As December 21,2012 quickly approaches I couldn't help but wonder how it would really effect the Earth and by association all of us. I decided to go straight to the source of the controversy,the Mayan calendar. I wondered if it really did predict the end of the world or if we were just scaring ourselves. Here's what I found out.

The Mayans were amazing astronomers and mathematicians, without the use of telescopes they could accurately predict solar eclipses and fully understood the movements of the stars and planets. The Mayan Wise Men had an obsession with Venus and could calculate its average rotation with an error of only one day in 6,000 years.

The Mayan used three calendars,the Haab', Tzolk'in and the Long Count.

The Haab' was a 365 day calendar which measured the solar year. It was used for economic,accounting and agricultural purposes. Each day had its own hieroglyph and number. The Haab' used an 18 unit number repetition. At the end of the year there would be five unnamed days left that were considered a month. These were added to round out the solar year.

The Tzolk'in was a 260 day calendar. It combines a cycle of twenty named days with a cycle of thirteen numbers. This produces a calendar of 260 unique days. The calendar only repeats itself every 52 years, about the average lifespan at the time. The 52 year cycle is called the "Mayan Century". This seems to have been the most widely used calendar and was called the Sacred Round.

The Long Count calendar counts the number of days passed since August 13,3114 BCE. Each day has a unique number, the calendar measures a total of 5,126 years before it cycles back around to began again. The Long Count date includes the five digits of the Long Count plus the 2-character Tzolk'in and the 2-character Haab' dates. This way the five digit Long Count could be confirmed by the other 4 characters. This is called the "Calendar Round".

Now that we have a little bit of an idea how the calendars work we can easly see that each of them had a paticular purpose. The Haab' was a solar calendar used in day to day living,the Tzolk'in was used for ritual and the combination of these two with the Long Count could allow the Mayan to caculate the movements of the planets and stars into the past or the future.

So what did the Mayan see? Lets take a look.

If you would like to know more about how the Mayan calendars work go to: http://history.howstuffworks.com/central-american-history/mayan-calendar.htm

The Mayan loved the heavens, they felt a great connection with them they lived their life by the movements of the stars and planets.It would only make sense for them to end the Long Count calendar on a rare celestial event. What was this event?

On December 21,2012 from predawn through the day till just before sunset the Sun will be between the Earth and the Galactic Plane representing a rebirth of the Sun moving from one world to another. This event occurs on the winter solstice once every 26,00 years. Could this be the reason for the calendar ending on that date? I think so. The Mayans life was tied to the movement of planets and stars. To us this might not be anything but an interesting celestial occurrence but to the Mayans it was a life changing event.It would not only be the end of one "world" but more importantly the beginning of the new "world". Think of how we celebrate the coming of a new year and you can better understand the importance of this date to the Mayans.

What about the Galatic Aligment of the Earth Axis,Sun and Galatic Center? That acually already occured in 1998. This happens only once every 26,00 years, the time it takes the Earth's axis to make a full rotation.

Even tho' this is an interesting,rare and exciting celestial event it looks like we will still be here on December 22,2012 so don't put off your Christmas shopping till the last minute "just in case".