End of the World or World Without End???

As we begin this new year, a number of questions stir in people's minds. Most are relatively benign: What does the year hold in store for me? How can I make this year different from the last? And on, and on.


But this year is already different, isn't it? This year is special. This year has been the subject of speculation for time beyond mind. 2012 has been called the year that marks the end of the world, but it has also been called the year that marks the end of the age. So which is it? Without calling bias into the nature of this article, I would like to attempt to outline some of the eschatological theories associated with the end of the Long Count Calendar.

The Mesoamerican Long Count Calendar is a 5,125 year long calendar of unknown origin. Most scholars agree that the calendar is originally Olmec in design; however, a similar calendar was discovered in Egypt that predates the Olmecs settling Mesoamerica by about 650 years. Interestingly enough, both calendars are celestial in design and both calendars terminate in 2012. Both calendars consist of 360 day years, and both calendars are linear in design.This is counter to the popular depiction of a circular 365 day calendar that Mayanists portray, and assists in supporting the argument that the calendar does indeed have a finite termination date.

But what happens when this date is reached? Maybe nothing, and most experts would support this. Yet there is a disturbing commonality among ancient civilizations that used the stars to keep track of time; all of these calendars seem to terminate this year, and appear to be marked by some cataclysmic event that brings about the end of the world as we know it. I could stop there, but then I would fall into the trap that sensationalizes the whole concept of a 2012 Apocalypse. There is a key piece that many supporters of the 2012 phenomenon seem to omit, and that is the concept that as one world ends, a new world begins. As a matter of fact, according to the mythologies of many Native American tribes, there were three worlds prior to the one we live in now. If these legends are correct, then 2012 marks the end of the fourth world, and the beginning of the fifth. How this is brought about is anybody's guess, but many believe that this year shall be marked by a time of increased solar activity that triggers a series of natural disasters. Others speculate that an asteroid or comet will strike the Earth causing widespread damage. Perhaps most bizarre, is that some theorists speculate that the Earth will collide with an ancient celestial object (some identify this object as a planet) known as Nibiru. This is all theory, with very little evidence to back the claims. Of the two theories, the first seems slightly more realistic, as the sun is expected to reach a period of high solar activity sometime this year. Yet, civilizations far older than our own and spanning the entire world indicate 2012 with some exactitude. Here are just a few examples of what these civilizations have hailed 2012 as:

• Hopi-25year period of purification, followed by End of Fourth World and beginning of the Fifth.
• Mayan-The end of Days
• Maori-Merging of the spiritual and physical worlds
• Zulu-The entire world will be flipped upside down
• Hindu-The end of time of man, and the coming of the "Enlightened Ones"
• Inca-The age of meeting ourselves again
• Aztec-A new race is born
• Pueblo-Emergence into the Fifth World
• Tibetan-The coming of the "Golden Age"

With so many similarities between predictions, it is possible that all of these cultures are correct to some degree. It is equally possible that none of these cultures are correct and 2012 will come and go just like any other year. There will be war, and pain, and destruction. But there will also be tenderness, hope, and perhaps even a little bit of joy. If these year is to mark our uprooting, then so be it, but let it not unhinge us. Let it not deliver us into the arms of despair. Let it instead unite us, and bring us closer to realizing what this world has seemed to have lost in the midst of all the uncertainty; its humanity. Happy New Year everybody. May it bring you blessings and prosperity beyond your wildest dreams.