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The Truth About the Mayan Calendar Predicting the End of the World

Updated on August 1, 2023
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Twelve years ago, I started writing. I’ve written several hundred articles for Hub Pages and the examiner over the years, and over 40 books.

Mayan temple
Mayan temple

The end of the world?

Will Dec. 21 2012 be the end of the world? We have made it; the end of the world didn't come on that day. There has been a lot of discussion on this topic. There were a lot of end of the world predictions and arguments saying that the world was going to end on Dec 21. What is the basis for these predictions?

Do they have any merit? Are the people that believe this just saying it for the shock value? Are they just a bunch of crazy end of the world predictions that have no basis? Do you want to find out where they are getting these ideas, and why Dec 21, 2012, was going to be the end of the world.

Nostradamus

I have read many interpretations of what Nostradamus said. The people that interpret what he said have incredibly good imaginations. They take things that are very vague and make them specific. They read into what he said and tie it to something that has happened. An example of this. Nostradamus said "From the roof, evil will fall on a great man. They will accuse an innocent. The guilty one is hiding in a misty corpse."

What the interpreters say is this prophecy is talking about the assassination of JFK. This is just to show that the way they interpret Nostradamus is not what I call credible. You could say this is predicting evil that has happened to many great men throughout history.

Nostradamus had his end of the world predictions, saying the end would come with a comet and fire from the sky. He also said that the comet will hit in the in the sea near Italy and France. It will allow the Muslims to attack from the south of France and move into Europe. And Russia will invade Europe from the north and start a world war. This could happen at some time. There is nothing that ties this to the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, Nostradamus end of the world predictions give no time or dates.

Religion

The bible in Revelations talks about end of the world predictions. About fire from heaven, the man on the white horse.

Hindu religion also talks about a man on a white horse with a sword that is quite different. They also talk of lawlessness, and a rain of fire as signaling the end of the world.

Zoroastrianism also talks of a comet and fire from heaven will burn the earth and release the evil souls from hell and burn them. Many religions have similar prophecies about the end of the world. None of them that I have seen give a specific date or any time that relates to 2012.

Mother Shipton

A British soothsayer from the 1500's gave end of the world predictions. There have been many dates that were said to be what she predicted. They were all found to be made up by the people who wrote about them. She also did predict a fiery dragon flying around the earth, and floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and death at the end of the world. She never had any dates in her predictions, and the predictions are the same as several of the religious prophesies made before her time.

The Mayans

The date in question comes from the Mayan calendar and their belief that the earth has cycles of 2152 years of which are part of a bigger cycle of 26,000 years. The 26,000-year cycle ends with the winter solstice of 2012. The Mayans said that beyond the date of Dec. 21 2012 we will enter a new world age. A new creation. They don't define what that is. Even if you believe the Mayan calendar, it does not say the world will be destroyed. The Hopi Indians predict that we will enter cycle of peace and enlightenment.

The Mayans said that the time from the end of the 5th world, which ended in 1987, to the beginning of the 6th world, which starts after the winter solstice of 2012 is the time of the apocalypse or revealing time. The meaning of the word apocalypse has changed over time. It meant previously a time of learning or revealing things that were unknown.

The range of ideas from people trying to determine what this all means goes from one end of the spectrum to the other. From cataclysmic events to world war to peace. From massive destruction of the earth to transformation to a better place.

End of the world?

From researching this subject, it is evident that most religions believe that the world is going to end at some time. Most of them have similar ideas of how it will happen, with fire and destruction. Several non-religious people have also predicted that the world would end in a similar way. The Mayans say that we are coming to the end of a small cycle and a big cycle with the winter solstice of 2012. And after that date we will enter a new age, a new creation.

They say nothing about the end of the world at that time. The conclusion that I come to is the world is not going to end on 12/21/12, but that most people believe it will happen at some time. The only thing that we know will happen on Dec 21 2012, winter will start again, and the end of the world predictions can start over again for a different time.

The one thing that is a fact is that no one knows when the world will end.

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