The Mayans Predict the End of the World?

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Balerion

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A while back, I was looking through the "Big Book of the Unexplained" when I saw the story about the Mayans and their counting systems. The interesting one is their Long Count system, where they accurately predict when the seasonal solstices will be, and what will be in what position in the sky at the time. All incredibly interesting and swaying. Until the very end.

That's when I read up last night on the subject, and left my friend's house frightened. Litterally shaking.

The Mayan Long Count calendar ends in the year 2012 A.D.. There is nothing past it. December 21st, to be exact. That's not even the scariest part, either! Their incredible accuracy IS.

It is said they spent hundreds of years perfecting it, and finally got it right by 325 A.D. or so, and after that, they calculated dates thousands of years past, but only forward until 2012 A.D.

I need to know...what does everyone here think of the mayan system, and their prediction that the world will end after that date? Are they religious fanatics? Are they reliable? Tell me what you guys think.

And please...no "God won't allow it" stuff. I don't want any religious answers here. If you're a christian and can't offer me anything that doesn't include something about Jesus or God, DO NOT REPLY.

JD
 
This fact isn't nearly as frightening as it sounds! The Mayans kept extremely detailed astronomical records and they followed the cycles of the planets and stars as they travel around in their orbits. We are currently in the 4th cycle recorded by the Maya. It started in 3114B.C. and lasts for 5126 years until 2012. With the end of the 4th cycle comes... the beginning of the 5th cycle. The Maya believe that in the 5th cycle the ancient wisdom of the Maya will be rediscovered by the world and it will be a new dawn for mankind!

"In just 12 years we face another apocalyptic test: the Classic Maya millennium, on December 23, 2012 (based on our Western Gregorian calendar). That's when the Maya calendar will turn over to all zeros — 13.0.0.0.0 by the long count. (By the way, the Maya use of the zero by at least A.D. 200 is one of their key claims to fame, since the zero was not introduced to the West until the insights of Aryabhata, a fifth-century Indian mathematician, reached Europe.) The Maya millennium comes 5,126 years after the creation, which, by their reckoning, occurred precisely on August 11, 3114 B.C. But we probably shouldn't worry too much about this, since Pacal, the most famous ruler of Palenque, confidently predicted that his accession would be commemorated on October 15 in A.D. 4772 (Gregorian time).
We, like the Maya and probably everyone else, are always trying to predict critical turning points in the future so we will have time to prepare for them. Unfortunately, we're not very good at it. "(W.L. RATHJE, a Senior Editor of Scientific American Discovering Archaeology)

http://home.att.net/~thehessians/MayanCalendar.html
 
Looks like, choose a date and someone will have predicted the world will end at that time.

http://home.att.net/~thehessians/MilleniumProphets.html

http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/9941/infinity2.html

As for the Mayan prediction –

The End Times aficionados are so entranced by the thought of this whole new mythology they can pull apocalypses out of, that they've entirely overlooked the itsy-bitsy factoid that 2012 isn't the Mayan date for end of the world, at all. That's not scheduled until sometime in the fiftieth century. 2012 will only mark the end of a calendrical cycle, and as such, a pretty good time to party...well, unless you're an End Times obsessive.
 
Originally posted by JDawg
A while back, I was looking through the "Big Book of the Unexplained" when I saw the story about the Mayans and their counting systems. The interesting one is their Long Count system, where they accurately predict when the seasonal solstices will be, and what will be in what position in the sky at the time. All incredibly interesting and swaying. Until the very end.

That's when I read up last night on the subject, and left my friend's house frightened. Litterally shaking.

The Mayan Long Count calendar ends in the year 2012 A.D.. There is nothing past it. December 21st, to be exact. That's not even the scariest part, either! Their incredible accuracy IS.

It is said they spent hundreds of years perfecting it, and finally got it right by 325 A.D. or so, and after that, they calculated dates thousands of years past, but only forward until 2012 A.D.

I need to know...what does everyone here think of the mayan system, and their prediction that the world will end after that date? Are they religious fanatics? Are they reliable? Tell me what you guys think.

And please...no "God won't allow it" stuff. I don't want any religious answers here. If you're a christian and can't offer me anything that doesn't include something about Jesus or God, DO NOT REPLY.

JD
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Could this be like a Mayan Y2K? 2012 was so far in the future for them, that they probably didn't see a need to go any further. I don't think there will ever be an 'end to the world.' There may be changes (i.e. evolution, etc.), and there will come a time when we look back at ourselves and say, 'remember when the human race had heart disease?;' 'remember when human beings used to die?;' 'remember when humans used to be male and female?;' 'can you imagine back in the day when the humans had to have something called sex to procreate?'
 
MW,

…and there will come a time when we look back at ourselves and say, 'remember when the human race had heart disease?;' 'remember when human beings used to die?;' 'remember when humans used to be male and female?;' 'can you imagine back in the day when the humans had to have something called sex to procreate?'
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Yup totally agree, and we might even remember when the sun went nova and the earth was destroyed.
 
Remembering our future past?

Originally posted by Cris
MW,

Yup totally agree, and we might even remember when the sun went nova and the earth was destroyed.
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Isn't the earth always being destroyed? Or, is it always in the process of being created?
 
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A Brief History of the Apocalypse
 
Perhaps a comet cometh

Maybe the Mayans were aware of comets and their orbits and have calculated that a comet will hit Earth on 2012.

Time to find high ground and stock up on food.
 
Don'y worry about it. If it happens it happens, at least we have got 9 years left to get laid.
 
MW,

Isn't the earth always being destroyed? Or, is it always in the process of being created?
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Unless there is a large addition or subtraction of matter then the Erath is pretty much unchanging. However, its ability to support biological life might be changing to the extent that at some point bio life might not be capable of surviving. But then I don’t much care since I can’t see that man in a biological form has much of a long term future. He needs to evolve away from such a fragile format if he is to survive long term.
 
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