Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? - USA TODAY

[Guest guest]

Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?

By G. Jeffrey MacDonald, Special to USA TODAY

 

With humanity coming up fast on 2012, publishers are helping readers

gear up and count down to this mysterious — some even call it

apocalyptic — date that ancient Mayan societies were anticipating

thousands of years ago.

 

Since November, at least three new books on 2012 have arrived in

mainstream bookstores. A fourth is due this fall. Each arrives in the

wake of the 2006 success of 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, which

has been selling thousands of copies a month since its release in May

and counts more than 40,000 in print. The books also build on popular

interest in the Maya, fueled in part by Mel Gibson's December 2006

film about Mayan civilization, Apocalpyto.

 

Authors disagree about what humankind should expect on Dec. 21, 2012,

when the Maya's " Long Count " calendar marks the end of a 5,126-year

era.

 

Journalist Lawrence Joseph forecasts widespread catastrophe in

Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End.

Spiritual healer Andrew Smith predicts a restoration of a " true

balance between Divine Feminine and Masculine " in The Revolution of

2012: Vol. 1, The Preparation. In 2012, Daniel Pinchbeck anticipates

a " change in the nature of consciousness, " assisted by indigenous

insights and psychedelic drug use.

 

The buildup to 2012 echoes excitement and fear expressed on the eve

of the new millennium, popularly known as Y2K, though on a smaller

scale, says Lynn Garrett, senior religion editor at Publishers

Weekly. She says publishers seem to be courting readers who believe

humanity is creating its own ecological disasters and desperately

needs ancient indigenous wisdom.

 

" The convergence I see here is the apocalyptic expectations, if you

will, along with the fact that the environment is in the front of

many people's minds these days, " Garrett says. " Part of the appeal of

these earth religions is that notion that we need to reconnect with

the Earth in order to save ourselves. "

 

But scholars are bristling at attempts to link the ancient Maya with

trends in contemporary spirituality. Maya civilization, known for

advanced writing, mathematics and astronomy, flourished for centuries

in Mesoamerica, especially between A.D. 300 and 900. Its Long Count

calendar, which was discontinued under Spanish colonization, tracks

more than 5,000 years, then resets at year zero.

 

" For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the

end of a whole cycle, " says Sandra Noble, executive director of the

Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies in Crystal

River, Fla. To render Dec. 21, 2012, as a doomsday or moment of

cosmic shifting, she says, is " a complete fabrication and a chance

for a lot of people to cash in. "

 

Part of the 2012 mystique stems from the stars. On the winter

solstice in 2012, the sun will be aligned with the center of the

Milky Way for the first time in about 26,000 years. This means

that " whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of

the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on 12/21/12 at 11:11 p.m.

Universal Time, " Joseph writes.

 

But scholars doubt the ancient Maya extrapolated great meaning from

anticipating the alignment — if they were even aware of what the

configuration would be.

 

Astronomers generally agree that " it would be impossible the Maya

themselves would have known that, " says Susan Milbrath, a Maya

archaeoastronomer and a curator at the Florida Museum of Natural

History. What's more, she says, " we have no record or knowledge that

they would think the world would come to an end at that point. "

 

University of Florida anthropologist Susan Gillespie says the 2012

phenomenon comes " from media and from other people making use of the

Maya past to fulfill agendas that are really their own. "

 

Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse? - USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_n.htm

 

 

THE YEAR FOR BOOKS

 

Current and coming books on 2012:

 

2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck (Penguin/

Tarcher, May 2006)

 

2013 Oracle: Ancient Keys to the 2012 Awakening by David Carson &

Nina Sammons (Council Oaks, November 2006)

 

Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End

by Lawrence Joseph (Random House/Morgan Road, January 2007)

 

The Revolution of 2012: Vol. 1, The Preparation by Andrew Smith (Ford

Evans, January 2007)

 

Serpent of Light by Drunvalo Melchizedek (Red Wheel/Weiser, Autumn

2007)

 

 

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, " jagbir singh " <adishakti_org

wrote:

>

> Dear Gerlinde and All,

>

> i have just used your post to update:

>

> http://www.adishakti.org/mayan_end_times_prophecy_12-21-2012.htm

>

> as the Great Serpent Mound is relevant to the Temple of Kukulkan:

>

> " The Temple of Kukulkan (the Feathered Serpent God, also known as

> Quetzalcoatl) is the largest and most important ceremonial structure

> at Chichen Itza. This ninety-foot tall pyramid was built during the

> eleventh to thirteenth centuries directly upon the multiple

> foundations of previous temples. The pyramid is a store-house of

> information on the Mayan calendar. ... The northern stairway was the

> principal sacred path leading to the summit. At sunset on the vernal

> and autumnal equinoxes, an interplay between the sun's light and the

> edges of the stepped terraces on the pyramid creates a fascinating -

> and very brief - shadow display upon the sides of the northern

> stairway. A serrated line of seven interlocking triangles (chakras)

> gives the impression of a long tail leading downward to the stone

> head of the serpent Kukulkan (Kundalini), at the base of the

> stairway. " (Linda Casselman)

>

> What i want you to realize is that it will take years before we can

> gather many such pieces of the massive spiritual puzzle i.e., add and use them

to expand and explain in greater detail the teachings of

> Shri Mataji. The Divine Feminine sites are a huge undertaking that

> will require much effort, time and a team working collectively as

> well as independently. We are just laying the foundation for more

> qualified people in future to take over. Most of them will be from

> outside the SY organization, dedicated solely to the Divine Feminine. i know

they will join us years from today. That will happen when they begin to realize

the vast and all-encompassing vision of Shri Mataji from all the websites

dedicated to the Divine Feminine. This is the vision of the future. (Thus we

should be the least concerned about WCASY, NIPC, Sir C.P., the Sahaja Yoga

organization and even other SYs. It is indeed an insult to intelligence and a

shame on conscience to seek their approval because some of us are disturbed by

their collective resistance to Her Divine Message openly declared in its

entirety on our websites. Compelled to explain this to Self-realized souls, i

truly feel ashamed of myself.)

>

> i have always believed that to do the impossible you have to see the

> invisible. After spending so many years with a single-minded purpose

> on so many topics i have begun to see the invisible. Other than Shri

> Mataji in my Sahasrara i am all alone with that vision and its yet

> unknown immensity to humanity. i hope others will one day enjoy the

> same view as, and of, the Devi.

>

> regards to all,

>

> jagbir

>

>

> >

> > [A most fascinating ancient Native American archaeological site

> found in Ohio, USA, called the " Great Serpent Mound " , features an

> undulating snake's body, its coiled tail reminiscent of the Kundalini lying

dormant in the sacrum. In its mouth appears an egg, symbol of the potential

actualization of Second Birth.

> >

> > Is it possible, then, that the ancient Native American Peoples were

worshiping the Divine Feminine and were deeply aware of the symbolic, spiritual

significance of the Serpent Power and the Primordial Egg?

> >

> > Although scholars are uncertain as to the precise significance of

> this Great Serpent Mound, it is, however, highly likely that this

> site was revered by American Indians as the sacred representation of

> Kundalini awakening or Second Birth, especially since Shri Mataji

> Nirmala Devi confirms that:]

> >

> > " ...Canajoharie [uSA] has such tremendous vibrations that I

> said, " Look at this, so many years have passed, still the people who

> live there or worked about and were absolutely enjoying this place

> were Red Indians, the ones who were Indians, we call them American

> Indians. But they are so simple and innocent and they were so, I

> think, spiritual people because they used to worship the Mother. All

> the time they worship the Mother. " (Adi Shakti Puja, Nirmal Nagari

> (Canajoharie) USA, June 20, 1999)

> >

> > [Other sources offer added information on the Great Serpent Mound:]

> >

> > " The Great Serpent Mound, in Adams County, Ohio, USA, is considered to be

the world's largest serpent effigy. The mound is a quarter of a mile long and

five feet high, and it was originally much higher. " [2]

> >

> > " The Great Serpent Mound continues to wind its quarter-mile length

> along an Ohio hilltop...By the end of the nineteenth century,

> archaeologists were able to show that the mounds had in fact been

> built by Native American civilizations many centuries before-a-long-

> lost-civilization such as Greece, Persia, Holy Land or mythical

> island of Atlantis. " [3]

> >

> > " ...the two structures [stonehenge and the Great Serpent Mound in

> the USA] share the same timeline. From carbon dating in and around

> Stonehenge, the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) gives an early

> date for the core of Stonehenge at 3,000 B.C.E. or 5,000 years ago.

> The design of Serpent Mound was conceived about 5,000 years ago as

> well-and is therefore among the oldest of earth and stone works in

> North America--or in fact the world. In this, Stonehenge and Serpent

> Mound are coeval. That time period is referred to in North American

> archaeology as being of the " Archaic Period " (approximately 6000

> B.C.E. to 1000 B.C.E.)

> > http://www.greatserpentmound.info/stonehenge.html

> >

> >

> > References

> > [1]Costian, Dan.Bible Enlightened:Religions and Yoga./Dan Costian.

> Baltimore, United States of America.PUBLISHAMERICA,LLLP, 2003.ISBN: 1-

> 4137-0262-7, p.60

> > [2]Calloway, Colin G.Indians of the Northeast / Colin G.Calloway -

> The First Americans series.New York, NY,USA. Facts on File,Inc.

> Copyright,1991.ISBN: 0-8160-2389-1. pp. 15,16

> > [3]Wood, Marion. The World of Native Americans, First Edition. New

> York, NY10010,156 Fifth Ave. Peter Bedwick Books.1997. ISBN:

> 0750022760(hc.) pp.10,11

> >

>