THE MAYAN CALENDAR The Ending of a Cycle

Martha Rucker

If you have not yet encountered any of the 2012 information related to strange aspects of this particular year, this should serve as an introduction. The subject will have to be brief in scope, since there is simply too much for any one person to convey or absorb, in a single sitting. The basis of the interest in the year 2012 is in the closing of a great cycle within the Mayan calendar system. The calendar that most concerns this paper is the Long Count' system which runs for just over 5125 years and is set to complete on the winter solstice of 2012. Most people who are knowledgeable in the field of the Mayan calendar understand the Calendar as a system of an indigenous peoples astronomy, astrology, divination and prophecy. The Mayan sacred books of astronomy and prophecy are painted on pages of processed bark of the amate tree. Catholic priests burned thousands of these books, called codices, during the early 15th century. Much knowledge was lost. Mayan Priests were driven far into hiding and they could only practice their culture in the most remote areas of Central America. Those who were caught were killed. This practice continued up to the late 1980s. Artisan Ian Lungold, became fascinated by the Mayans while making jewelry based on their designs. After researching Mayan culture and design, he discovered a simple formula to correlate any day on the Mayan calendar with the Gregorian calendar there-by providing access to everyone to the Mayan calendar.1 Among their other accomplishments, the ancient Mayas invented a calendar of remarkable accuracy and complexity. The ancient Mayan Pyramid Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico is an example. The Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichn Itz constructed circa 1050, was built during the late Mayan period. when Toltecs from Tula became politically powerful. The pyramid was used as a calendar; four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar year. The Mayan calendar uses three different dating systems in parallel, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar), and the Haab (civil calendar). Of these, only the Haab has a direct relationship to the length of the year. The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar is a non-repeating calendar used by several cultures, most notably the Maya. The Ancient Mayan Calendar ends a 5200-year cycle known as the long-count in the year 2012. According to their tradition this is the death of the 4th Period of the Sun, and the birth of the new 5th Period of the Sun. The seeds of Ancient Prophecy have started to sprout into common knowledge. This awareness is increasing globally. However, people are having a tough time with the ancient information that was left for us to consider. The Ancient Ones left many stories, glyphs and prophecies describing with great detail major planetary transitions of the past, as well as what to expect in our present time of transition. These are not solely Mayan insights. Its amazing how similar the various traditions, prophecies, perspectives, and detailed accounts of past transitions are in relation to each other. The Mayan Calendar's closing occurs at a very important time in mankind's evolution. Some amazing and unique astronomical events will occur in 2012 that were predicted eons ago. These events were known in advance by the Mayans and are documented in their calendars. So what are we to make of these events and the closing of this major cycle? What does it all mean? Are we going to die? Is this the Apocalypse we have been told to anticipate? Steve Copeland, a writer/director, is the producer of the documentary film The Shift of The Ages that addresses these many theories. He says that according to the Mayan's prophecy, we are living the return of the ancestors and the men of wisdom. Our time truly is the Shift of the Ages 2 Carlos Barrios is an anthropologist, historian and investigator. After studying with traditional elders for 25 years, he has also become a Mayan Ajq'ij, a ceremonial priest and spiritual guide called Eagle Clan. 1

He says that "Anthropologists visit the temple sites and read the inscriptions and make up stories about the Maya but they dont read the signs correctly. It's just their imagination. Other people write about prophecy in the name of the Maya. They say that the world will end in December 2012. This makes the Mayan elders angry. The world will not end. It will be transformed. The indigenous people have the calendars, and know how to accurately interpret them. The Mayan Calendars comprehension of time, seasons, and cycles has proven itself to be vast and sophisticated. The Maya understand 17 different calendars, some of them charting time accurately over a span of more than ten million years. The calendar that has steadily drawn global attention since 1987 is called the Tzolk'in. It was devised ages ago and is based on the cycle of the Pleiades. It is still held as sacred. With the indigenous calendars, native people have kept track of important turning points in history. For example, the day keepers, who study the calendars, identified an important day in the year One Reed, Ce Acatal, as the Mexicans called it. That was the day when an important ancestor was prophesied to return, "coming like a butterfly." In the western calendar, the One Reed date correlates to Easter Sunday, April 21, 1519 the day that Hernando Cortez and his fleet of 11 Spanish galleons arrived from the East at what is today called Vera Cruz, Mexico. When the Spanish ships came toward shore, native people were waiting and watching to see what would happen. In this manner a new era was initiated, an era they had anticipated through their calendars. The Maya termed the new era the nine Hells of 52 years each. As the nine cycles unfolded, land and freedom were taken from the native people. Disease and oppression dominated them. What began with the arrival of Cortez, lasted until August 16, 1987. From that 1987 date until now, Mr. Barrios says, we have been in a time when the right arm of the materialistic world is slowly but surely disappearing. We are at the cusp of the era when peace begins, and people live in harmony with Mother Earth. We are no longer in the World of the Fourth Sun, but we are not yet in the World of the Fifth Sun. This is the time in-between, the time of transition. As we pass through transition there is a colossal, global convergence of environmental destruction, social chaos, war, and ongoing Earth changes. All this, Barrios says, was foreseen via the simple, spiral mathematics of the Mayan calendars. "It will change," he observes. "Everything will change." He said Mayan Day keepers view the Dec. 21, 2012 date as a rebirth, the start of the World of the Fifth Sun. According to the Mayan Calendar this date marks the beginning of a new era resulting from and signified by the solar meridian crossing the galactic equator, and the earth aligning itself with the center of the galaxy. At sunrise on December 21, 2012 for the first time in 26,000 years the sun will rise to conjunct the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. This cosmic cross is considered to be an embodiment of the Sacred Tree, The Tree of Life, a tree remembered in all the world's spiritual traditions. Some observers say this alignment with the heart of the galaxy in 2012 will open a channel for cosmic energy to flow through the earth, cleansing it and all that dwells upon it, raising all to a higher level. Barrios contends, "Humanity will continue, but in a different way. Things will change, but it is up to the people how difficult or easy it is for the changes to come about. We are living in the most important era of the Mayan calendars and prophecies and have progressed decades deeper into the transition phase. Many of the so-called sources of financial stability are in fact hollow. The banks are weak. The monetary systems will be in chaos, and we must then rely on our direct relationship with the Earth for our food and shelter. Mr. Barrios offered a number of suggestions to help people walk in balance through the years ahead. "The prophesied changes are going to happen," he said "but our attitude and actions determine how harsh or mild they are. 3 2

The Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichn Itz, was used as a calendar: four stairways, each with 91 steps and a platform at the top, making a total of 365, equivalent to the number of days in a calendar year. The pyramid is actually the Mayan calendar formed in stone. The Maya calendar was adopted by the other Mesoamerican nations, such as the Aztecs and the Toltec, which adopted the mechanics of the calendar unaltered

The round calendar was used to name individuals, predict the future, decide on auspicious dates for battles, marriages, and so on. Each single day had its omens and associations, and the inexorable march of the 20 days was like a perpetual fortune-telling machine, guiding the destinies of the Maya
Bibliography: 1. Ian Lungold, artisan / researcher: An Overview of the Mayan Calendar: n.p. 2007 - www.lescarney.com/mayan_calandar. 2. Steve Copeland- Writer/ Director/ Producer of the Shift of the Ages project: n.p. 2007 - www.lescarney.com/mayan_calandar.htm 3. Carlos Barrios, Historian/Anthropologist Mayan Ceremonial Priest: The World Will Not End: n.p. unknown www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/barrios.sht Other information/links: 2012: Science or Superstition www.2012dvd.com/more.htm