End of World 2012?               

Was 2011 a forewarning of things to come?
 

The Maya Civilization
 

Mayan Long-Count Calendar


Apocalypse


Noah and the Great Flood

A Living Prophecy

The World is changing, but is it changing in a positive way that will benefit mankind, or are we heading down the road to a place far worst than it is today, and if so, what effects will it have on future generations?
 

As we enter the year 2012, ask yourself
these 12 questions:

• Is the world economy in trouble? 
   
• Is gainful employment vanishing? 
   
• Has the weather become unstable?  
   
• Are there more natural disasters each year?
   
• Are birds falling dead  from the sky, and fish
  dieing in the ocean?
   
• Is there a food shortage in the world?
   
• Has affordable energy become a world problem?
   
• Have governments become corrupt, and unmanageable?
   
• Are we heading towards a One World Government controlled by the elite few?
   
• Is there the threat of continued war in the Middle East?
   
• Are people taking to the streets in protest?
   
• Are people losing faith in the future of our world?
   

The answer to all of these questions is yes.

As December 21, 2012 approaches, the world  finds itself standing at the threshold of the most important age in human history. Will mankind seize this moment in time to bring about positive changes to the world we live in, or will we continue down the path of least resistance towards a catastrophic rendezvous with  destiny, and a final standoff between right and wrong?

     Concerned people want to know:

• What is the Mayan prophecy, and the Long-Count Calendar?
   
• What will happen on December 21, 2012?
   
• Will 2012 bring about a cosmic event that may change our lives, or an apocalyptic end to the world as we know it?
   
• Are we approaching the end of time, the day of Armageddon?

_______________

The date of December 21, 2012, which marks the ending day of the Mayan long-count calendar, has long been the subject of controversy and speculation all over the world. While no one can be sure of what the future holds, there are some things we can predict with relative certainty: world problems such as food shortages, threats of war, dependency on foreign oil, and an unstable economy. Not to mention what Mother Nature may bring to the table in the following months and years.

Ultimately, mankind will face the consequences of their decision to either resist or accept the changes necessary to improve and preserve a way of life that will benefit the human race for generations to come.

This website will attempt to examine some of the underlying events and conditions that may or may not be the signs of an impending doomsday.

Top of page

 The Maya Civilization

The Maya Civilization existed from about c. 2000 BC to 900 AD. The Maya were a highly advanced civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. The ancient Maya civilization had a very precise understanding of our solar system's cycles, and believed that these cycles coincided with our spiritual and collective consciousness. The Mayan culture supported religion and the Mayan tribes worshiped nature gods such as God of Rain, God of Sun and God of Corn. The Mayans gave importance to astronomy, astrology, and mythology. Human sacrifice was a part of the ancient Mayan religion.

The Maya, like the Aztecs, believed there had been three ages prior to our own. Some researchers believe that the first of these ages was the lost civilization of Atlantis, a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias. In Plato's account, Atlantis was a naval power lying "in front of the Pillars of Hercules" that conquered many parts of Western Europe and Africa 9,000 years before the time of Solon, or approximately 9600 BC. After a failed attempt to invade Athens, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune". 

The Vision Serpent is an important creature in Pre-Columbian Maya mythology, and it seems that the serpent religion, which the early Spanish conquistadors attempted to eradicate, may well owe its origins to survivors of this lost race of Atlantis, some of whom went to Egypt and some to Central America. The original Quetzalcoatl, a Mesoamerican deity, whose name means 'plumed serpent' and who was identified with the planet Venus, probably lived at the start of the fourth age, around 3114 BC and initiated a highly ethical religion of penance. This later degenerated into human sacrifice: physical hearts instead of emotions being offered to the sun.

In AD 775, a Maya lord set up an immense stone monument in the center of his city in Izabal, Guatemala. This monument bears the longest single hieroglyphic description of the Maya Creation Myth, noting that the Fourth World Age took place on the Maya calendar's day 13.0.0.0.0, 4 Ahaw, 8 Kumk’u, a date corresponding to August 13, 3114 BC on our calendar. This date appears over and over in other inscriptions throughout the Maya world. On that day the creator gods set three stones or mountains in the sky after lifting it with the sacred tree of life, from the dark waters that once covered the primordial world. These three stones formed a cosmic hearth at the center of the universe. The gods then struck divine new fire by means of lightning, which charged the world with new life. The Fifth World Age begins when the current era (Great Cycle) of the Fourth Sun comes to an end. This date is assumed to be December 21, 2012.

According to the Popol Vuh, a book compiling details of creation accounts known to the K'iche' Maya of the Colonial-era highlands, we are living in the fourth world. The Popol Vuh explains how the gods failed in the creation of the first three worlds, and successfully created the forth world, where men were placed.

In the Maya Long Count, the previous world ended after approximately 5,125 years (or 13 b'ak'tun cycles of 394.25 years).

The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, which would go back to about 3114 BC, or about the time that the third world ended and the forth world began.  The question arises: "If the beginning of history was so accurately placed, then must not the end of history, December 21, 2012 also be as accurate?". 

Top of page

 What is the Mayan Long-Count Calendar?

Over two-thousand years ago, The Mesoamerican Long Count calendar was created, and used by several Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures, most notably the Maya. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Maya (or Mayan) Long Count calendar.

Using a modified vigesimal tally, [The vigesimal or base 20 numeral system is based on twenty, in the same way in which the ordinary decimal numeral system is based on ten] the Long Count calendar identifies a day by counting the number of days passed since a mythical creation date that corresponds to August 11, 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar. Each of the twenty decimal cycles represents a  b'ak'tun or 394.25 years on the calendar. See Vigesimal chart below

This means that the fourth world will have reached the end of its thirteenth b'ak'tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, on either December 21 or December 23, 2012.

Example: 3113 BCE + 2012 AD =5,125 years. The Mayan prophesy is based on the ending date of this 5,125 year cycle which is believed to be December 21, 2012.

Vigesimal or base 20 numeral system
Long Count
*b'ak'tun cycles	Gregorian date
*Each b'ak'tun cycle represents 394.25 years
13.0.0.0.0	August 11, 3114 BCE
1.0.0.0.0	November 13, 2720 BCE
2.0.0.0.0	February 16, 2325 BCE
3.0.0.0.0	May 21, 1931 BCE
4.0.0.0.0	August 23, 1537 BCE
5.0.0.0.0	November 26, 1143 BCE
6.0.0.0.0	February 28, 748 BCE
7.0.0.0.0	June 3, 354 BCE
8.0.0.0.0	September 5, 41 CE
9.0.0.0.0	December 9, 435
10.0.0.0.0	March 13, 830
11.0.0.0.0	June 15, 1224
12.0.0.0.0	September 18, 1618
13.0.0.0.0	December 21, 2012
14.0.0.0.0	March 26, 2407
15.0.0.0.0	June 28, 2801
16.0.0.0.0	October 1, 3195
17.0.0.0.0	January 3, 3590
18.0.0.0.0	April 7, 3984
19.0.0.0.0	July 11, 4378
1.0.0.0.0.0	October 13, 4772

Maya city of Tikal, Guatemala

Transition from the Fourth World Age into the Fifth World Age

The Mayans believed that the date of December 21, 2012, the ending cycle of a 5,125 year period in their Long-Count calendar, would be a time of transition from one world age into another.   

They also believed that how we move from one age to an  another will be determined by our acceptance or our resistance. Acceptance would bring a period of tranquility and peace, while resistance would be the cause for cataclysmic change.

New Age spiritualists believe that the ending date of the Mayan Long-Count calendar will mark the beginning of a new age of conscious and spiritual awakening, a new step in human evolution. Although there are many opinions concerning this date, the vast majority of people who share some knowledge of the Mayan prophesy probably see it as just plain nonsense, or just another Y2K scare. Still, there are those who firmly believe that December 21, 2012 will usher in the beginning stages of what may be the end of the world as we know it. 

Top of page

 Apocalypse

NOTE: It is not the intention of this website to create a feeling of anxiety about the religious prophecies of one culture or another, but merely to examine what has already been documented by other sources, and perhaps come to some conclusion as to what may or may not happen in the year 2012 or beyond.

An apocalyptic date for the end of the world, and the judgment of all people is prophesied in most major religions. The exact date is not always foretold, and remains a mystery, but there are some tribes and ancient beliefs that point to the year 2012 as an end date. The Book of Revelation, written by Saint John of Patmos, is the last book in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. The author prophesizes the end of the world, and the day of Armageddon. Saint John wrote his vision of the end of the world with visual symbolism and apocalyptic signs, but did not predict an actual end date. Some of the signs mentioned in John's vision, such as the earth being struck by a comet in the last days, (REV:8:10) closely mirrors the prophecies of other religious beliefs. Many Christians believe that we are now living in the last days, and that numerous signs exist that closely correlate with the visions of John in the Book of Revelation. The forewarning that a comet will strike earth in the last days is also written in the prophecies of the ancient Hopi, the Maya, the Chinese I Ching, and some researchers now claim that even the famous prophet, Nostradamus predicted that a comet would strike the earth in the year 2012. 

Top of page

Noah and the Great Flood

In the traditions of most ancient civilizations there can be found a legend concerning a flood of such enormous proportions that it is believed to have covered the whole Earth. Among the most mysterious events described in the Bible, is the time of Noah and the Great Flood recorded in Genesis 6:7. It remains only second to the story of Creation. The Great Flood was the greatest catastrophic event witnessed and recorded as human history. It wiped out the entire human race, and destroyed all animal life while covering the mountains and earth in a deluge of water after raining for forty days and forty nights. According to biblical history, the only survivors were Noah, his family, and the  animals and creatures that he sheltered on the Ark, which God had commanded him to build before the flood.  

Excavations in Mesopotamia have led archaeologists and other scientists to conclude that a number of serious floods occurred there between 4000 and 2000 BC. It is possible that one of these floods was so destructive that it made a lasting impression on the population and became a subject for the ancient literature of the period.    

It's of interest to note that the starting date of the Mayan Long-Count Calendar closely coincides with the Biblical account of Noah and the Great Flood that destroyed all life on earth according to the book of Genesis of the Bible. Many researchers credit the story of Noah and the Ark to Mesoamerican myths, and although there is much debate as to the exact date of the flood, most scholars place the event somewhere between 2500-3500 BCE, which is close to the Mayan creation date of 3114 BCE.   
 

Top of page

A Living Prophecy

It's not a real stretch of the imagination to understand that the world is in a state of flux, and that mankind is experiencing environmental problems from the food we grow to the air we breathe. The demands of our culture continue to push us in the direction of uncertainty as we progress through the 21st century. Many of the problems we are facing today will only intensify as the need for clean air, water, food and fuel continues to grow throughout the world.

As mankind strives to produce and maintain a quality of life, the natural forces that sustain our existence are coming into question. Scientists around the world are warning us of the dangers of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that future emissions and removals depend in part on assumptions about changes in underlying human activities. For example, the demand for fossil fuels such as gasoline and coal is expected to increase greatly with the predicted growth of the U.S. and global economies.

Can we accept the challenge that we must change the way we live today in order to overcome the environmental problems of the future, and in doing so, preserve a quality of life for future generations. Or, will we resist the changes that need to be made, and force future generations down a path of uncertainty.

Certain spiritual movements believe we are at the threshold of a new age of enlightenment. Others say 2012 will end up being much like the Y2K rollover in the year 2000: it will come, it will go, and not much of anything will have changed. Researchers claim that the Mayan glyphs and hieroglyphs aren't crystal clear about what the calendar end means, but the Maya descendants in the Highlands of Guatemala believe that it will be the beginning of a better world.  
 

Top of page

 

NEXT: SIGNS OF DOOMSDAY