Saturday, July 25, 2009
Some New Age pundits argue that the Maya did not necessarily believe the world would end violently on 2012? Do they have a point?
The Mayan religion does not support that belief. The previous four “Sun Ages” did not go gentle according to their prophetic books, the Popul Vuh and the Chilam Balam. Contrary to today’s New Age Transformationalists, none of the previous ages ended in a spiritual renaissance. There is no reason to assume the Long Count Calendar #5 and the fifth age, which it encompasses, will be the exception and will not remain true to form and will not end catastrophically. The last day of Calendar #5 ends on 11:11 Universal Time at 12/21/2012, and the Maya have no additional days to follow it. The famous pre-Aztec Sun Stone depicts all the ages, and its last Sun Age is the fifth nor did the Maya have a sixth Long Count Calendar. The New Age Transformationalists notwithstanding, the Maya of old did not view that date as the dawn of a new age
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Do any other religions predict the world will end on 2012?
--
The BAGAVAD GITA’s author, Lord Krishna, died on 2/18/3102 which is close to the year our Fifth Sun Age commenced. The Hindus believe that with Krishna’s death the world began a new earthly cycle, “the Kali Yuga,” which they think of as “the Degenerate Age.” The Hindu mystic, scholar and religious leader, Sri Kalki Bhagavan, has told his million-plus followers that he is the Kalki Messiah, the 10th and final avatar of Vishna and that our “Degenerate Age” will end on 2012. He ties his calculations to the next Transit of Venus, which occurs on 2012.
Quetzalcoatl’s followers coincidentally associated Quetzalcoatl with Venus, viewing him as its earthly avatar.
Michael Drosnin—author of the bestselling THE BIBLE CODE—says that “equidistant letter sequences in [the Hebrew version of] Genesis” reveal that the earth will be destroyed in 2012, conceivably by comets. His predictions are based on the calculations of three eminent Israeli mathematicians.
Rabbi Vitzhak Kaduri, a renown Israeli Kabbalistic elder and scholar, claims that the Hebrew messiah has incarnated himself in Israel and will emerge shortly. If so, the Hebrew Apocalypse could well occur on 2012 . . . according to Rabbi Kaduri.
Iran’s firebrand political leader, President Ahmadinejad, says the arrival of the Shiite’s Mahdi-Messiah is also imminent. He could well arrive in time to disrupt the 2012 presidential elections.
The belief in a returning messiah is not only central to the Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Hebrew religions apocalypse, many Maya have held that Quetzalcoatl will return for their 2012 apocalypse. His ability to counter that catastrophe however is problematic.
The BAGAVAD GITA’s author, Lord Krishna, died on 2/18/3102 which is close to the year our Fifth Sun Age commenced. The Hindus believe that with Krishna’s death the world began a new earthly cycle, “the Kali Yuga,” which they think of as “the Degenerate Age.” The Hindu mystic, scholar and religious leader, Sri Kalki Bhagavan, has told his million-plus followers that he is the Kalki Messiah, the 10th and final avatar of Vishna and that our “Degenerate Age” will end on 2012. He ties his calculations to the next Transit of Venus, which occurs on 2012.
Quetzalcoatl’s followers coincidentally associated Quetzalcoatl with Venus, viewing him as its earthly avatar.
Michael Drosnin—author of the bestselling THE BIBLE CODE—says that “equidistant letter sequences in [the Hebrew version of] Genesis” reveal that the earth will be destroyed in 2012, conceivably by comets. His predictions are based on the calculations of three eminent Israeli mathematicians.
Rabbi Vitzhak Kaduri, a renown Israeli Kabbalistic elder and scholar, claims that the Hebrew messiah has incarnated himself in Israel and will emerge shortly. If so, the Hebrew Apocalypse could well occur on 2012 . . . according to Rabbi Kaduri.
Iran’s firebrand political leader, President Ahmadinejad, says the arrival of the Shiite’s Mahdi-Messiah is also imminent. He could well arrive in time to disrupt the 2012 presidential elections.
The belief in a returning messiah is not only central to the Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Hebrew religions apocalypse, many Maya have held that Quetzalcoatl will return for their 2012 apocalypse. His ability to counter that catastrophe however is problematic.
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.
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.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Are there any similarities between Christianity and the Mayan religion?
-- Are there any other similarities between Christianity and the Mayan religion?
Alejandro Murgula in “Why Not Teach Maya Creation Story, Too?” argues: “Some of the Popul Vuh will resonate deeply with those familiar with the Bible. A tremendous flood washes away an early race of humans; there is an overarching trinity of life, death and resurrection; good and evil are powerful forces, and man is central to creation.”
In some respects the creation myth in the Popul Vuh—one of the most important Mayan religious texts—resembles that of Genesis. The earth is engulfed by silence and the dark. Only God and his subordinate deities possess light. They decide they need a world of trees, plants, animals—all lead by humanity. They struggle to find the right building material for the first man and woman. They settle on white and yellow corn, and the first man and woman emerge out of the first dawn.
In Genesis too God brings Light and creates the world, molding Adam out of dust, clay and God’s divine breath. Eve, God forms out of Adam’s rib. Humanity is to be the master of that newly invented world.
Then, of course, many Christian and Jewish sects that believe the Maya and other native Americans are in fact a Lost Tribe of Israel.
Some scholars argue that one reason Mexico’s native population adopted Christianity with so much passion and commitment was that the native religion and Christianity had much in common. Among other things, the Maya practiced human sacrifice, and many of them viewed Christ’s death in that light, honoring his immolation in their Fiesta of the Dead.
Alejandro Murgula in “Why Not Teach Maya Creation Story, Too?” argues: “Some of the Popul Vuh will resonate deeply with those familiar with the Bible. A tremendous flood washes away an early race of humans; there is an overarching trinity of life, death and resurrection; good and evil are powerful forces, and man is central to creation.”
In some respects the creation myth in the Popul Vuh—one of the most important Mayan religious texts—resembles that of Genesis. The earth is engulfed by silence and the dark. Only God and his subordinate deities possess light. They decide they need a world of trees, plants, animals—all lead by humanity. They struggle to find the right building material for the first man and woman. They settle on white and yellow corn, and the first man and woman emerge out of the first dawn.
In Genesis too God brings Light and creates the world, molding Adam out of dust, clay and God’s divine breath. Eve, God forms out of Adam’s rib. Humanity is to be the master of that newly invented world.
Then, of course, many Christian and Jewish sects that believe the Maya and other native Americans are in fact a Lost Tribe of Israel.
Some scholars argue that one reason Mexico’s native population adopted Christianity with so much passion and commitment was that the native religion and Christianity had much in common. Among other things, the Maya practiced human sacrifice, and many of them viewed Christ’s death in that light, honoring his immolation in their Fiesta of the Dead.
Friday, June 19, 2009
What did the astronomers of the Maya/Aztec see?
A young Aztec-Mayan slave tells us the story: Gifted in math and astronomy, Coyotl rises to king’s counselor in Tula, a golden city of milk and honey ruled by the brilliant god-king, Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent of lore. Gathering artists, scientists and craftsmen, this legendary ruler builds a city and commissions an astrological study of the night sky that will awe and confound scientists a thousand years later.
The Maya astronomers were the best in the ancient world – the studies of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians and Chinese paled in comparison. And the Maya saw something. And knew it would come back. They put the secret in a Codex.
A team of modern scientists struggling to decipher the Codex realize their own age mirrors Tula’s. Can they crack the 2012 code and save their world from Tula’s deadly fate?
Are the Mayan 2012 Apocalypse and the Christian Apocalypse of Revelation one and the same? Do they share common elements?
The two cataclysms share many common elements, and their End-Time predictions arguably fall on the same year, 2012.
Revelation prophesies that the central battle of the Christian Apocalypse will be fought in the Holy Land on the Plains of Armageddon—where many past wars have been waged—and will then engulf the world. Revelation’s thousand-year countdown to Armageddon, however, does not begin until “the Angel” casts “Satan” into the bottomless pit, where he is then contained for 1,000 years. If the Christian Apocalypse were to commence on 2012—the date when the Mayan Apocalypse is to due to destroy us—what would have happened in 1012 to commence the 1,000-year countdown of Revelation?
Many Christians have viewed 1000 C.E. as marking the beginning of the Millenarian countdown. It was a time of famines so terrible they were called apocalyptic portents, when a new star was spotted in the heavens (the Supernova of 1006), followed in 1009 by a “rain of blood” when the sun turned red and failed to shine for three days. Unprecedented plagues broke out, and by the 1012 the Abbey of St-Vaast was having his apocalyptic visions of the End Time.
The most telling apocalyptic cataclysm came in 1012 when the satanically militant Muslim ruler, Egypt’s Caliph Al Hakim destroyed the holiest ediface in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Erected by Constantine, it reputedly occupied Golgotha, the Hill of Skulls, the site of Christ’s crucifixion. The church’s worshippers believed it even encompassed the ground and sepulcher where Christ was originally buried.
This mad, millenarian, Islamist ruler—who mysteriously vanished into the desert after desecrating Christian holy places—has long been identified with the 1000 year countdown. Al Hakim’s atrocities, which culminated in 1012, eventually sparked the Crusades . . . which would go on for a thousand years and which, some would argue, are still fought today. Many people believe that this war with militant Islam will be waged on the Plains of Armageddon and consume the nations of earth in a global Armageddon.
Proponents of this interpretation sometimes point out another potentially history shaping event: the next US presidential election takes place on 2012.
What other common elements do the Maya Apocalypse and that of Revelation share besides a similar time-line?
There are striking similarities between the apocalyptic Four Horsemen and the Four Apocalyptic Gods of the Maya. In Revelation the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are responsible for humanity’s annihilation. The White Horseman brings Pestilence, the Red Horseman War, the Black Horseman Famine and the Pale Horseman Death. The Pale Horseman unleashes the forces of hell. These horsemen each emerge from one of the four cardinal directions.
The Maya too have four supernatural beings—in their case deities—who will participate in humanity’s apocalyptic end. While they have also shared to varying degrees in the creation of the four previous “Sun Ages” and in our own fifth era, they are inherently violent, perpetually vindictive and will on 2012 destroy our world just as they helped to obliterate the four previous Ages of Humanity. The four apocalyptic Mayan gods, just like the Four Horsemen, are identified by “colors” and come from the “four cardinal directions.” The Blue Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, comes out of the south. The Red Xipe Totec, the god of gold, farming and spring, comes out of the west bringing famine. The Black Tezcatlipoca—the god of night, deceit, sorcery, hurricanes, discord and strife—presides over the north. The Black Tezcatlipoca will unleash the dark demons of the Mayan hell which on 12/21/2012 will traverse the Underworld Road, exit the Dark Rift of the Milky Way, overwhelm the earth and exterminate humankind.
The only god, who is at all friendly to humanity, is the White Quetzalcoatl, who is the god of light, mercy, wind and fire. He will probably not be of much help though. The Black Tezcatlipoca defeated him once before, ejecting him from his privileged position in the night sky, where he had reigned amid the stars. He has subsequently roamed the earth, sometimes serving as humanity’s patron deity.
Quetzalcoatl is ambivalent toward us however. One thousand years ago, he incarnated a Toltec emperor and brought humanity science, compassion and enlightenment as well as outlawing war and human sacrifice. The priests whipped up the multitudes, which rose up against him, and Quetzalcoatl—the so-called god-king—went into exile.
Having been betrayed by humanity 1,000 years ago, there is no evidence he will attempt a rescue on 2012
In his compassion and his ultimate sacrifice for humanity, he is viewed by many Maya as authentically Christ-like.
A young Aztec-Mayan slave tells us the story: Gifted in math and astronomy, Coyotl rises to king’s counselor in Tula, a golden city of milk and honey ruled by the brilliant god-king, Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent of lore. Gathering artists, scientists and craftsmen, this legendary ruler builds a city and commissions an astrological study of the night sky that will awe and confound scientists a thousand years later.
The Maya astronomers were the best in the ancient world – the studies of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians and Chinese paled in comparison. And the Maya saw something. And knew it would come back. They put the secret in a Codex.
A team of modern scientists struggling to decipher the Codex realize their own age mirrors Tula’s. Can they crack the 2012 code and save their world from Tula’s deadly fate?
Are the Mayan 2012 Apocalypse and the Christian Apocalypse of Revelation one and the same? Do they share common elements?
The two cataclysms share many common elements, and their End-Time predictions arguably fall on the same year, 2012.
Revelation prophesies that the central battle of the Christian Apocalypse will be fought in the Holy Land on the Plains of Armageddon—where many past wars have been waged—and will then engulf the world. Revelation’s thousand-year countdown to Armageddon, however, does not begin until “the Angel” casts “Satan” into the bottomless pit, where he is then contained for 1,000 years. If the Christian Apocalypse were to commence on 2012—the date when the Mayan Apocalypse is to due to destroy us—what would have happened in 1012 to commence the 1,000-year countdown of Revelation?
Many Christians have viewed 1000 C.E. as marking the beginning of the Millenarian countdown. It was a time of famines so terrible they were called apocalyptic portents, when a new star was spotted in the heavens (the Supernova of 1006), followed in 1009 by a “rain of blood” when the sun turned red and failed to shine for three days. Unprecedented plagues broke out, and by the 1012 the Abbey of St-Vaast was having his apocalyptic visions of the End Time.
The most telling apocalyptic cataclysm came in 1012 when the satanically militant Muslim ruler, Egypt’s Caliph Al Hakim destroyed the holiest ediface in Christendom, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Erected by Constantine, it reputedly occupied Golgotha, the Hill of Skulls, the site of Christ’s crucifixion. The church’s worshippers believed it even encompassed the ground and sepulcher where Christ was originally buried.
This mad, millenarian, Islamist ruler—who mysteriously vanished into the desert after desecrating Christian holy places—has long been identified with the 1000 year countdown. Al Hakim’s atrocities, which culminated in 1012, eventually sparked the Crusades . . . which would go on for a thousand years and which, some would argue, are still fought today. Many people believe that this war with militant Islam will be waged on the Plains of Armageddon and consume the nations of earth in a global Armageddon.
Proponents of this interpretation sometimes point out another potentially history shaping event: the next US presidential election takes place on 2012.
What other common elements do the Maya Apocalypse and that of Revelation share besides a similar time-line?
There are striking similarities between the apocalyptic Four Horsemen and the Four Apocalyptic Gods of the Maya. In Revelation the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are responsible for humanity’s annihilation. The White Horseman brings Pestilence, the Red Horseman War, the Black Horseman Famine and the Pale Horseman Death. The Pale Horseman unleashes the forces of hell. These horsemen each emerge from one of the four cardinal directions.
The Maya too have four supernatural beings—in their case deities—who will participate in humanity’s apocalyptic end. While they have also shared to varying degrees in the creation of the four previous “Sun Ages” and in our own fifth era, they are inherently violent, perpetually vindictive and will on 2012 destroy our world just as they helped to obliterate the four previous Ages of Humanity. The four apocalyptic Mayan gods, just like the Four Horsemen, are identified by “colors” and come from the “four cardinal directions.” The Blue Huitzilopochtli, the god of war, comes out of the south. The Red Xipe Totec, the god of gold, farming and spring, comes out of the west bringing famine. The Black Tezcatlipoca—the god of night, deceit, sorcery, hurricanes, discord and strife—presides over the north. The Black Tezcatlipoca will unleash the dark demons of the Mayan hell which on 12/21/2012 will traverse the Underworld Road, exit the Dark Rift of the Milky Way, overwhelm the earth and exterminate humankind.
The only god, who is at all friendly to humanity, is the White Quetzalcoatl, who is the god of light, mercy, wind and fire. He will probably not be of much help though. The Black Tezcatlipoca defeated him once before, ejecting him from his privileged position in the night sky, where he had reigned amid the stars. He has subsequently roamed the earth, sometimes serving as humanity’s patron deity.
Quetzalcoatl is ambivalent toward us however. One thousand years ago, he incarnated a Toltec emperor and brought humanity science, compassion and enlightenment as well as outlawing war and human sacrifice. The priests whipped up the multitudes, which rose up against him, and Quetzalcoatl—the so-called god-king—went into exile.
Having been betrayed by humanity 1,000 years ago, there is no evidence he will attempt a rescue on 2012
In his compassion and his ultimate sacrifice for humanity, he is viewed by many Maya as authentically Christ-like.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
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