Mayans calendar?

Question

do u think the mayans calendar is true? it says the world will end in 2012. what do you think?

Answer 1

i think something will happen in 2012. something that will transform the world into a new world. 5 years to go.

Answer 2

The Mayan Calendar does not end in 2012; it simply starts its long cycle over again.  The Maya held (and still hold) a cyclic view of time, meaning that they viewed time as repeating itself.  They have shorter and longer cycles:  the Haab cycle lasts approximately 52 years (roughly the span of a human lifetime back then) each round, and the long count cycles at a MUCH longer interval.  The long count started in about 3114 BCE and will end its first cycle in 2012.  This does not mean that they thought that the world would end, but simply that the long count calendar is going to go into a new cycle, much like every 52 years another Haab cycle starts.

As to whether or not the Mayans believed or believe that the world is going to end in 2012, since they do not view time in a linear fashion as we do (as in rather than being cyclic, being a linear progression forward through time), they would not have thought of 2012 as being the end of times.  They would have thought of it as the beginning of another cycle that would have had meaning, but not the sort of world-ending destructive meaning proposed by the idea that the world is coming to an end.

Now, what is supposed to happen is an astronomical event that is important for the Mayans.  The sun will cross the Milky Way to form what the Mayans knew as the Sacred Tree.  In short, the sun represents the Father, and the Milky Way the Tree of Life.  The new cycle is a sort of cycle of rebirth or a new start in life.

I have included in the source section an article that gives a more in-depth explanation for the importance of the long count calendar to the Maya.  It also explains in detail the astronomical phenomenon involved in their creation myth.

Answer 3

Highly unlikely.  That kind of prediction takes a whole lot of ESP.  I don't think the future can be predicted.

Answer 4

DK713 has a great answer. All I can add to this is that I lived in Guatemala for over two years among the Mayan K'iches. One thing that strikes me about these peoples: They do not believe in "the end." the Mayans will always be around even if you kill all of us. That's what they used to say. but, let's not get into this right now. to answer your question, yes I believe the mayan calendar is a very sophisticated and correct calendar. No, it does not speak of the world's end in 2012 but in a major "change cycle."