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5 Mayan Apocalypse Myths Debunked
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50229425#.UNHiLqWTMyE

On Friday, Dec. 21, some say, the Mayan apocalypse will arrive and the world will end. Fortunately, it won't.

A bold claim, we know, but if it's good enough for NASA, it's good enough for us. The space agency has already issued a press release dated Dec. 22 entitled "Why the World Didn't End Yesterday."

The Mayan apocalypse predictions arise from a misunderstanding of the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar, which wraps up a 400-year cycle called a b'ak'tun on Dec. 21, 2012, the day of the winter solstice. This just so happens to be the 13th b'ak'tun in the calendar, a benchmark the Maya would have seen as a full cycle of creation.

Did you catch that? Cycle. In other words, the Maya had a cyclical view of time and would not have seen the end of their calendar cycle as the end of the world. It wasn't until Westerners began reinterpreting the calendar in the past couple decades that it got its apocalyptic overtones. [ Images: Mayan Calendar Carvings ]

Mayan apocalypse rumors have proliferated on the Internet, running the gamut from beliefs that Dec. 21 will bring a new era of peace and universal understanding to predictions of a devastating astronomical event. We're all in favor of world peace, but we're here to put your fears to rest about the likelihood of planetary annihilation. Read on for five common Mayan apocalypse fears and why they won't come true.

Prediction 1: The sun will kill us all

[snip]

Predictions of a Dec. 21 solar storm that will devastate the planet are not based in reality, according to NASA scientists. This particular solar maximum is one of the "wimpiest" in recent history, according to NASA heliophysicist Lika Guhathakurta, who spoke during an online panel on the Mayan apocalypse on Nov. 28. In other words, scientists have no reason to expect solar storms capable of disrupting our society.

Prediction 2: The Earth's magnetic poles will flip-flop
Prediction 3: Planet X will collide with Earth
Prediction 4: The planets will align
Prediction 5: Total Earth blackout

[snip][end]

There is no Planet X, there is no coming planetary alignment, there is no "Photonic Belt" we are entering, and while it is possible the magnetic poles could flip tomorrow, it may also not happen for hundreds of thousands of years, and would not cause the massive shifts in the Earth's crust depicted in the movie "2012".

In short, as Douglas Adams said,

http://www.calendarhome.com/converter/mayan.html

Mayan units of time
1 baktun= 20 katun 394.3 years
1 pictun= 20 baktun 7,885 years
1 calabtun= 20 piktun 157,704 years
1 kinchiltun= 20 calabtun 3,154,071 years
1 alautun = 20 kinchiltun 63,081,429 years

The Mayans believed at at the conclusion of each pictun cycle of about 7,885 years the universe is destroyed and re-created. Those with apocalyptic inclinations will be relieved to observe that the present cycle will not end until Columbus Day, October 12, 4772 in the Gregorian calendar.

Speaking of apocalyptic events, it's amusing to observe that the longest of the cycles in the Mayan calendar, alautun, about 63 million years, is comparable to the 65 million years since the impact which brought down the curtain on the dinosaurs--an impact which occurred near the Yucatan peninsula where, almost an alautun later, the Mayan civilisation flourished.

[snip][end]

As I keep saying, if they counted in terms of alautuns, they must have thought the universe will be around for a long time.

All that will happen on Friday is that one Long Count will end, and then another Long Count will begin. This should be as fearful as your car odometer rolling over from 9999 to 0001, or one Gregorian century ending and another century beginning.

I like the fractal calculations Terence McKenna did for Timewave Zero, but I don't think Friday is the Eschaton. History and time will continue. I don't know if New Agers are going to celebrate the Harmonic Convergence, but I won't be attending.

Well, darn. I guess I can put my firecrackers up.

What's all the fuss?

Long count just resets

People are morons.

They already have the sudoku puzzle for Dec 22 posted in the paper. They may even have the headlines ready.

Sudoku puzzle Sat Dec 22 2012

There may be something to this whole Mayan Calendar/End of the World thing. It was 33 degrees here last night.

There are some REALLY unhappy Southern Californians - they're talking about another recall for the Governor.

BTW, I hear 200,000 people are on their way to Chichen Itza.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/ ... Y120121217

I was there in 1995. Only a few hundred there that day, that I saw.

Oh well, at least it will be good for tourism. End of the world packages for Cancun have been quite popular. Since if you're going to go out, why not do it surrounded by the excess and debauchery of Cancun?

http://www.fodors.com/news/10-end-of-th ... -6257.html

Well, it's been nice knowing you guys.

Clearly, the kaboom needs more cowbell.

Perhaps the god Bolon Yokte K'uh will come back today.

What most people don't know is Tortuguero is just about the only Mayan site that contains an inscription or prophecy referring to what happens at the end of the 13th baktun. And that was only discovered and translated in the late 1960s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tortuguero_(Maya_site)


The first question this prompts is, "Who is Bolon-Yokte?" [5]

Bolon Yokte is the God of Nine Strides, (or the God of Numerous Strides, since Bolon, which means "nine" is often used as "many"). Sometimes referred to as B'olon Yookte' K'u, or B'olon Okte' K'uh, where K'uh means deity, he has also been called Ah Bolon Yocte of Nine Paths in the post-conquest books of Chilam Balam. The god has an association with the underworld, conflict and war, [6] dangerous transition times, social unrest, eclipses and natural disasters like Earthquakes. He appears at the end of baktuns, assisted at the Creation of the current world and will be present at the next Creation in 2012. Other translations of the name are God of Nine Steps; the Nine-Footed God; and Jaguar-Foot-Tree, because the word bolon or balan (nine) was used by the Maya as a pun for balam (jaguar). The god was seen alternatively as nine individuals or as a collective god.



Anyway, this seems to be going on at Chichen Itza. A rave, more or less.



That might have been worth going to.

For some odd reason, the Chinese (?) are dealing with the worst apocalyptic cults on this date. Go figure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wor ... y-arrived/

Chinese authorities recently arrested 500 members of a doomsday cult that was noisily predicting Dec. 21 as the day.

[snip][end]

Has the Apocalypse happened over there yet? Because I got nuthin' here.

Well, ol' Bolon has till around midnight to show up. (He should be in the same time zone as me, EST, because most of the Maya region is in my time zone.)

After that, I'm not leaving any more milk and cookies for him.

Oh wait, that's a different holiday.