Sunday, July 19, 2009

Did the Maya have a serious scientific reason for their belief in a 2012 apocalypse?

-- Did the Maya have a serious scientific reason for their belief in a 2012 apocalypse?

The date they picked for their apocalypse is December 21, 2012. At that time our planet, moon and solar system will align with the heart of the galactic plane, in which scientists now know a supermassive black hole resides. The Maya viewed that black abyss—which they called “the Dark Rift”—as a kind of hell world, out of which the Black Tezcatlipoca would unleash the dark demons of everlasting night, which would then descend on the earth and annihilate humankind. This alignment only occurs once every 26,000 years, which closely approximates the combined duration of the five Mayan “Sun Ages.” I say “approximates” because the precise length of each of those “Sun Ages” is not known. They come to around 5200 years each, which would equal 26,000 years. In other words, the first “Sun Age” would have roughly coincided with the earth’s last alignment with the galaxy’s core. On 12/21/2012 at 11:11 PM Universal Time earth will experience its first galactic alignment in that 26,000 period. The Maya believed that date marks the end of the Fifth Sun Age.

They Maya also seemed to know—for reasons that are still unclear—that the Milky Way galaxy was a spiraling disk and that we orbited along its edge. We know this because the Mayan glyph for our Milky Way—which they sometimes called “The Tree of Life”—is a spinning disk.

I’m not suggesting the Maya viewed the universe exactly as we do or that they had our mathematical and the scientific sophistication—only that their vision of the 2012 apocalypse was based on closely studied astronomical observations and mathematical calculations as well as mystical divination.

I’ve done a lot of national radio and some TV for this book, and many people ask if extraterrestrial beings gave the Maya these unique insights. My answer is somewhat oblique. In the end the Maya could not have inferred these insights into our galaxy from their mathematics, science or from direct observation, and these insights imbued their hieroglyphic language, their religion and their life. They weren’t irrelevant, ephemeral observations. It seems to me they gained them either through a kind of preternatural revelation unimaginable to us or someone told them. I do not see a third alternative. I wish someone would come up with one.

I also do not see how we can dismiss out of hand their End-Time prophecy, if we cannot explain how they arrived their other uncanny perceptions about the nature of our galaxy.

11 comments:

  1. The Mayans had eyes and they looked up at the sky and even studied it. I don't see why they couldn't know something we don't know -- that a rogue meteor or comet came around once, and maybe came closer hundreds or thousands of years later. Whenever I hear about 2012, it always makes me wonder -- what did they see? and is it coming back on 2012?

    ReplyDelete
  2. My question about seeing things in the sky is if the Mayans saw it, why didn't others see it?

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is fascinating, Bob. Keep it going.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Listen, just reading this blog has inserted dark mysteries into my dreams. I expect the book has that power tenfold. I'm planning to be around in 2012, so I'm hoping your theories are wrong, but they make excellent material for an engrossing novel, which I predict it will be very successful.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bob,
    2012 doesn't worry me as much as 2035 when I turn 75. Then I'm afraid the end will be nearer.

    I loved the book, BTW.

    Jim Born

    ReplyDelete
  6. Being the old agnostic that I am, I find all of this more good fun than prophetic. And I do mean good fun, because I'm one of the characters in the book.

    ReplyDelete
  7. They Mayan's as did many ancient cultures, practiced what we call today, "naked eye astronomy". This shamanist viewing technique combines visual optics with what we call today, "remote viewing". So from that perspective they could have had what you called preternatural visions of the workings and structure of the known sky. With the injection of Quetzalcoatl, a seer of seers, a true oracle, or the Son of God, the keys to understanding the prophecy they saw in the sky, the signs, was made clear for them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Could you please address what you eactly mean by the Earth, Sun and Moon aligning with the galactic plane? The Moon, Earth and Sun line up twice every month at the New and Full Moons, right? In much the same fashion, the Earth, Sun and Galactic Center line up twice every year.

    Do you agree with this? Or is this alignment you're talking of refer to something different? Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Charles: I'm about to post a response of sorts to your question. Sorry for the delay. I've been busy and slow to post. Thanks for your patience. RG

    ReplyDelete
  10. I just found your blog - nice. Interesting reading. I invite you to read some of my posts on 2012 at my website; would love your feedback.

    I'll have to come back soon and read more of yours. Now if I can just master the right hand torus spin state, I can actually manipulate time to allow this to happen...

    Stace

    ReplyDelete