gyrus

And now, as promised, a post before the end of the world.

So my family and I visited the Yucatán peninsula a couple years ago.  We toured the ruins of various civilizations there, largely known as the Maya.  Of course, each independent civilization was a little bit different, but there were many striking commonalities between the two or three groups we studied there, and so it will be simpler and still fairly correct to lump them all into one general group of Mayans.

We visited Chichen Itza, perhaps the most popular Mayan site.

This Central American ziggurat is also believed to be a calendar, as it has a total of 365 steps on each side.  A theme throughout much of Mayan construction was that their structures would align with the sun in specific ways on important dates including equinoxes and solstices.  For example, el Castillo (above) has a snake head at the bottom of its staircase, and on the equinoxes the body is perfectly illuminated.  To the Maya, this represented the serpent either ascending or descending (depending on the equinox).  Other structures featured windows that would align with sunrise or sunset on specific dates.  One such date is April 6th, for anyone to whom that is significant. :)

There are so many fascinating things about Maya culture and the things they constructed with such careful precision. They studied the stars, and even built observatories (below), and even though they are known for being bloodthirsty in their rituals and contests, I find them to be an advanced and scientific civilization.

They created a solar calendar that is highly accurate in correlation to our current calendar, which is quite a mathematical feat.  They mastered principles of acoustics, astronomy, architecture, medicine, and so much more.  So they do have quite a bit of credence for predicting the end of the world.

But did they really do that?

Something interesting about the Mayan culture (almost religion, really) is that they were very dedicated to cycles.  Seasons, years, astronomical events...there are countless cycles that we experience throughout a lifetime. The Maya believed that the Earth completed many different cycles, some 52 years long, some 5125 years long.  Today marks the end of the thirteenth 5125-year long cycle, called a Baktun, and the beginning of a new one. Many people are elated at the new beginnings and believe that we have started a new and better age.

So where do we get all these prophecies of doom?

Well, the Maya do believe that the Earth goes through elemental cleansings from time to time (another cyclical occurrence).  One such cleansing, that of Water several millenia ago, is commonly known as Noah's flood.  So there has been speculation that this new Baktun could usher in another elemental cleansing, perhaps of fire, earth, or air.

Aside from the Maya, there has been mass speculation from the scientific world for several years now saying that the world is due for a few massive explosions having to do with tectonic pressures and other sub-surface happenings.  Yellowstone National Park is one such hotspot, waiting for a meltdown.

There have been several astronomical speculations from the scientific world as well, as the end of 2012 coincides with a solar maximum, an 11-year cycle where the sun reaches a maximum of sunspots and radiation.

In addition to the solar maximum, our solar system is allegedly passing through an area of its orbit through the galaxy that will bring it closer to the center than ever before, and some are expecting disasters to yield from our unusual proximity to what is commonly regarded as a black hole at the center of the milky way.

And for the Mormons reading my blog, there's quite a bit of hearsay about China opening soon (or already being opened, depending on who you ask, and whose Bishop's wife heard it from a relief society lady who was friends with the wife of an Area Seventy who overheard it in an elevator in the Church office buildings...)

(If you're not Mormon and you have no idea what China opening means, and how that even relates to the end of the world, all I can say to you is to investigate the Mormon church's missionary system and maybe you'll get an explanation later.)

Overall, it seems to me that 2012 is the coincidence of any number of cycles beginning anew, reaching an apex, or some other significant part of the cycle, and the sum of it all is what many are regarding as the end of the world, which is something we seem to have been waiting for for quite some time.

Personally, I do not believe that this world will end anytime soon (which is a very relative term, so...I'm right no matter what, ha!) but I do believe that it is the beginning of a new epoch. I wouldn't be surprised if there were any manner of disasters, natural or otherwise. I might even be excited for the challenge.

So for now, keep on being alive, go ahead and celebrate being alive if you must (which is something you should do every day...you don't need an excuse like an apocalypse to do that) and participate in the cleansing of the earth by improving yourself and the world immediately around you.