Time Elapsed In 14th New World Era:

TRUTH OF THE MAYAN CALENDAR END TIMES PROPHECY & DOOMSDAY HYPE REVEALED

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a "galactic beam" of cosmic energy which has been eminating from the Milky Way's center - supposedly the reason for which the Maya ended their 13th Baktun cycle at this time. Others are appearing to be appreciably better grounded in sound cognition such as John Major Jenkins assertion from his 1998 book entitled, Maya Cosmogenisis 2012, which purports that the Pyramid of Kukulcan, in Chichen Itza, Mexico, is a giant cosmogram created to mark the end of the Mayan calendar's 13th Baktun cycle. While, this is a highly plausible theory supported by the fact that the ancient Mayans were know to record and celebrate axial precession (aka "precession of the equinoxes") and the architecture of the Pyramid of Kukulcan does contain the necessary symbolic constructs needed to match it with the Mayan calendar; the core foundation of Mr. Jenkin's writings revolve around the currently much discussed and more specious 'galactic alignment' argument for which his writings are primarily known. The galactic alignment is said to be an astronomical event which re-occurs approximately once every 25,800 years, in which the Sun (as seen from earth) lines up with the galactic equator, in the dark rift (known as 'Xibalba' to the K'iche' Maya) of the Milky Way and coincides with the December 21, 2012 date. From this Mr. Jenkins has surmised a beautifully inspired message of hope for humanity stating "Cycle endings such as the galactic alignment in 2012 can be understood spiritually as an opportunity for human beings to reunite with their higher divine source." (ref. alignment2012.com) However, despite the truism that the evolution of any individual and/or civilization can be elevated to much higher levels of consciousness at anytime beyond the confines of any particular date(s); the specifics of the galactic alignment theory are countered by many credible sources of modern society such as: a bevy of professors in Mayan Studies, acclaimed astro-mathematician Jean Meeus, and the NASA scientific community. For example, respected Mayanist scholar Dr. Mark Van Stone has written that "the sun has already crossed the Galactic Equator in 1999. The edge of the sun first touched that Equator in the 1980's, and will be in contact with it each 21st of December until about 2019... this 'rare' alignment has already been happening for 25 years and will continue for a decade more... In fact, the sun has aligned annually (on other days) since time began. (It precesses the solar diameter in 36 years.) This is an annual event, (it) is not rare at all." Van Stone has further stated that "No mention of destruction nor of renewal, nor improvement (is) connected to the 13.0.0.0.0 Maya 'end date'." Equally suspicious of the specifics in Mr. Jenkin's logic is E. C. Krupp, Director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles who in a special guest article on NASA's website states that "... astronomy cannot pinpoint such a 'galactic alignment' to within a year, much less a day. The alignment depends on the rather arbitrary modern definition of the galactic equator, and/or the visual appearance of the Milky Way. There is no precise definition of the Milky Way's edges - they are very vague and depend on the clarity of your view. (Jenkins says that he personally established the Milky Way’s edges by viewing it from 11,000 feet, far above anywhere the Maya lived.) So to give a precise visual position for its centerline is not meaningful... Real astronomy does not support any match between the Baktun-13 end date and a galactic alignment." (click for full NASA article)

While John Major Jenkins, Jose Arguelles, and a number of other New Age authors continue to contend that December 21, 2012 has a special significance for humanity's spiritual evolution, the vast majority of Mayanists scholars in both the schools and jungle are of the opinion that it would have likely had no special meaning to the ancient Mayans beyond the fact that it is an end to the 13th Baktun cycle and would have thus been the cause for a major celebration.

In fairness to the New Age community, however, great credit should be given to it for helping to generate a tremendous amount of unprecedented worldwide interest in the culture of the ancient Maya. Additionally, although many in the established circles of academia would mock the good intentioned mispronouncements of New Age authors, it should always be kept in mind that it was from academia that the initial false claims of an ancient Mayan doomsday prophecy originally arrived. Namely, it was from Yale Professor Michael D. Coe's 1966 publication entitled, THE MAYA, where he wrote that "Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the thirteenth [Baktun]... when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion." [read: "The Tale of an End World Predictor"] So there it is. One brash writing of a respected scholar and doomsday comes again. Media hypes, the public follows, and the ancients scratch their heads. In 2012, we'll see to question our sources again.