The 7 Mayan Prophecies
Recently they have become popular in forums, magazines and on TV shows, but which are the Mayan Prophecies? Did they really predict changes that have actually occurred in modern times? If we search in the Internet about them, we won't find any scholar, archaeologist or historian that claims that they exist, and if we dig enough, the first thing we will encounter is some kind of ignorance disguised as a good intention. Then there is a lot of confusion, ranging from improbable stories to ill-informed comments and rumors. We discard those that are obvious "tattle tales" that argue that âmankind will develop supernatural powers such as telepathy or telekinesisâ, or that âthere will be a massive destruction produced by beings who will come from the center of the galaxyâ, for being simply implausible.
To begin untangling this, I will comment briefly about the way the Mayan Calendar works: First of all it is based on cycles of 13 bactunes, which are the equivalent to 5125 years. For practical purposes, the last day of the current calendar is December 22, 2012. For the Mayas this was the equivalent of completing a cycle; the truth here is that the dates âstoppedâ after the equivalent year of 2012. Many have proposed that the Mayas didnât continue simply because they didnât need a second calendar for the next five thousand years, which would enter the stage of another sun. One reason may be that they were aware of the beginning of their decline. We must recall that their civilization quickly deteriorated and that they abandoned many âluxuriousâ processes, in order to deal with the environmental degradation and the war at the time.
However, many pseudo-scientists have used this to spread misconceptions. The basis of their theories is that there are no more days in the Mayan calendar, because they knew that on that day, life would end on the planet. Others, trying to be less alarmists, have stated that it's not about the end of life, but about a spiritual change-era for humanity. In both cases the question is, where do these ideas come from?
One of the most notorious cases was that of Fernando Malkun, one of the propheciesâ forerunners. Prior to the year 2000, he began to explain that the end of the world according to the Mayas, would not be caused by a geological change or by solar storms, but by something slightly unbelievable ... "A galactic beam of pure energy that will cut through the center of the universe and hit the Earthâ. Then he changed his proposal to say that âhuman beings will evolve with new super-powersâ. This shows us that we shouldnât believe everything that people say.
It should be noted that in the Mayan calendar, years as we know them, are not specific, but were written in broad terms about what was happening at the time. Also they liked to prophesy about what would happen next. For them, life was cyclical, so they made predictions based on previous years: "Last year we had a drought during this month, so it may happen again this year." In Mexico especially, we should adhere to common sense. There are many "magazine prophetsâ using these "Mayan prophecies" to increase their publication's sales. In contrast, the CEM (Center for Mayan Studies from the Institute of Philosophical Research of the UNAM), made a statement about the fact by saying that "â¦In no inscription it is foreseen any disaster, nor the end of humanity."
Summing up, and to give more arguments to dismiss this theory, letâs take that at the beginning there were 7 âMayan Propheciesâ , many of them with specific dates: The first says that the world of materialism will end on December 22, 2012; the second one states that there would be a change in mankind's behavior starting August 11, 1999; the third predicted a drastic change on the temperature of the Earth; the fourth is very similar to the third; the fifth says that a new era of harmony will start; the sixth talks about a comet that will put us in danger, and the last one mentions that we should use the remaining years to change and improve as individuals. As we know, although there is an agreement on global warming, we haven't entered into an era of peace and harmony, and no comet has endangered the Earth! So that would disprove these 7 prophecies. It's good to have different points of view, because this always promotes a good conversation, however, it is important to always be well informed and look for the truth among the information we receive... Letâs not bring uneasiness and fear amongst people talking about the âcometâ stuff, when this is very unlikely to ever happen!
Article produced by the Editorial Team of "Explorando Mexico".
Copyright Explorando México, All rights reserved.
