Time Frames and Taboo Data Blog

(Excerpt from Time Frames and Taboo Data, page 475)

…awareness of universal patterns seem to have been better comprehended in numerous ancient cultures than it is today.  “Prediction” of a sort could be attempted as in the age-old Mayan astro-calendar–which was inherited from the older Olmec culture.

Today we live in the time-calculation that the Maya calendar presented as the Great Cycle, and the cycle ended at 4 Ahau 3 Kankin, which corresponds to 23 December 2012 of our calendar.  The current Great Cycle, according to Mayan accounts, began in a long period of darkness that occurred on 4 Ahan 8 Cumku, which corresponds to 13 August 3114 BCE.  Time was recognized by them as infinite, but they discerned that it advances with cyclic adjustments that are indifferent to individuals, societies, cultures, or civilizations.

Was the end of the world predicted with the last date etched upon the Mayan astro-calendar?  Did it foretell some horrendous cosmic or geological cataclysm?  Not exactly.  The Mayan used a period of 5125-5126 years that made up what is referred to as the “Long Count,” which we may liken to a taximeter that records an accumulated debt–only in this case what is tallied is Earth’s debt to the universe.  It is certain that the spread of the human species across the world has disturbed the delicate balances of Nature with little regard to long-term consequences.  Changes will occur, of course, and payment must be extracted.  Perhaps payment must be violent for human nature to pay attention, for despite all the pretended revealed, divine claims, man seems incapable of establishing an atmosphere of congeniality.  The Mayan calendar may seem to suggest an apocalyptic ending, but it was presented without the ugliness of scriptural bigotry.  That the date 23 December 2012 was not regarded as the end of all time or even as the end of the world was neatly conveyed by simply having the calendar calculations being  suspended on the threshold of the winter solstice–the cyclic period when the process of renewal of life is the order of things.  More precisely, the Mayan calendar indicates an end of an era.  Earth is at the threshold of no return for some ecologically distrubing practices, but mankind still has it within its power to awaken and progress with reverence directed at universal truths.

However, we must not assume that (religious) belief makes it impossible that in the distant future some scouting cosmic citizens may investigate the scarred little planet once known as Earth.  And after intense studies, the visitors to Earth decipher the last records of the species that once dominated the planet.  But before the explorers pack up to leave, they pause to erect in a lonely barren spot a commemorative stele upon which is etched their summary of findings.

        As this little planet groaned in distress

        And seas grew wild and the planet poles moved,

        The creature man continued to obsess

         And war over gods that could not be proved.

This entry was posted on March 13, 2009 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Astronomy, Atheist with tags 2012, end of the world, Mayan calendar, winter solstice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.