The Jaguar Temple at TikalThe Mayan Long Count Calendar ends tomorrow after 5,125 years. Not a bad run, as calendars go.
So, what happens then?
Probably nothing, although there is no shortage of suggestible folk who are prophesying that December 21st will be the Mayan apocalypse.
Armageddon could come by way of a collision between Earth and the planet of Nibiru. Although the fact that Nibiru is only a myth has cast some doubt on the theory.
Another piece of lore suggests that aliens, who have been “parked” in their ship somewhere on Earth, will escort a few humans off the planet just before annihilation. Believers think of the chosen ones as the lucky few, but getting whisked away by aliens almost never ends well.
The ruins of the ancient Mayan city of Tikal in the rainforest jungles of northern Guatemala are a geographic focal point for the end of days. Tourists have flocked there, which is curious since one might want to move away from ground zero.
Many years ago, before I was a straight-laced radio talk show host, I was a bit of a free spirited traveler, and I visited Tikal. This was 1977, and just getting there was an event.
I started out alone in Belize City where I made friends with a fellow traveler from Australia named Malcolm. We hitchhiked west to the Guatemalan border.
Belize was a former British colony and the military still had a small post there. Malcolm talked his way into a jeep ride for the both of us to the border checkpoint. From there, we took an old school bus on a dirt road to Flores.
Arriving at night, we drank a few cervezas, bunked down, and headed out the next day on another ramshackle bus on the mountain road that led to Tikal.
Tikal didn’t get many visitors back then. There were just a handful of us and we were free to wander around the spectacular ruins of the sprawling ancient city. We climbed the steep steps of the 154 foot high Jaguar Temple, which is now off-limits since a visitor died after falling.
We slept in hammocks in open-air thatched-roof huts in a clearing in the jungle, making sure to cover thoroughly with blankets, despite the oppressive heat and humidity, to protect ourselves from swarming mosquitoes.
There was one fresh water spigot for the camp. It was turned on for short periods during the day and guarded by armed Guatemalan soldiers. Each meal was a simple plate of beans, eggs and rice.
For an adventure-seeking 22-year-old, it was a spectacular time. The inconveniences and modest dangers were more than offset by the experience.
I don’t recall anyone there talking about the Mayan calendar or the end of the world. Maybe 2012 was too far off, or perhaps none of the people there who spoke English paid much attention to it.
I’m pretty confident the world won’t end tomorrow, despite the Mayan calendar. But the event does remind me of a time when I took a road less traveled to a place where it felt as though I had reached the ends of the earth.
13
Comments
tomd
GODS word tells us all what is going to happen in the future. its prophecy is 100%accurate and can be proven.
December 20, 2012 at 9:10 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Well Hoppy, there have been COUNTLESS other people and groups throughout history who have 'predicted' the end of the world. There are even entire church denominations who CLAIM to have this divine knowledge of when all time shall end. First of all, why are so many gullable people so ready to accept the Mayans alledged 'doom' prophecy? Reminds me of all the 'hysteria' of Y2K and other such times in history past. Secondly, if the Mayans were such reliable predicters of the future, why couldn't they have foreseen and PREVENTED the demise of their own civilization? If they had known of the true motive and end results of Cortez and his Spanish exploration, they would've stopped him from achieving his goals of taking them over. Oh well, missed opportunties.
Bottom line, my plan for tomorrow is to wake up and welcome yet another day the good Lord has allowed me to live through. There will ALWAYS be people on this earth who are weak minded enough to believe in 'end of the world' proclaimations. Even after the 12-21-12 prophecy fails to materialize, other people and/or groups will rise up with even more outrageous claims of 'doom and gloom' that will also fail to come to pass. If you want a REAL "Doom and Gloom" scenario to worry about, think of the still ballooning National Debt and Federal Budget Deficit looming in the background of America at present.
Then again, if the world DOES end tomorrow, that would certainly solve THAT huge problem, wouldn't it? Of course, it'd be a very DRASTIC solution to it, but it would solve it better than the elected MORONS in Washington (of BOTH parties) are doing right now. Who needs 'fictional' drama when 'real life' provides more than all of us can use?
I will end my comments with the famous words of the departing dolphins who left the earth before it's pending destruction in the science fiction book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"
December 20, 2012 at 9:12 am | Report comment
Wowbagger
Captain,
I agree. I have been trying to remember how many times someone thought the world was ending during my lifetime, although if the Mayan's were right it really could solve a lot of problems.
My wife, who understands government and bureaucracies, says that all this means is that the Mayan astrologers got to this point in calendar development when they were laid off in in a cost cutting move.
In the event the prediction is correct Hoppy, I have enjoyed your Commentaries, but I fully anticipate reading your next one tomorrow, perhaps sometime next week, or whenever given the Christmas season.
December 20, 2012 at 9:53 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Thanks, Wowbagger!
Your wife's explanation makes a LOT MORE sense than all of the random musing of every one of those "2012" book authors combined!
Bet all of those Mayan prophecy books will be popping up all over in Yard Sales all over WV this spring! I guess they'd be good for kindling for wood stove fires.
December 20, 2012 at 10:11 am | Report comment
GregG
Well Wowbagger based on the grumblings of my Wife I believe the world may very well be ending. You see, tomorrow is her 40th birthday and according to her the world is coming to and end.
Merry Christmas everyone! And have a safe and Happy New Year.
December 20, 2012 at 1:36 pm | Report comment
Wowbagger
GregG,
Tell her that at 50 and 60, 40 looks pretty good!
Really, it is just a number. It is important to do everything you can to keep in good shape and then don't worry. I do yoga myself and am in better shape than I was at 40. I couldn't do a headstand at 40.
December 20, 2012 at 7:34 pm | Report comment
BO
Its already 12-21-12 in Australia and I believe they are doing fine.
December 20, 2012 at 9:59 am | Report comment
wirerowe
Hoppy Thanks for your Myan memories. You are the only one that I know with a Mayan connection. Merry Christmas, and the best of the holiday season and the new year to you and yours and to all the posters on this site from all sides of the political spectrum.
December 20, 2012 at 10:08 am | Report comment
Wowbagger
wirerowe,
I remember the time when the Republican sat down with the Democrat discussed the world's problems and then went to dinner. We need to get back to that. This is the sort of forum that will help!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to ALL!
December 20, 2012 at 11:07 am | Report comment
Chuck Anziulewicz
Now it's the Mayan Apocalypse. A year and a half ago it was Harold Camping and his doomsday predictions. It's all quite nutty, natch.
And YET, according to most evangelicals, a "Rapture" and a "Tribulation" and a "Second Coming" WILL eventually occur, it's just that no one knows exactly when. In fact, a significant number of people actually believe that a "Rapture" will happen during their own lifetimes, and they will be beamed up to Heaven, leaving little more than their clothes and their dentures behind.
Why is this not any nuttier than all this Mayan Apocalypse mumbo-jumbo?
Since the death of Jesus, people in every generation for over 2,000 years and hundreds of generations have wanted to be the one that experiences the end of days. None has. There must be a clue in there somewhere for you.
If you waited at a bus stop for 2,000 years, at what point would you conclude that the bus wasn't coming? Or would you just stand there … FOREVER … because somebody had stuck up a "bus stop" sign?
December 20, 2012 at 11:49 am | Report comment
mntnman
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Enjoy your families and friends. I hope your new year is prosperous.
December 20, 2012 at 12:20 pm | Report comment
Richard
Mayan civilization pretty much came to an end after what amounted to a Mayan civil war in 1540 and what was left was then pulverized by the Spaniards a few years later. Unfortunately for them, their calendar gave them no warning of their own destruction. So much for their prediction of the end our our world.
December 20, 2012 at 2:00 pm | Report comment
Wowbagger
Well, at 7:40 am on 12/22/2012 I would say it is clear that the Mayans blew it.
Hope no one did anything at an end of the world party that they now regret!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
December 22, 2012 at 7:42 am | Report comment