk rather than toward it.

Also another theory. There will be planetary conjunction on December 21st which will doom us. Actually there were planetary conjunctions in 2000 and 2010 and not much happened. Astronomers say no such thing is happening in 2012.

So what is it all about?

Not much. One good thing, I suppose, is that the Maya that live in Mexico now are planning on capitalizing on all the hype. (By the way -- the prevalent attitude of current day Maya about all this is bemusement.) They are preparing souvenirs, tours, mystical journeys to the Chichen Itza pyramids and big 'holy' celebrations on December 12th. I hope they make a killing.

My conclusion

If one wants to believe that the world is coming to the end on December 21st, or that there will be a Harmonic Convergence, or that we will be visited by aliens, or that the second coming of Christ will occur (and this seems to be a newer twist), that is fine. But you would be walking in thin ice to attempt to trace it back to the Maya. We all get a perverse pleasure out of speculating that 'something will happen' -- it is fun to talk and speculate about.  We have this insatiable want for something different. Even now I see so many programs on TV about the 'Doomsday'. There have been over 1,500 books published addressing the subject.

My personal view is that the hype rules and there is no basis in fact as I understand it. Do I understand it all? Nope -- what you see here is my scant review of various articles. You would probably have a lot of fun doing your own research. Here are some starting places:

Wikepedia - The 2012 Phenomenon

It's Not The End of the World by Mark Van Stone  

Debunking the 2012 Doomsday

The End of Time: The Maya Mystery by Anthony Aveni

Wikepedia - The Dresden Codex

The Outer Space Connection

If I am wrong and the world does come to the end, you have my permission to berate me for misleading you. After all, I am only day-old lasagna.