Apocolypto 2012 Debunked

[laughingwillow]

Quote from linked article...

The cult around the date Dec. 21, 2012—the supposed apocalyptic final day on something referred to knowingly as "The Mayan 'Long Count' Calendar"—has been the subject of fevered fantasies on the net and the free New Age "magazines" given away at health-food stores. But last week Newsweek gave it serious attention, and there's a metastasizing web of 2012 sites, including at least one anti-2012 site, which has a section devoted to debunking the apparently limitless number of gullible airheads who have become 2012 believers.

http://www.slate.com/id/2218841/

[Amomynous]

I was at some kind of social gathering the other day.

There was an old lady there who was... how can I say this delicately? ... quite Appalachian (trailer park, interesting grammar and accent, you know). She started talking about 2012.

At that point I knew the 2012 meme had come of age!

[Zaka]

Irie,
I got one or two problems with this assertion.
It says that the calendar predates the Mayan culture.....What? It's not their calender! (BTW I knew that!)
He believes that the Maya—were they still living by their ancient system of dates—would not have seen it as any kind of cataclysm......How could they? It's not their calender! Or were they were more concerned with the prediction that was affecting them at their time.......The Spanish.
It says that the real Maya think of 2012 as "a gringo invention"....what does it matter, what they think? It's not their calender!

My problem is that it is not their calendar.....You get my point.
Newsweek?Yeah right!
I don't know what will happen but the calender does have an end date....Who knows if it will be reset (as they suggest), or will it be a new different calender?
To say that this article debunks it is going to be a little hard to swallow.
That being said, I'm glad to know it's all debunked and I can now feel safe!? :e_surprised:
Respect
Z

[Jethro Tull]

Apocalypse means "revealing."
What is being revealed?  The truth.
As for the date, who knows, who cares.  All we ever have is here now.
But just to be a good sport, I'd say the apocalypse (revealing) is happening now, and on this date, there will be a worldwide awakening - a shift in consciousness.  We will move from separation, to unity.  Like the Cambrian explosion which brought single cell organisms together as multi-cell organisms, we will come together; from separate, competing individuals/groups to the human race on planet earth.

[laughingwillow]

And this happens in 2012?

lw

[Amomynous]

Irie, I don't know what will happen but the calender does have an end date....  

Are you sure about that? I have a clock hanging on my wall, and the numbers only go up to 12. But it doesn't end -- twice a day it repeats itself, but it doesn't end.

From the discussions I've seen, when the Mayans say that 2012 is a "gringo invention," what they mean is precisely this. It's taking a linear/eschatological perspective (born of Western religion and philosophy) and applying it to a system which is cyclical and has no such predisposition.

[laughingwillow]

Thank you, amom.

lw

[jokergrin]

From the discussions I've seen, when the Mayans say that 2012 is a "gringo invention," what they mean is precisely this. It's taking a linear/eschatological perspective (born of Western religion and philosophy) and applying it to a system which is cyclical and has no such predisposition.

This is a really good point that I hadn't thought about before....

[laughingwillow]

jethro: The separation of which you speak is an illusion, imo. The world is as it should be. (There has and will always be a balance between negative and positive.) Perception comes down to our individual tendencies and experiences.

lw

[Zaka]

Are you sure about that? I have a clock hanging on my wall, and the numbers only go up to 12. But it doesn't end -- twice a day it repeats itself, but it doesn't end.

Irie,
So cos your clocks hands returned to the same position on the clocks face twice daily....What no time has elapsed for the rest of the universe? Was there no progress at all? It just returns?
As I understand the Mayan Calendar, is made up of 13 eras, in which each is separated into 13 days & night 7/6..
Each era is shorter as it progresses...as does each day and night.

If we say that it returns to the start again the first era would begin again at around 50 mil (?) years or so...
I feel it wouldn't make much sense after the intense progress made in the last era...
Hey who knows? Not me for sure!

Respect
Z

[jokergrin]

Are you sure about that? I have a clock hanging on my wall, and the numbers only go up to 12. But it doesn't end -- twice a day it repeats itself, but it doesn't end.

Irie,
So cos your clocks hands returned to the same position on the clocks face twice daily....What no time has elapsed for the rest of the universe? Was there no progress at all? It just returns?
As I understand the Mayan Calendar, is made up of 13 eras, in which each is separated into 13 days & night 7/6..
Each era is shorter as it progresses...as does each day and night.

If we say that it returns to the start again the first era would begin again at around 50 mil (?) years or so...
I feel it wouldn't make much sense after the intense progress made in the last era...
Hey who knows? Not me for sure!

Respect
Z

Well, there have been cultures in the past that seem to have had a better understanding of the cosmos than we have.  So perhaps there is a shift/reset in consciousness every so often.  My girlfriend says everything happens for a reason.  Maybe our scientific technology from today, combined with the ancient wisdom of the cosmos from Mayan and Egyptian civilizations will bring some sort of new understanding about things...
I'm just thinking out loud, so take what I say with a grain of salt.  

steve

[Zaka]

Irie Steve,
Nice positive viewpoint....
I think that'll really help, if the shit hits the fan!
It's kinda crazy to think that the calendar would run 14.6 billion years, just to return to the start....midnight!
Respect
Z

[laughingwillow]

Its kind of crazy to imagine that all tribes of this earth think in terms of a linear rather than cyclical progression. I think its crazy to take an ancient Mayan piece of work and give it a new westernized translation/interpretation that includes the specific date for an apocalyptic event.

Kinda like y2k, eh?

lw

[Zaka]

Irie LW,
I tend to see it not as either linear or cyclical progression, but both more spiral, if you like.
Respect
Z

[jokergrin]

Irie LW,
I tend to see it not as either linear or cyclical progression, but both more spiral, if you like.
Respect
Z

I guess we'll find out for sure in 2012 - heh heh.  If nothing else, it got us thinking about things a little more...