The news about December 21st says the Mayas are the bad guys. These dear people were innovative and well organised. All when we were still living in swamps in the Netherlands. In Maya society it was very important to keep a calendar. They developed a very ingenious calendar. They used more or less the following units: kin (1 day), uinal (20 days), tun (~1 year), katun (~20 years), baktun (~394 years) en pictun (~7.885 year). These units were used in the same manner as we use decade, century, millennium. For example: 1 katun is 20 tun in duration; and 1 pictun is 20 baktun; etcetera.
But what happens on December 21st 2012? This is exactly the date that the actual baktun finishes (let's call it the Maya century). This date is mentioned in some Maya writings, but what witches, fortune tellers, hippies, prophets or who-ever says about this date, has nothing to do with the Mayas. The apocalypse is an invention of the Christians to be exact... The Mayas don't even know a last judgment myth.
I think of the millennium bug all the time while reading about the fear for the end of the world. And we all know nothing happened at January 1st 2000. Humanity has some fear of finishing clocks, I guess. We also count away the last seconds at New Years Eve. Probably it's very human to fear the idea that there will not be a new year. Well, than next year will become very interesting! I wish you all the best for 2013...
I think of the millennium bug all the time while reading about the fear for the end of the world. And we all know nothing happened at January 1st 2000. Humanity has some fear of finishing clocks, I guess. We also count away the last seconds at New Years Eve. Probably it's very human to fear the idea that there will not be a new year. Well, than next year will become very interesting! I wish you all the best for 2013...
More information
- Some good explanation on the Maya calendar: Maya calendar on Wikipedia
- For those who want to read it all: the 2012 phenomenon on Wikipedia
- A article on a relatively young finding which disproves the apocalypse ideas for 2012 even further: Newly discovered Mayan calendar further disproves doomsday myth
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