another reference to an event in 2012 by the Mayans?

[wolvesevolve]

Nice article...

https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45438811/#.TtHtOanNlGV

[Earthnut]

Yes, it is a nice article. Recently I posted one that was written by a Mayan elder, and according to the Mayans, their calendar is in time periods, not dates, and that if there is a date it sits in the central position of that period. They also say that there will not be total disaster, but that mankind will have a new spiritual awakening. Here's hoping, mankind needs a change for the better.

Here's the link to that page in case someone wants to read it:

[wolvesevolve]

Oh I missed that post! Well I read it quickly and will need to give it another look, seems rather insightful and good to see a rebuke to the doomsday predictions from folks that I don't think know jack about the Mesoamerican conception of time and their worldview...how it's not really like the Western conception of apocalypse with a single year event/end of calender. I do believe (or maybe more hopefully wish) that 2012 onwards might see the some major changes in the world we live in, not sure if a political shift, or some kind of environmental change (not that we havent had enough of an environ change with global warming...regardless of how it's happening seems like there is agreement from the right wing too that its there...what causes it is still the topic of debate). So hmmmm

[Guest Mikal C Johnson KtCym ECA]

Even the Bible isn't that black and white about the "Apocalypse" (which means "uncovering"). After the Battle of Armageddon (the Valley of Megiddo) the Earth continues to exist and be populated (peacefully) for at least another thousand years.

[wolvesevolve]

Exactly, nothing is laid out as concrete fact. It's about interpretation and the loaded terms and preconceptions that we have today of "apocalypse", "armageddon", "doomsday"...and prophecy that come along with future events coinciding with specific times.

Archaeologists and it seems Mayan sages themselves are trying to unload and debunk the popularization of the forthcoming end of the Mayan calender being the start to prophetic end times as its been sensationalized largely by the media without much in the way of critical thought or contextual interpretation. A lot of what comes from biblical apocrypha is being misapplied to another cultural worldview...and to me it seems that's painting something black that's in fact white

[Earthnut]

The thing we need to remember about the Bible is it uses symbols, especially in the Book of Revelations. It's all symbols. It talks about the 3 great earthquakes, and even though we may very well have 3 big ones, they symbolize "Economy," "Politics," and "Religion." I would definitely say they are all shaking right now, big time world-wide, with the first one, "Economy" shaking the most. I expect the other 2 will follow in size.

I for one have to go along with the Mayan elders. I believe there will be many planetary changes and a new spiritual awakening. We are seeing this beginning to manifest even now. We made it past 11/11/11 without incident, and we will make it through 12/21/12 as well, without total disaster, as some predict.

And, lastly, the planet is always changing, and the axis has and is always shifting. At one time they say the equator was through the North and South poles. The planet will always survive, and even renew itself, right now my concern is the people using up all its resources. Millions will die if/when that happens. Man is to conform to the planet, not try and make the planet conform to man. Man will lose.

Anyone else see the history video, "Life After People?"

https://www.history.com/shows/life-after-people

Here's part 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBtHICMmDJk&feature=player_embedded

[Libby]

I think the comment you made, wolvesevolve, about misapplied cultural worldviews is one worth thinking about. However one tries to pin down what it is to be human, I think probably the major defining aspect would be the intellectual drive to understand the world around us. And the other side of that coin is prediction/control. People live in places where, with our "superior" knowledge, they shouldn't. Such as the flanks of volcanoes or flood plains or banks of rivers that intermittently overflow. But that was where they could grow enough food, which is another driving force, and one which can be difficult for us in the west to comprehend given our ability to just pop in to our nearest supermarket.

Back in the day when humans decided to settle in a particular area and become agrarians rather than hunters, being able to predict what would happen in the future first became useful and then became necessary. Hunters could move on by following their prey; for settled communities, often in the hundreds or thousands, that's not so easy.

Charting weather patterns and extrapolating from those, especially in terms of farmers' almanacs, became very important, especially from the time we had written language and subsequently printing presses. I see the Mayan calendar in those kinds of terms. To understand, we first have to make notes, and then try and see the pattern. But that interpretation relies heavily on what we already believe. If it's an angry god, make the sacrifice; if it's seismology, well, we've got a bit better at prediction and Mount St Helens is a good example of that.

I see the Mayan calendar as an attempt to understand the future, and probably the cyclical nature of the future, predicated on the past. The Mayans, as well as other indigenous South American peoples, were particularly good at record-keeping. But in ways that we, with our technology, might regard as woefully primitive. But I wonder how much important data is held on 5.25" floppy disks which, in the not-too-distant future, we won't be able to read. At least in that respect, the Mayans have done better than us.

More to say, but I'll save that for another post.