and its all based on a bunch of peoples theories (in other words a bunch of guesses)

That was a nice long break down of what exactly the Maya said or did not say, and no one still knows what the meant ib their writings as it pertains to the calendar in question. True, the 2012 Maya thing is on everyone's minds and has been for a long time. some see the end of the world, some see an awakening and some see nothing at all. I am of the mind that no one knows or even has the foggiest idea what the Maya meant by ending the calendar in 2012. So, that said what the Maya meant is still up for discussion and theories and no doubt people will still be cashing in on the whole Apocalypse thing, more power to them I wish I could join them, at least they see something in all of this and what they see is dollar signs.

siting all the books and notes shows how well you researched this subject, but it is still just siting a bunch of theories, nothing definite here at all except that no one knows anything...

The one thing I do know is the calendar is round. There was no need to make the calendar any longer it starts and ends with everything in the heavens being lined up (pretty much) exactly as it was the day it started. So the end is the beginning. The calendar is an amazing accomplishment, it is still accurate so many years after their civilization fell. Please explain why there would be any need to make it any longer. It is already 5126 years long, Come December we can start over at the beginning with a calendar that should be pretty darn accurate for another 5126 years.

reply to post by mcamp2011


it is known why it ends when it does
it ends in 2012 because thats the end of the cycle
a new cycle begins at that time

reply to post by Ladysophiaofsandoz


What she said, Everything is cyclical. Anyways why would you want to live here anymore? We have destroyed the thing that gave us life. Now it is time for that thing that gave us all the things we misused and neglected to take back.

Something I do wonder about though and maybe I am wrong is, who ever started the calendar would have seen the beginning (how the stars were lined up) and someone would have had to kept track and I think you would have to get to the mid way point or more to see that it was a circle. So.... who was keeping track all that time before they carved it in stone? You can't make a calendar like that (without help) unless you watch it from the beginning and long enough to realize it is coming back around to make a complete rotation/circle. maybe I am not looking at this right.

Be happy, enjoy your life, that's the most important thing, we don't need salvation, we need to learn how to live well and feel good consistently.

reply to post by mcamp2011


Let's just say that I never really believed in any of it; I just HOPED it would happen. After all, the alternative was a few thousand more years of the escalating bulls**t that's been happening here on the lovely, enthralling planet Earth. Imagine what it'll be like after that!

Just want everyone wanted, eh?

Personally i like to believe in the awakening scenario, people getting wiser and more loving.

reply to post by Ladysophiaofsandoz


yeah but that would indicate civilization hasnt developed linearly and huge amounts of information have been lost over the years for some reason or another (probably a combination of natural disasters and religion)
and that there are periods of rapid growth and decline
and the idea that we havent made the progress we should have and our society is completely ass backwards would be a pretty big blow to some egos

and a little scary

I hope someone smarter than me can explain this if the calendar start date was thought to be Aug. 13, 3114 B.C. Based on my theory above who ever made the calendar would have had to been watching the sky for 2563 years before that to see the arc and realize the rotation and that it was a circle. So if you consider someone was keeping track for 2563 years BEFORE 3114 BC? See my point? Can anyone shed light on this for me?

reply to post by Ladysophiaofsandoz


that could very well be the case and records no longer exist

It just seems to me no one would invest that much time and energy based on a hunch.

reply to post by Ladysophiaofsandoz


or maybe applying concepts observed elsewhere to a larger system?

really you have to wonder why that much emphasis was put on keeping track of the passage of time in the first place (seasons and years understandable but millennia?)

reply to post by sirhumperdink


Point taken I will have to roll it around in my brain a bit. I wonder how long you would have to watch the sky to see the larger pattern of events? My father tried to interest me in astronomy but I was interested in other areas of science. I wish he was still around for me to ask. I guess I will have to start lurking at the planetarium. I think the human race has amnesia. Look we forgot how to make cement how the pyramids were built and how the celestial bodies move in the heavens. I wounder what happened possibly magnetic like erasing a tape or genetic bottle necks.

reply to post by sirhumperdink


Agreed.

But do we really know what constitutes an end of an age? Meaning, is there some sort of pomp and circumstance to mark such an event?

My personal opinion is the Olmecs/Mayans witnessed or had privy to information that ended previous cycles. The calendar is more a countdown to some sort of event than a keeper of time.

The only reasons I can see for the enormous amount of time cover by the calendar would be:

A) Once you start something you finish it.
B) The information was copied from someone/somewhere else possibly a civilization before ours or something with a different perception of time or longer life span. Who knows somewhere in the universe it might not be such a long calendar.
C) or OCD

The problem is that belief that something will happen is only based on speculation and conjecture. Reason being tha the Mayans said nothing about the world ending or some type of awaking happening so any theory claiming such things have nothing to support their theories.

I can actually say with confidence that nothing will happen in 2012. At least nothing associated with the Maya. Once you actually understand the Long Count this becomes extremely clear. First, you have to realize that the Long Count isn't so much a calendar as a reference system. There is no massive stone tablet with 5,100 years worth of days carved on it. What it did was allow the Maya to refer to dates outside of the 52 years Calendar Round cycle. You will never see a Long Count date that is not associated with some event. When you realize this it becomes clear that it makes no sense for this system to repeat. Outside of this I can also point to the fact than there is only one (maybe two) references to December 21, 2012 and neither refer to the end of a cycle or the world. On the other hand there are a number of Long Count dates from beyond December 21, 2012. I could go a lot more in depth on this topic but I've done it in the past. If you are interested feel free to follow the links in my signature.

reply to post by Zeer0


Then why would they become so obsessed with keeping time? To me, the idea that they just wanted to mark the end of a cycle is pointless. It's like saying this cycle is over, there's nothing to see here so keep it moving. What? You put so much time and energy into something just for the sake of doing so. Really? Interesting.

Something is associated with the end of said cycle IMO.

Originally posted by cry93
reply to post by Zeer0

 

Then why would they become so obsessed with keeping time? To me, the idea that they just wanted to mark the end of a cycle is pointless. It's like saying this cycle is over, there's nothing to see here so keep it moving. What? You put so much time and energy into something just for the sake of doing so. Really? Interesting.

Something is associated with the end of said cycle IMO.

Actually when you think about it, humans seem to be obsessed with all sorts of things through history. All you have to do is look around:

Rock structures built that were used to keep track of certain times of the year (spring and fall equinox, the solstice, etc).
Large structures (and small circles sometimes) made to keep track of stars and planets in the sky.
Huge temples built in tribute and/or worship of deities.
And take a look at the pyramids built by the AE's (okay, I'm going on main stream archeology here, I know there are lots and lots of theories about who, what and why on the pyramids), huge things that were built to bury a king......

I think we're still obsessed with things (take a look at all the 2012 theories, hehehehe), time is still important to us and our daily lives.