You probably already know this. There is a lot of talk about the world ending on December 21, 2012. Pop culture has focused on the Mayan Calendar. It ends on December 21, 2012. Why do so many embrace that day as the end of the world? Is it mass humankind intuitiveness, a subconscious knowingness? Is it clever marketing? More bluntly, is the Mayan calendar prophesy, a hoax or reality?

Mayan Calendars

Did you know there were many Mayan calendars? The Mayans were an agrarian people. Their world revolved around the seasons and the celestial bodies that governed those seasons. They had a solar calendar and a lunar calendar. They had a calendar that recorded the heavenly journey of Venus and various other calendars associated with their many gods.

Why did the Mayans prophesy the end of the world? Maybe they did not. No one can say that the Mayans intentionally made any such prophesy. Maybe their intention was simply to create calendars, calendars to mark and record their history and to meet their agricultural needs.

Three Calendars

The three most publicized Mayan calendars were the Tzolkin, the Haab, and the Long Calendar. By some calculations, the Mayan calendar is said to be more accurate than our modern day Gregorian calendar!

The Tzolkin calendar was the sacred or ceremonial calendar. It consisted of 13 numbered days and 20 names. It recorded a 260-day cycle.

The Haab calendar was the solar calendar. It consists of 18 months of 20 days each plus one month of 5 "nameless" days added to the cycle. It is a 365-day calendar. The Tzolkin and Haab combine to create the Calendar Round, which depicts a 52-year cycle.

The Long Calendar was a linear calendar. That is to say a calendar to count years. It was a linear calendar much like our modern day Gregorian and Julian calendars. The Mayans used it to go forward and backward in time. It is still in use today in some modern day Mayan villages. The Long Calendar spans a period of approximately 5125 years.

The End and the Mystery

I am sure that you are well aware that all calendars end at some point. Our Gregorian calendars end every year at midnight on December 31st and start over again the following day. Our calendars record a 365-day cycle. We have a 10-year cycle we call a decade, a one hundred year cycle that we call a century.

The Mayans did the same thing. The Long Calendar ends on December 21, 2012 and a new cycle begins. What makes this particular date so mysterious and foreboding? It is interesting and worth noting that there are a few things that coincide with this particular date.

• The Hindus prophesy the end of the world, as we know it, and the beginning of a new world at about the same time.
• St. Malachy, the prophet, foretold the last Roman Catholic pope to be of the Benedictine Order. The current pope is Benedict XVI.
• One I Ching scholar has correlated that teaching to show an ending of our world around the same date.
• Scientists identify that year as a year of intense solar activity that could have dire consequences for our world.
• On that day our sun, the earth, and the center of the Milky Way, our galaxy, will be in alignment.
• December 21, 2012 is the winter solstice.
• Mayan scholars have translated inscriptions that imply the end. Some scholars interpret the inscriptions to mean the end of the world

Do these facts imply the end of the world? Only you can make that judgment. This short article does little justice to the subject. You owe it to yourself to become informed. Regardless of the prophesy's validity, one should always keep an open mind and be prepared for any calamity.