Mayan Prognostications
To our plugged-in, fast-paced cultures, the dichotomy of the Maya appears more fascinating with each passing year. Living so closely with nature, crafting some of the world's first urban centers out of simple timber and stone, they nevertheless gained a level of technological and cultural sophistication that other civilizations would struggle to replicate after their passing. Demonstrating an uncanny facility for astronomy, language, storytelling, and architecture, their legacy of megalithic structures and the particular accuracy of their timekeeping lends a certain credibility to their prophecies regarding the end of our current cycle in the Mayan long-count calendar - one of the most accurate ever conceived.
Though Hollywood and popular culture have their own spin on '2012' and the 'Doomsday' forecasts of the Mayan legends, it's important to remember that Mayan religion stressed the concept of rebirth and the cyclical nature of the universe. If anything, the 13th cycle's closing represents a transition, not an period at the end of humanity's sentence.
2012 - The End, or Beginning
On the 22nd of December, 2012, the prophecies have pinned the culmination of a long transformational process that will usher mankind into a new era. But what exactly will happen, and will this mean the end of everything, a new dawn for the human race, or something in between? Here are the seven prophecies that will supposedly be fulfilled as the 13th cycle winds down to a close:
1. Time Running Out. The first prophecy details the beginning of a countdown, originating in the year 1992, of a 20-year stopwatch measuring the time during which humanity would face a critical choice: to improve, evaluate, and drastically change its spiritual character for the better, or else face dire consequences during the end times.
2. Inner Search. The second prophecy highlights the necessity of humanity to turn inwards in a self-reflective search for truth and greater harmony with its surroundings. An eclipse on April 11, 1999 was identified as symbolizing the shift in galactic energy which would affect the minds of all intelligent beings, bringing us all into greater alignment even without being consciously aware of it.
3. Climate Climax. Being expert astronomers, the Maya kept close watch on the planet Venus, and at one point decided they had identified a connection between its revolutions and the activity of the sun. Therefore, the prophets declared that after 117 spins, right around the time of 2012, the sun would being to heat up, and solar activity would jump many times, coinciding with a sudden and dramatic warming of the Earth.
4. Choose Your Path. Faced with these calamitous times, humanity, it is said, will collectively choose whether to walk the path of peace and understanding, or succumb to fear and hatred. As the Maya supported a worldview which identified concepts with their opposites, they did not believe that either of choice was necessarily preferable, just that we as a people would choose the path we needed to travel in order to develop the tools to enhance our own spiritual enlightenment.
5. Crash Down. Any of man's existing systems of order and government that still suffer from corruption, and which cause people to live in fear and oppression, will crumble in the wake of the new era's dawning. An age of greater harmony between people and nature is not long off.
6. Comets Aplenty. The Mayans saw the arrival of comets as sure sign of major changes on the horizon, and predicted that one would surely pass overhead to signify the cosmic shift about to be ushered in.
7. Worldwide Wakeup. The seventh and final prophecy makes it clear that no matter which path we choose, humanity is destined to arrive at a place of greater understanding and harmony, both within our communities and also in terms of our connection with the plant and animal life of Mother Earth. Therefore, despite Hollywood's take on the subject, no fiery doom was forecast by the Maya for the planet, nor did they view the 13th cycle's closing as an end - rather it was foretold to be a beginning, a fresh start for both all human souls and the biosphere as a whole.
To our plugged-in, fast-paced cultures, the dichotomy of the Maya appears more fascinating with each passing year. Living so closely with nature, crafting some of the world's first urban centers out of simple timber and stone, they nevertheless gained a level of technological and cultural sophistication that other civilizations would struggle to replicate after their passing. Demonstrating an uncanny facility for astronomy, language, storytelling, and architecture, their legacy of megalithic structures and the particular accuracy of their timekeeping lends a certain credibility to their prophecies regarding the end of our current cycle in the Mayan long-count calendar - one of the most accurate ever conceived.
Though Hollywood and popular culture have their own spin on '2012' and the 'Doomsday' forecasts of the Mayan legends, it's important to remember that Mayan religion stressed the concept of rebirth and the cyclical nature of the universe. If anything, the 13th cycle's closing represents a transition, not an period at the end of humanity's sentence.
2012 - The End, or Beginning
On the 22nd of December, 2012, the prophecies have pinned the culmination of a long transformational process that will usher mankind into a new era. But what exactly will happen, and will this mean the end of everything, a new dawn for the human race, or something in between? Here are the seven prophecies that will supposedly be fulfilled as the 13th cycle winds down to a close:
1. Time Running Out. The first prophecy details the beginning of a countdown, originating in the year 1992, of a 20-year stopwatch measuring the time during which humanity would face a critical choice: to improve, evaluate, and drastically change its spiritual character for the better, or else face dire consequences during the end times.
2. Inner Search. The second prophecy highlights the necessity of humanity to turn inwards in a self-reflective search for truth and greater harmony with its surroundings. An eclipse on April 11, 1999 was identified as symbolizing the shift in galactic energy which would affect the minds of all intelligent beings, bringing us all into greater alignment even without being consciously aware of it.
3. Climate Climax. Being expert astronomers, the Maya kept close watch on the planet Venus, and at one point decided they had identified a connection between its revolutions and the activity of the sun. Therefore, the prophets declared that after 117 spins, right around the time of 2012, the sun would being to heat up, and solar activity would jump many times, coinciding with a sudden and dramatic warming of the Earth.
4. Choose Your Path. Faced with these calamitous times, humanity, it is said, will collectively choose whether to walk the path of peace and understanding, or succumb to fear and hatred. As the Maya supported a worldview which identified concepts with their opposites, they did not believe that either of choice was necessarily preferable, just that we as a people would choose the path we needed to travel in order to develop the tools to enhance our own spiritual enlightenment.
5. Crash Down. Any of man's existing systems of order and government that still suffer from corruption, and which cause people to live in fear and oppression, will crumble in the wake of the new era's dawning. An age of greater harmony between people and nature is not long off.
6. Comets Aplenty. The Mayans saw the arrival of comets as sure sign of major changes on the horizon, and predicted that one would surely pass overhead to signify the cosmic shift about to be ushered in.
7. Worldwide Wakeup. The seventh and final prophecy makes it clear that no matter which path we choose, humanity is destined to arrive at a place of greater understanding and harmony, both within our communities and also in terms of our connection with the plant and animal life of Mother Earth. Therefore, despite Hollywood's take on the subject, no fiery doom was forecast by the Maya for the planet, nor did they view the 13th cycle's closing as an end - rather it was foretold to be a beginning, a fresh start for both all human souls and the biosphere as a whole.
About the Author:
Travel and Archeology lovers will enjoy visiting Onejungle.com For more information look for Onejungle.com, a site for active travel in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Also, you can visit the adventure travel community to find other travelers looking to visit Mayan ruins.
No comments:
Post a Comment