Introduction
One of the things that people in the modern age shares with their ancient counterpart is their inquisitiveness regarding their destiny. The fact that there is limited information to go by, has not dampened man’s spirits but rather fanned the flame on his quest to demystify his destiny. Since the advent of time, theories and speculations have existed concerning the end of the world. Prophesies have over the years been made predicting the end of the world.
However, most of this prophesies are soaked in religious ideologies and therefore elicit a lot of skeptics to their declarations. While most of these apocalyptic prophesies have proved to be fallacies, there exist others which appear to be more credible and evoke our interest in present times. The Mayan 2012 prophesy is one of the greatest plausible end-time prophesies of modern times. This is partially because it makes scientifically verifiable assertions.
History of the Mayans Calendar system
One of the great ancient civilizations known to man is that of the Mayan people. These people had a well developed writing system which made use of phonetics and ideograms. However, most of their written works perished with the disappearance of the civilization. The Mayan calendar is one of the most important relics from the Mayan civilization. It is widely contended that one of the greatest Mayan accomplishment was the creation of their intricate calendar system.
Calendars were based on astronomical events such as the cycles of the sun, moon and planets. This heavenly body’s movement established the seasons with priest-astronomers pronouncing the advent of each new period. As such, this calendar was the center of the life and culture of the Mayan people. Anderson (2007), articulates that the Mayans wrote accurately depicting the Earth’s rotation around the sun in 365.24 and in addition to this documented the movement of planets that were in that age undiscovered.
The Mayan people had three calendar systems. Of particular interest is their long count calendar which was based on a cycle of an estimated 5000 years. Ettington (2005, p. 36) asserts that “This calendar is a massive and highly accurate list of astronomical events and seasonal occurrences such as solstices and equinoxes.” It is advanced that the current long count calendar started counting down in the year 3114BC and will end in the year 2012 AD.
It is predicted that the world will come to an end at the same time as when the calendar finishes its cycle. This is based on the fact that the sun will have aligned itself to the center of the Milky Way galaxy. While scientists acknowledge that this galactic alignment will occur as per the Mayan calendar, the consequences are controversial and they form the backbone of the 2012 prophesies which deduce and extrapolate the phenomena surrounding the sun aligning itself with the galactic center.
Consequences of the Sun’s Alignment
There are various consequences that are predicted to occur as a result of the solar phenomena in 2012. One of the results of the aligning of the sun will be the shifting of the earth’s Magnetism. Symptoms of this occurrence have already began to be manifested in the form of abrupt changes in weather patterns and a rapid weakening of the planet’s magnetic field. The implications of a shift in magnetism would be catastrophic which would indeed be the apocalypse prophesied by the Mayans.
Another possibility of the alignment of the sun in 2012 is that solar flares will be discharged from the sun off into space. Solar flares are of dangerous consequence should they reach the earth. Solar flares have occurred in the earth’s past though at smaller scales.
It he flares were to occur on a higher intensity level, (and the 2012 apocalypse prophesy proponents do assert that it will), then the entire human population on earth would be eradicated. The credibility of the Mayan Calendar is however unquestionable and this has led a lot of people to speculate that if this ancient people could accurately predict celestial activities, their interpretations of the effects of the sun’s alignment with the milky way might also be true.
Conclusion
While the Mayan 2012 prophecy does appear to hold its own due to the supposed wisdom of the ancient civilization being scientifically proven, the prophecy fails to give an explicit meaning as to what “the end of time” really means. While some propose that it is a literal end of the world, others contend that it is a call for the human race to collectively harmonize itself. How the Mayans were able to come up with the calendar still remains a mystery.
However, most prophesies made by the Mayans have come to pass. Regardless of the fact that most people do feel that something will happen in the year 2012, it need not be cause for alarm and fear as there is no proof as to the exact nature of whatever will happen. People should therefore not be crippled by fear and anxiety out of regarding the intergalactic alignment as an apocalypse. Instead, the event should be viewed as one of life’s many little mysteries which do not warrant much apprehension.
References
Anderson, N. (2007). Worse Than Global Warming: Wave Technology, The Imminent Threat to Civilization As Told by the Prophecies. USA: Safe Goods.
Ettington, M. (2008). Prophecy: A History and How to Guide. USA: Martin Ettington.