Ah, the end of one year wanes as a new one dawns on us.
This year was another one full of change, as many struggled just to trudge through it unscathed. I”m sure many of us are looking forward to putting 2011 to bed.
As we get ready to celebrate the end of 2011 and the arrival of 2012, a large amount of doubt surrounds this New Year. Will things improve?
A large fear that has infected the populace is whether 2012 will be the last year on record. I suppose it”s a worthy fear.
We all don”t want to think we”ll be around to see the end, so naturally we fear the possibility. But is there really any justification to this fear?
For as long as I can remember, people have been using the Mayan calendar as an indicator of the coming end of the world. It is thought that Dec. 21, 2012 will be the last day ever, as the calendar ends a 5,125-year cycle. So prolific is this fear that it has a name: the 2012 phenomenon.
But is this something we should all be afraid of?
Many experts have acknowledged this end in the Mayan calendar. One expert, Michael D. Coe, proffered the “theory” in 1966 after years of researching and studying the ancient Maya. He said this cycle, the 13th, would mark a major change and “Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day.” Many researchers repeated his prediction for years.
But as the 2012 date loomed closer, researchers began taking a skeptical look at the meaning behind the change of cycle in the Mayan calendar.
Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone said, “There is nothing in the Maya or Aztec or ancient Mesoamerican prophecy to suggest that they prophesied a sudden or major change of any sort in 2012.
The notion of a ”Great Cycle” coming to an end is completely a modern invention.”
In fact, Van Stone said Mayan inscriptions that predict the future showed they expected life to continue to go on. He said it was predicted that in the year 4772, people would be celebrating the anniversary of the coronation of Pakal.
Pakal ruled the Mayan city of Palenque from 603 to 683.
Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American art and archeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said, “we have no record or knowledge that they [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end at that point.”
If anything, it is a cause to celebrate. Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, said, “For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle,” calling the 2012 phenomenon a “complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in.”
I think this line of thinking is more how we should be feeling about things. Rumors of our civilizations possible demise have been greatly exaggerated, most likely for the opportunity to make a quick buck.
I think anybody who took Oakland preacher Harold Camping”s 2011 rapture prediction seriously would agree the world is not going to end.
So, as 2011 comes to an end and 2012 comes, let us party like the Mayans as we welcome a year in which we may not see the end of. You know, if you believe in that kind of stuff. Be safe everyone.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
