Mayan Calendar
87The Mayan Calendar is, for some, causing a certain disquiet. Due to the 2012 end of the world predictions flying around the ether, many people are confused as to what an ancient calendar has to do with anything. The truth is, it has a lot to do with many things - that concern the 2012 predictions. The reason being that the Mayan calendar is the predominant source of the supposed ‘end of life as we know’ prophecies.
Or, as I prefer to call them – suppositions.
Mayan Calendar
The Mayan calendar is, in fact, not one singular tool for time measurement but several. Each separate calendar represents a cycle of time - much like we have seconds, minutes, hours … and so on. The separate calendar systems – or measurements of time - can join together, harmonizing the different time spans.
It’s a little difficult breaking all the information down but – the easiest way of taking what I know and making it read in laymens’ terms - is to try and help to you to view the Mayan calendar system as being a lot like this:
Mayan Calendar
· Seconds
· Become minutes
· Become hours
· Become days
· Become weeks
· Become months
· Become years
· Become decades
· Become centuries
· Become millenniums
· And etc.
Mayan Calendar
The above is not how the Mayan calendars work. But that’s the general idea. The calendars (separately) are units or measurements of time. When connected together and coordinated, they calendars simply add the units of time together. Making time cycles longer.
We measure time by connecting and synchronizing smaller units of time. Thus we can live our lives day by day, or week to week. We can plan ahead. We can look back and remember a date or moment in time that’s significant to us. The Mayans were no different. They just measured time differently.
Mayan Longcount Calendar
- Mayan Calendar - The Full Details
This website explains, in detail, the workings of the Mayan calendar system. It's meticulous and long but here for those that do want to investigate further for themselves. Both interesting and informative and free of the usual guff.
Hopefully we’re now on the same page. Time to look at the Mayan calendar in question, the one most connected with the so called prophecies – the long count calendar.
Although the Mayan used different calendar systems, the three that are found most commonly written or talked about are:
- Haab – this was the versions closest to ours, the Gregorian calendar and the 365 day (per year) cycle that we now live by, the civil calendar
- Tzolk'in - the was the sacred or divine calendar and a 260 day cycle
- Long count – this is the one that the 2012 predictions are based upon
The table below simplifies the way that a Mayan calendar measures time, in relation to our modern day calendar system.
1 Kin
| 1 Day
| |
|---|---|---|
1 Uinal
| 20 Kins
| = 20 Days
|
1 Tun
| 18 Uinals
| = 360 Days
|
1 Katun
| 20 Tuns
| = 7,200 Days
|
1 Baktun
| 20 Katuns
| = 144,000 Days
|
Mayan Numerical System
NB - the picture on the right is a basic version of how the Maya recorded numbers. It's only used to give you an idea of how their numerical system worked in relation to the long count calendar.
Simply put, of the three calendars I’ve brought to your attention, the long count calendar is known as the Long Cycle. And the long count time cycle lasts for 5,125.36 years
Give or take.
Dresden Codex
To quantify what that means in relation to 2012, we have to know the start date of the long count. A well known anthropologist, Sir Eric Thompson, thoroughly examined what is known about the Mayan calendar. Over a length of time and by using events that were recorded by both the Spanish Inquisition (via our Gregorian calendar) and the Mayan people (via the long count calendar), he was able to correlate data.
Further, the Dresden Codex [source Dresden Codex] was used – this is a book which dates back to the 11th or 12th century and stems from the Maya that were left after the original civilization was largely disbanded some centuries previous. The Dresden Codex is thought to be a copy of original Mayan text, dating back to the 8 or 9th century AD.
- Dresden Codex
The Dresden Codex, history and description.
- Mayan Long Count
Long Count Calendar - Basic meaning of 'long count'.
By having fixed calendar dates that Sir Thompson could draw a parallel between, he could accurately draw a conclusion as to the start date of the long count Mayan calendar. When all the information that had been gleaned was further compared to the Dresden Codex, a date was finally arrived at.
Of course empirical practice may have been applied – I don’t know, I wasn’t part of the study group – but I still believe that Sir Thompson is pretty bang on with his findings. The start date for the Mayan calendar is though to be August 13, 3114 B.C. [source Mayan Long Count]
That in turn puts the final year of the long count calendar as being 2012. Give or take.
End Of The World
This is a very complex calendar system and attempting to create an overview of it in less than 25 years or so is nothing short of a migraine. And if the 2012 end of the world prophecies are to be believed, I've only got three years. Apparently.
The way it works, in a sense, isn't as important as what it means - to us. The fact is, despite the Mayan calendar system being so complicated - that in itself doesn't dictate that it holds the secrets to a potential end of the world scenario.
Not as far as I'm concerned anyway.
It doesn’t matter whether you spend ten years studying the Mayan calendars in minute detail - or not. You still won’t discover a date for the end of the world.That said, you will discover something. And I'm going to make it dead easy ...
.... all you’ll find is that the long count calendar ends. What happens then? You reset the calendar. If you’re Mayan.
Not that you can reset it as such. It just starts all over again. But you get the idea.
Mayan People
As far as I’m aware, the modern Maya of today are pretty cheesed of with the folks that are bandying the Mayan calendar about in what really is a flagrant disregard for the truth.
They know, as well as I do – that such users (or abusers) of this ancient calendar system are making a lot of money. That said, they’re not denying that the long count ends. Only that its end date is being hugely misinterpretated.
Mayan Calendar - It Is Brilliant
The Maya didn’t even invent the long count – all they did was adapt it – in an incredibly skillful and magnificent manner. And the Mayan calendar was used - in the main - for keeping an eye on things such as:
- Seasons – harvesting and sowing of crops
- Cosmic movement – keeping an eye of their Gods e.g. the Sun
- Religious observation – sacrificial events and bloodletting
- Tracking events and happenings – much as we do today
So - what in the above leaps out at you and shouts 'run for the hills ... the end is nigh!!'? Nothing, as far as I can see. And unless you're daft enough to buy into the 2012 end of the world hoohaa - you shouldn't be reading anything into it either.
The Mayan calendar does come to an end in 2012. And maybe some funky atmospheric changes will occur. But the end of the world? Unlikely.
Now stop digging a hole in your backyard. Or stocking up on toilet roll. And go back to paying the bills, spending time with family and friends - and just enjoy life.
2012 Predictions
- 2012 End Of The World
2012 end of the world - the twin hub and other half off this one.
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Comments
ralwus - my you're wick lad :) I'm going to look at your video. I hope it's an amusing one now!
No, it is scary dear. really.
ralwus - I just watched it and I'm kinda 'wtf'? I mean - are they really going do that? All the big guys will go out of business though. Anyone that's selling online, from the little guys up to the big guns like amazon, Ebay etc - they'll sink! It's utterly preposterous. Surely it can't happen?
wth scaring the shit out of me,,,,,,,,i don't even dream of it
doca - I'm glad to hear you sleep well. That is what you mean - right? ;)
LOL@doca, hehehe Froggy, I don't know if that vid is real or not, but just the thought of it frightens the shit out me.
ralwus - it is a bit weird though. When you think on it. The internet just couldn't sustain itself with that type of subscription system.
Great hub!
Funny hub. :) I noticed a little a mistake.
Here are some facts that are worth thinking about,
We know that the Long Count was started by the pre-Maya around 355 BC. But they did not begin in the beginning. They didn't say, ok, this is the start, we are at 0, let's begin counting. :)
Instead, they said, where the hell are we (in time)? It's clear we are not in the beginning, because there was a past.
Ok, but how do we calculate where we are?
And then one of them said, look, at least we know when the end is. (astronomical knowledge) Let's start from there, think up some sort of system and measure our time backwards.
They devised the long count and determined that they were in the 6th baktun, and set the start date at 3114 BC.
In other words, 2012 is not the end of the world because the long count ends, but the long count ends because it is the end of the world.
Actually what they meant by the end of the world was a planetary alignment that occurs exactly in the winter solstice. The Sun will be exactly between the Earth and the dead center of the Milky Way. This has never happened before. For the Maya, the center of the Milky Way was the core from where all life energy derives. Being cut of from this stream of energy by the Sun can have consequences we can't predict.
I'm not saying 2012 IS the end. It's just that there is a scientific explanation why the Maya chose this date to be the end. They knew exactly when this planetary alignment will happen. We wouldn't know anything about it were it not for our telescopes, (and the long count calendar to direct our attention to the phenomenon).
Sorry for the long comment. Just to be in the clear. :)
Pacal - thankyou :) I am with you on the dates and I haven't stated that 2012 is the end of the world, just that it's the end of the long count cycle. But thankyou all the same.
I tried (as with it's 'brother hub') to keep this as concise as possible. I didn't write it from a spurious angle. I wrote it as factually as possible. But I like that you've added in the 'why' of the long count time range.
It's incredibly difficult writing about something as complex as the Mayan calendars. And trying not to write a book about it. I think the other one is in the 2000 word range.
I wanted to keep things factual without folks dropping off. And as you're aware of the cycles, then you'll be aware of all the fiddly numerical values (like the way they worked to base twenty, not ten like us) and the way they used symbols and pictograms.
Etc. See - I'm off again :)
I know it takes time and perseverance to write a hub like this and to keep it concise. I think that's a skill a good writer must have, and it's not the easiest skill to practice. You do it well and add humor, something not all people can do easily.
I read your other hub and I think this one is an extension and a clarification on the topic of calendars. I'm not as much into this as you might think. All I did I read a scientific paper by one of the leading researchers of the field, John Major Jenkins.
Your other hub points at Jose Arguelles. I have one of his books, Time & The Technosphere. Honestly, in my whole life I've only had one book I couldn't finish for reasons of complexity, but this one is another. I can't read it, because I don't understand it at all. The guy is a genius, but also a bit spooky. I took this name, Pacal Votan, for fun, but Jose actually thinks he IS the reincarnation of Pacal Votan. It's stated in his book. :)
Pacal - the way I write used to get me an ass-kicking at uni :)
And you're right, this is the extension of the other one. I need to link them together. And I'm not 'into' it as such. I just read and read and read. And then I read some more.
Jose Arguelles is a brilliant scholar but he writes like my friend does (another such scholar, though law is his expertise) and I think you have to be of a similar persuasion to fully understand what they're saying.
And your name. I wondered about that. Arguelles announced his status and appears immensely proud of it. I understand his logic, his reasoning. But I always lose the thread a bit when folks start going all esoteric.
If you understand :)
Gosh, I just hope I pay back my student loans before then! I really did enjoy this hub. I knew that a bunch of people are freaking out about the end of the world and such, but I'm not afraid myself. A lot of people believed that Y2K was going to be a big deal--Armageddon if you will--and then the same people said, "Correction! The world is really going to end in the year 2001! And when it didn't happen, the same people turned to the Mayan calendar and made outlandish claims that this is the real McCoy! Hey, how many times is the world going to end anyway?
Thanks for sharing, Frogdropping!
dohn - glad to hear you've a sensible take on it all :) And the predictions? Well Mr Voodoo happened along (on the other I think) and informed me that there's either 200 or more that have been given to the masses (us) in order to inform us (nicely) that our planets' demise is imminent. Or some such.
If I find the time I may write one about sun spots and polar shifts. Or even planet x. That should put the beejeebies right up folks' asses.
And thankyou for stopping by!
End of the world or not, it will still be fun. There will be parties and stuff. Ralwus throws a party for one. We are having fun already. Look at this verbosity and all. :)
Pacal - if it doesn't end in 2012, I believe 2014 is the next flagged date. Or is it 2017? I forget, there's so many of them.
Still, I'm with you ... we're already feeling the stirrings of a damn good party :)
It was amazing just how close their time keeping was to what we know today. They did not have fancy computers to figure this out, they just did.
Proves the Humans have had amazing intelligence long before paper and today's technology. If you think about World as we live in it now. In past 100 years so much has change. Cars, Air Travel, Computers, Cell Phones. Many in last 25 years. Technology is going so rapid now, but not sure is making things better. World is so polluted now. Maybe 2012 will be the START of new cleansing. Maybe will be good for planet. One thing for sure. We exist whether we fully understand or not.
Camping Dan - They were incredibly accurate. In truth, a very astute civilization. However, they weren't all good stuff. The sacrifice side of them was perfectly vile.
Mike - hey :) Whatever is - or isn't - going to happen, 2012 is coming like it or not. And I for one like tracking forwards. I'm not too bothered about sticking with the here and now, and definitely don't cart my past with me. Life's good and besides, the technology side of things? That'll be the fault of that silicon chip business. Which (obviously) came to us by aliens ...
Good informative Hub..
Thanks!
This was really helpful, thanks! Sometimes I think the way to go is to just make up something outrageous and write a book about it. Why even bother with facts? lol! Seriously though, we've had several of these 'end of the world' predictions in recent years and at some point people just get fed up, like sure, ok, whatever... Most jobs will still count it against you if you don't show up. What? You stayed home because the WORLD ENDED? You're fired!
askjan - thankyou :)
pgrundy - ha lol! Let's a few of us get together, take a sabbatical from HP and collaborate on a book entitled 'All You Need To Know About The End Of The World - An Adaptable Book. According To 'Which' Prediction'
We should make a mint :)
Frogdropping, some great research here. Thanks for the info. I guess I'm cynical, but if the end is imminent, there is nothing that I can do about it...
Interesting facts though.
I really enjoyed this information. The Mayan calender is intriguing to me and it will be interesting to see how things evolve. However I do not believe that 2012 is the end of the world...I do believe the world as we know it will see dramatic changes.. Thanks for the great explanation!
Dynamic - I part researched, part knew it from ... before, reading and so on. And facts are always interesting :)
I*n*v*i*c*t*u*s - I'm happy to hear you enjoyed the read. There is always change going on around us. 2012 will bring 2013 - however it arrives, it's coming. Personally I welcome global change, but the kind that doesn't involve less for the majority and more for the minority. I like to think that a bit of equality and fair play will be distributed, if anything. I live in hope :)
a subject I've always been interested in, good information, guess 2012 will tell the tale.
Appletree - thankyou :) And it will. Probs 2013 will follow as per every new years eve. Hopefully anyway!
i met a south american sharman a few years ago and he drew bits of the calendar in the sand and explained that it is not the end of the calendar or the world, but a shift. A significant shift. I cannot recall the symbols, but it is nothing to be frightened of.. ((()))Love to all!!
salt - that's a fascinating tale. And I agree with what he shared with you. Here's to 2013 :)
Your No Nonsense Approach was very refreshing, and your article was one of my sources for http://socyberty.com/folklore/nostradamus-the-maya
Keep up the good work!
Hey Dutch ... great to see you! You keep up the good work yourself - loved the article! And thanks for coming by :)
Interesting hub! They're actually coming out with an action/adventure movie about this called 2012. It's by the same folks who did Day After Tomorrow. Go figure. It's interesting how much ancient art and documents are misinterpreted; it's kind of like a game of telephone.
Thank you for that Hub!!! Yes, cheers to 2013!!!
Naomi - I'm late to return your comment but thankyou for your feedback :)
ash - cheers indeed ;)
Thanks, frog. I was so worried that the world was soon going to end that I decided to stop taking care of my house, or any other upkeep. I mean, why bother? And let the credit cards max out. Who cares if the world is going to end. Same goes for those extra hunks of chocolate cake....Now you tell us that the world is not going to end in 2012. Uh-oh.
Dolores - it's not going to end. Stop maxing out your cards ;)
Well written FrogD, I'm a huge fan of the Mayan calender, I know I will be coming back to reread this article. I'm also a follower of Quetzalcoatl and a strong believer in ancient astronauts, outrageous for some, scientific and historically meaningful to me. Thanks for the good word.
ralwus says:
3 months ago
Well they were certainly brilliant people. Thanks for the info, good job. Frankly I find the following a scarier proposition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2XPiqhN_Ns