2012 phenomenon


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A date inscription for the Mayan Long Count

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21 or December 23, 2012,[1][2] which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar. Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae related to this date have been proposed, but none have been accepted by mainstream scholarship.

A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that during this time, Earth and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.[3] Others suggest that the 2012 date marks the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios posited for the end of the world include the Earth's collision with a passing planet (often referred to as "Nibiru") or black hole, or the arrival of the next solar maximum.

Scholars from various disciplines have disputed the idea that a catastrophe will happen in 2012, suggesting that predictions of impending doom are found neither in classic Maya accounts nor in contemporary science. Mainstream Mayanist scholars argue that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history.[2][4] To the modern Maya, 2012 is largely irrelevant, and classic Maya sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory, suggesting that there was little if any universal agreement among them about what, if anything, the date might mean.[5] Meanwhile, astronomers and other scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts, on the grounds that the anticipated events are precluded by astronomical observations, or are unsubstantiated by the predictions that have been generated from these findings.[6] NASA has compared fears about 2012 to those about the Y2K bug in the late 1990s, suggesting that an adequate analysis should preclude fears of disaster.[6]

Contents

Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

Main article: Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

December 2012 marks the ending of the current b'ak'tun cycle of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which was used in Central America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Though the Long Count was most likely invented by the Olmec,[7] it has become closely associated with the Maya civilization, whose classic period lasted from 250 to 900 AD.[8] The writing system of the classic Maya has been substantially deciphered, meaning that a corpus of their written and inscribed material has survived from before the European conquest.

The Long Count set its "zero date" at a point in the past marking the end of the previous world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to either 11 or 13 August 3114 BC in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar, depending on the formula used.[9] Unlike the 52-year calendar round still used today among the Maya, the Long Count was linear, rather than cyclical, and kept time roughly in units of 20, so 20 days made a uinal, 18 uinals (360 days) made a tun, 20 tuns made a k'atun, and 20 k'atuns (144,000 days) made up a b'ak'tun. So, for example, the Mayan date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 b'ak'tuns, 3 k'atuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days since creation. Many Mayan inscriptions have the count shifting to a higher order after 13 b'ak'tuns, or roughly 5,125 years.[10][11] Today, the most widely accepted correlations of the end of the thirteenth b'ak'tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, with the Western calendar are either December 21 or December 23, 2012.[12]

In 1957, the early Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 b'ak'tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya".[13] The anthropologist Munro S. Edmonson added that "there appears to be a strong likelihood that the eral calendar, like the year calendar, was motivated by a long-range astronomical prediction, one that made a correct solsticial forecast 2,367 years into the future in 355 B.C." (sic)[14] In 1966, Michael D. Coe more ambitiously asserted in The Maya that "there is a suggestion ... that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the thirteenth [b'ak'tun]. Thus ... our present universe [would] be annihilated [in December 2012][a] when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."[15]

Coe's apocalyptic connotations were accepted by other scholars through the early 1990s.[16] In contrast, later researchers said that, while the end of the 13th b'ak'tun would perhaps be a cause for celebration,[2] it did not mark the end of the calendar.[17] In their seminal work of 1990, the Maya scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel, who reference Edmonson, argue that the Maya "did not conceive this to be the end of creation, as many have suggested,"[18] citing Mayan predictions of events to occur after the end of the 13th b'ak'tun. Schele and Freidel note that creation date was inscribed at Coba as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, with twenty units above the k'atun. According to Schele and Friedel, these 13s should be treated as 0s, so the Coba number would be read as if it were 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0, with the units of each column beyond the second (counting from right to left) equal to 20 times those of the previous one (The Maya, due to their cyclical concept of time, also wrote the date of creation, their zero date, as 13.0.0.0.0).[19] This number represented "the starting point of a huge odometer of time".[18] Schele and Freidel calculate that the date at which this odometer would run out lies some 4.134105 × 1028 years in the future,[18] or 3 quintillion times the age of the universe. The issue is complicated further by the fact that many different Maya city-states employed the Long Count in different ways. At Palenque, evidence suggests that the priest timekeepers believed the cycle would end after 20 b'ak'tuns, rather than 13. A monument commemorating the ascension of the king Pakal the Great connects his coronation with events as much as 4000 years after, indicating that those scribes did not believe the world would end on 13.0.0.0.0.[19]

Maya references to 2012

The present-day Maya, as a whole, do not attach much significance to 2012. Although the calendar round is still used by some Maya tribes in the Guatemalan highlands, the Long Count was employed exclusively by the classic Maya, and was only recently rediscovered by archaeologists.[20] Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun and Mexican archaeologist Guillermo Bernal both note that "apocalypse" is a Western concept that has little or nothing to do with Mayan beliefs. Bernal believes that such ideas have been foisted on the Maya by Westerners because their own myths are "exhausted".[21][22] Mayan archaeologist Jose Huchm has stated that "If I went to some Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn't have any idea. That the world is going to end? They wouldn't believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain".[21]

What significance the classic Maya gave the 2012 date is uncertain. Most classic Maya inscriptions are strictly historical and do not make any prophetic declarations.[23] Two items in the Maya historical corpus, however, mention the end of the 13th b'ak'tun: Tortuguero Monument 6 and, possibly, the Chilam Balam.

Tortuguero

The Tortuguero site, which lies in southernmost Tabasco, Mexico, dates from the 7th century AD and consists of a series of inscriptions in honor of the contemporary ruler. One inscription, known as Tortuguero Monument 6, is generally agreed among Mayanists to refer to the 2012 date. It has been partially defaced; Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone has given the most complete translation:

Tzuhtz-(a)j-oom u(y)-uxlajuun pik
The Thirteenth [b'ak'tun] will end
(ta) Chan Ajaw ux(-te') Uniiw.
(on) 4 Ajaw, the 3rd of Uniiw [3 K'ank'in].
Uht-oom Ek'-...
Black ... will occur.
Y-em(al) ... Bolon Yookte' K'uh ta-chak-ma...
(It will be) the descent(?) of Bolon Yookte' K'uh to the great (or red?)...[19]

Very little is known about the god (or gods) Bolon Yookte' K'uh. Possible translations of his or their name include "nine support [gods]", "Many‐Strides God", "Nine‐Dog Tree", or "Many‐Root Tree".[19] He appears in other inscriptions as a god of war, conflict, and the underworld, though Markus Eberl and Christian Prager believe that the Tortuguero inscription parallels the typical Maya ruler's pronouncement of a future dedicatory celebration.[24] No illustrations of Bolon Yookte' exist, though dozens of other gods' images are known.[19]

Chilam Balam

The Chilam Balam are a group of post-conquest Mayan prophetic histories transcribed in a modified form of the Spanish alphabet. Their authorship is ascribed to a chilam balam, or jaguar prophet.[25] The Chilam Balam of Tizimin has been translated twice: once by the archaeoastronomer Maud Worcester Makemson and once by the anthropologist Munro S. Edmonson. Makemson believed that one of the lines in the book (licutal oxlahun bak chem, ti u cenic u tzan a ceni ciac aba yum texe) referred to the "tremendously important event of the arrival of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin in the not too distant future",[26] translating it as "Presently B'ak'tun 13 shall come sailing, figuratively speaking, bringing the ornaments of which I have spoken from your ancestors." (Her version of the text continues, "Then the god will come to visit his little ones. Perhaps 'After Death' will be the subject of his discourse.") Makemson was still relying on her own dating of 13.0.0.0.0 to 1752 and therefore the "not too distant future" in her annotations meant a few years after the scribe in Tizimin recorded his Chilam Balam.[27] Edmonson's translation does not support this reading; he considers the Long Count entirely absent from the book, with a 24-round may system used instead.[28] Other Chilam Balam books contain references to the 13th b'ak'tun, but it is unclear if these are in the past or future; for example, oxhun bakam u katunil (thirteen bakam of k'atuns) in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel.[29]

New Age beliefs

Many New Age thinkers believe that the ending of this cycle will correspond to a global "consciousness shift". Established themes found in 2012 literature include "suspicion towards mainstream Western culture", the idea of spiritual evolution, and the possibility of leading the world into the New Age, by individual example or by a group's joined consciousness. The general intent of this literature is not to warn of impending doom but "to foster counter-cultural sympathies and eventually socio-political and 'spiritual' activism".[30]

In 1975, b'ak'tun 13 became the subject of speculation by several New Age authors. In his book Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness, Frank Waters tied Coe's December 24, 2011 date to astrology and the prophecies of the Hopi,[31] while both José Argüelles and Terence McKenna (in their books The Transformative Vision[32] and The Invisible Landscape[33][34] respectively) discussed the significance of the year 2012, but not a specific day. In 1987, the year in which he held the Harmonic Convergence event, Arguelles settled on the date of December 21 in his book The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology,[35][36] in which he claimed on that date the Earth would pass through a great "beam" from the centre of the Galaxy, and that the Maya aligned their calendar in anticipation of that event.[37] In 2006, author Daniel Pinchbeck popularised New Age concepts about this date in his book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, linking it to beliefs about crop circles, alien abduction, and personal revelations based on the use of entheogens and mediumship.[38] Pinchbeck claims to discern a "growing realization that materialism and the rational, empirical worldview that comes with it has reached its expiration date...[w]e're on the verge of transitioning to a dispensation of consciousness that's more intuitive, mystical and shamanic."[39] Beginning in 2003, he has promoted these ideas annually in presentations at Burning Man.[38] Semir Osmanagić, the author and metalworker responsible for promoting the Bosnian pyramids, referred to 2012 in the conclusion of his book The World of the Maya.[40] He suggests that "Advancement of DNA may raise us to a higher level" and concludes, "When the 'heavens open' and cosmic energy is allowed to flow throughout our tiny Planet, will we be raised to a higher level by the vibrations".[40]

Galactic alignment

In the mid-1990s, John Major Jenkins asserted that the ancient Maya intended to tie the end of their calendar to the winter solstice in 2012, which falls on December 21. This date was in line with an idea he terms the galactic alignment.[41]

In the Solar System, the planets and the Sun share roughly the same plane of orbit, known as the plane of the ecliptic. From our perspective on Earth, the ecliptic is the path taken by the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The 12 constellations which line the ecliptic are known as the zodiac and, through the year, the Sun passes through each constellation in turn. Additionally, over time, the Sun's annual passage appears to recede counterclockwise by one degree every 72 years. This movement is attributed to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins.[42] As a result, approximately every 2160 years, the constellation visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. In Western astrological traditions, this signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). Over the course of 26,000 years, the precession of the equinoxes makes one full circuit around the ecliptic.[42]

Just as the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere is currently in the constellation of Pisces, so the winter solstice is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius, which is the zodiacal constellation intersected by the galactic equator.[43] Every year for the last 1000 years or so, on the winter solstice, the Earth, Sun and the galactic equator come into alignment, and every year, precession pushes the Sun's position a little way further through the Milky Way's band.

The Milky Way near Cygnus showing the lane of the Dark Rift, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road"

Jenkins suggests that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the Great Rift, a band of dark dust clouds in the Milky Way, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road."[44] Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where the ecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology.[45] According to the hypothesis, the Sun precisely aligns with this intersection point at the winter solstice of 2012.[45] Jenkins claimed that the classical Mayans anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind.[46] New Age proponents of the galactic alignment hypothesis argue that, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to make claims of future events, the Mayans plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events.[47] Jenkins attributes the insights of ancient Maya shamans about the galactic center to their use of psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive toads, and other psychedelics.[48] Jenkins also associates the Xibalba be with a "world tree", drawing on studies of contemporary (not ancient) Maya cosmology.[5]

Astronomers argue that the galactic equator is an entirely arbitrary line, and can never be precisely determined because it is impossible to say exactly where the Milky Way begins or ends. Jenkins claims he drew his conclusions about the location of the galactic equator from observations taken at above 11,000 feet, which is higher than any of the Maya lived.[37] Furthermore, the precessional alignment of the Sun with any single point is not exclusive to a specific year, but takes place over a 36-year period, corresponding to its diameter. Jenkins himself notes that, even given his given location for the line of the galactic equator, its most precise convergence with the centre of the Sun already occurred in 1998.[49][50] As Jenkins himself also notes, there is no concrete evidence that the Maya were aware of precession.[41] While some Mayan scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod, have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, scholarly opinion on the subject is divided.[19] There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes.[19][51]

Timewave zero and the I Ching

A screenshot of the Timewave Zero software

"Timewave zero" is a numerological formula that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty", defined as increase in the universe's interconnectedness, or organised complexity,[52] over time. According to Terence McKenna, who conceived the idea over several years in the early-mid 1970s while using psilocybin mushrooms and DMT, the universe has a teleological attractor at the end of time that increases interconnectedness, eventually reaching a singularity of infinite complexity in 2012, at which point anything and everything imaginable will occur instantaneously.[52]

McKenna expressed "novelty" in a computer program, which purportedly produces a waveform known as timewave zero or the timewave. Based on McKenna's interpretation of the King Wen sequence of the I Ching,[33] the graph appears to show great periods of novelty corresponding with major shifts in humanity's biological and cultural evolution. He believed the events of any given time are recursively related to the events of other times, and chose the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as the basis for calculating his end date in November 2012. When he later discovered this date's proximity to the end of the 13th b'ak'tun on the Maya calendar, he revised his hypothesis so that the two dates matched.[53]

The first edition of The Invisible Landscape refers to 2012 (as the year, not a specific day) only twice. McKenna originally considered it an incidental observation that his and José Argüelles dates matched, a sign of the end date "being programmed into our unconscious". It was only in 1983, with the publication of Sharer's revised table of date correlations in the 4th edition of Morley's The Ancient Maya, that each became convinced that December 21, 2012 had significant meaning. McKenna subsequently peppered this specific date throughout the second, 1993 edition of The Invisible Landscape.[30]

Doomsday theories

A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 has also spread in various media. This view has been promulgated by History Channel which, beginning in 2006, aired "Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy", based loosely on John Major Jenkins' theories but with a tone he characterized as "45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism". It was co-written by a science fiction author.[54] This show proved popular and was followed by many sequels: 2012, End of Days (2006), The Last Days on Earth (2008), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, and Nostradamus 2012 (2008).[55] Discovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massive solar storms, flipping of the magnetic poles, earthquakes, super volcanoes, and more may occur in 2012.[56]

Geomagnetic reversal

One idea proposed in these films involves a geomagnetic reversal (often incorrectly referred to as a polar shift by proponents of this hypothesis), which could be triggered by a massive solar flare, one with energy equal to 100 billion atomic bombs.[57] This belief is supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's magnetic field is weakening,[58] which indicates an impending reversal of the north and south magnetic poles. Scientists believe the Earth is overdue for a geomagnetic reversal, and has been for a long time, even since the time of the Mayans, because the last reversal was 780,000 years ago.[59] Critics, however, claim geomagnetic reversals take up to 5,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date. Also, NOAA now predicts that the solar maximum will peak in 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots.[60] In any case, there is no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal.[61] A solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects on satellite and cellular phone communications.[62]

Planet Nibiru

Proponents of a Nibiru collision claim that a planet, called Nibiru or Planet X, will collide with or pass by Earth in that year. This idea, which has been circulating since 1995 in New Age circles and initially slated the event for 2003, is based on claims of channeling from alien beings and has been widely ridiculed.[63][64] Astronomers calculate that such an object so close to Earth would be visible to anyone looking up at the night sky.[65][66]

Black hole alignment

An apocalyptic reading of Jenkins's hypothesis has that, when the galactic alignment occurs, it will somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the Sun and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy (known as Sagittarius A*), creating havoc on Earth.[67] Apart from the fact noted above that the "galactic alignment" predicted by Jenkins already happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth does not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it.[68] Even if this were not the case, Sgr A* is 30,000 light years from Earth, and would have to be more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to Earth's Solar System.[69][70]

Some versions of this idea associate the theory of a 2012 "galactic alignment" with that of a very different "galactic alignment" proposed by some scientists to explain a supposed periodicity in mass extinctions in the fossil record.[71] The hypothesis supposes that vertical oscillations made by the Sun as it orbits the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic disc, the influence of the galactic tide is weaker; as it re-enters the galactic disc, as it does every 20–25 million years, it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of Oort cloud comets into the Solar System by a factor of 4, leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact.[72] However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date.[73] Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the galactic disc only three million years ago, and is now moving farther above it.[74]

Web Bot project

Main article: Web Bot

The Web Bot project is a series of automated bots that search the internet for specific keywords, looking for patterns. Its co-creator, George Ure, states that its study of "web chatter" predicted the September 11 attacks in New York, though he also suggests that the project can predict natural disasters, such as earthquakes. He now asserts that the project has predicted that the world will end on December 21, 2012.[75] Critics of these proposals argue that while the collective knowledge of humanity could possibly predict terrorist attacks, stock market crashes or other human-caused events, there is no way it could predict something like an earthquake or the end of the world.[75]

See also

Notes

^  Coe revised the date to "11 January AD 2013" in the 1980 2nd edition of his book,[76] not settling on December 23, 2012 until the 1984 3rd edition.[77] The correlation of 13.0.0.0.0 as 21 December 2012 first appeared in Table B.2 of Robert J. Sharer's revision of the 4th edition of Sylvanus Morley's book The Ancient Maya.[78]

Citations

  1. ^ Sitler 2006, Defesche 2007
  2. ^ a b c G. Jeffrey MacDonald (March 27, 2007). "Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_n.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  3. ^ For a sample of views see discussion and interviews in New York Times Magazine article (Anastas 2007).
  4. ^ David Webster (September 25, 2007). "The Uses and Abuses of the Ancient Maya" (pdf). The Emergence of the Modern World Conference, Otzenhausen, Germany: Penn State University. http://www.anthro.psu.edu/faculty_staff/docs/Webster_GermanyMaya.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  5. ^ a b Aveni 2009
  6. ^ a b "2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?". NASA.
  7. ^ Jorge Pérez de Lara and John Justeson (2006). "Photographic Documentation of Monuments with Epi-Olmec Script/Imagery". Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. http://www.famsi.org/reports/05084/05084PerezdeLara01.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-03. 
  8. ^ Andrew K. Scherer (2007). "Population structure of the classic period Maya". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132 (3): 367–380. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20535. PMID 17205548. 
  9. ^ Michael Finley (2003). "The Correlation Question". The Real Maya Prophecies: Astronomy in the Inscriptions and Codices. Maya Astronomy. http://members.shaw.ca/mjfinley/corr.html. Retrieved 2007-05-11. 
  10. ^ Schele & Freidel 1990, p. 246
  11. ^ Vincent H. Malmström (March 19, 2003). "The Astronomical Insignificance of Maya Date 13.0.0.0.0" (pdf). Dartmouth College. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/M-32.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
  12. ^ Sitler 2006,[page needed]
  13. ^ Maud Worcester Makemson (June 1957). "The miscellaneous dates of the Dresden codex". Publications of the Vassar College Observatory 6: 4. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1957PVasO...6....1M. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  14. ^ Edmonson 1988, p. 119.
  15. ^ Coe 1966, p. 149
  16. ^ Carrasco 1990, p. 39; Gossen & Leventhal 1993, p. 191.
  17. ^ Milbrath 1999, p. 4
  18. ^ a b c Schele & Freidel 1990, pp. 81–82, 430–431
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Van Stone 2008
  20. ^ David Stuart (October 11, 2009). "Q & A about 2012". Maya Decipherment. http://decipherment.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/q-a-about-2012/. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  21. ^ a b Mark Stevenson (2009). "Next apocalypse? Mayan year 2012 stirs doomsayers". Associated Press. http://www.sltrib.com/Nation%20and%20World/ci_13534048. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
  22. ^ The end of time: Maya calendar runs out soon, but don't panic, Rory Carroll, The Guardian, 13 October 2009, retrieved 22 October 2009
  23. ^ Houston & Stuart 1996
  24. ^ Eberl & Prager 2005
  25. ^ Wright 2005, pp. 165–166
  26. ^ Makemson 1951, p. 219
  27. ^ Makemson 1951 pp. 30, 217
  28. ^ Quote: "The b'ak'tun or Long Count dating system does not appear directly in the Tizimin." See Edmonson 1982, xix, also p.195 op cit.
  29. ^ Roys, 1967 p. 111; Luxton, 1996 p. 274
  30. ^ a b Defesche 2007
  31. ^ See in particular, chapter 6 ("The Great Cycle – Its Projected Beginning"), chapter 7 ("The Great Cycle – Its Projected End") and the Appendix, in Waters 1975, pp. 256–264, 265–271, 285 et seq.
  32. ^ Argüelles 1975
  33. ^ a b McKenna&McKenna 1975
  34. ^ (the more specific date of December 21 appeared in the 1993 revision of The Invisible LandscapeMcKenna&McKenna 1993)
  35. ^ Philip J. Hilts; Mary Battiata (1987). "Planets Won't Attend Astronomical Celebration". New York Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73839663.html?dids=73839663:73839663&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+16,+1987&author=Philip+J.+Hilts;+Mary+Battiata&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Planets+Won't+Attend+Astronomical+Celebration&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-11-04. 
  36. ^ Argüelles 1987
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  38. ^ a b Pinchbeck 2006
  39. ^ Anastas 2007
  40. ^ a b Osmanagich 2005
  41. ^ a b John Major Jenkins. "Introduction to Maya Cosmogenesis". http://alignment2012.com/mc-intro.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  42. ^ a b "Precession". NASA. http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sprecess.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-03. 
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  44. ^ Stross, Brian. "XIBALBA OR XIBALBE". University of Texas. http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/xibalba.rtf. Retrieved 2009-05-18. 
  45. ^ a b Jenkins, John Major. "What is the Galactic Alignment?". http://alignment2012.com/whatisga.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-11. 
  46. ^ John Major Jenkins (2005). "The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of Consciousness". alignement2012.com. http://alignment2012.com/mayancalendarbasics.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
  47. ^ For an in-depth look at this subject, see Coe 1992, Miller 1993, Pinchbeck 2006
  48. ^ Jenkins 1998, pp. 191–206
  49. ^ John Major Jenkins (June 1999). "The True Alignment Zone". http://alignment2012.com/truezone.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  50. ^ Meeus 1997, pp. 301–303
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  54. ^ John Major Jenkins (July 28, 2006). "How Not to Make a 2012 Documentary". http://alignment2012.com/historychannel.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  55. ^ "Armageddon series". The History Channel. 2008. http://www.history.com/minisites/armageddon. Retrieved 2009-05-01. 
  56. ^ "2012 Apocalypse". The Discovery Channel. 2009. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=1.403.26090.0.0. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 
  57. ^ Ian O'Neill (June 21, 2008). 2012: No Killer Solar Flare "2012: No Killer Solar Flare". Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/06/21/2012-no-killer-solar-flare/ 2012: No Killer Solar Flare. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  58. ^ "Sloshing Inside Earth Changes Protective Magnetic Field". space.com. August 18, 2008. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080818-mm-earth-core.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  59. ^ Leonhardt R, Fabian K, Winklhofer M, Ferk A, Laj C, Kissel C (2009). "Geomagnetic field evolution during the Laschamp excursion". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 278 (1–2): 87–95. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.11.028. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009E&PSL.278...87L. 
  60. ^ "New Solar Cycle Prediction". NASA. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29may_noaaprediction.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-02. 
  61. ^ Ian O'Neill (October 3, 2008). "2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal". Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/03/2012-no-geomagnetic-reversal/. Retrieved 2009-05-27. 
  62. ^ Tony Phillips (March 10, 2006). "Solar Storm Warning". NASA. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  63. ^ Schilling 2008, p. 111
  64. ^ David Morrison (October 13, 2008). "Armageddon from Planet Nibiru in 2012? Not so fast". discovery.com. http://dsc.discovery.com/space/my-take/nibiru-armageddon-david-morrison.html. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
  65. ^ Phil Plait (2003). "The Planet X Saga: Science". badastronomy.com. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html#orbits. Retrieved 2009-04-02. 
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  67. ^ E. C. Krupp. "The Great 2012 Scare". Sky and Telescope. http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Doomsday2012-lores.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-11. 
  68. ^ Geoff Gaherty (2008). "Starry Night looks at doomsday". http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/2008/06/#art1. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 
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  71. ^ "Questions Show: Alignment with the Galactic Plane, Destruction from Venus, and the Death of the Solar System". Astronomy Cast. Universe Today. October 10, 2008. http://www.astronomycast.com/listeners/questions-shows/questions-show-alignment-with-the-galactic-plane-destruction-from-venus-and-the-death-of-the-solar-system/. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  72. ^ Michael Szpir. "Perturbing the Oort Cloud". American Scientist. The Scientific Research Society. http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/perturbing-the-oort-cloud. Retrieved 2008-03-25. 
  73. ^ Cain, Fraser (May 11,2009). "Galactic Plane". Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/galaxies/galactic-plane/. Retrieved 2009-10-29. 
  74. ^ John N. Bahcall and Safi Bahcall (22 August 1985). "The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane". Nature 316: 706–708. doi:10.1038/316706a0. 
  75. ^ a b Chivers, Tom (24 September 2009). "'Web-bot project' makes prophecy of 2012 apocalypse". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6227357/Web-bot-project-makes-prophecy-of-2012-apocalypse.html. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
  76. ^ Coe 1980, p. 151
  77. ^ Coe 1984. This correlation, which differs two days from Sharer's, is repeated in subsequent editions of Coe's book
  78. ^ Morley 1983, Table B2, p. 603

References

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  • Coe, Michael D. (1984). The Maya. Ancient peoples and places series (3st ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500050619. 
  • Coe, Michael D. (1992). Breaking the Maya Code. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05061-9. OCLC 26605966. 
  • Coe, Michael D. (1999). The Maya. Ancient peoples and places series (6th, fully revised and expanded ed.). London and New York: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28066-5. OCLC 59432778. 
  • Defesche, Sacha (2007). W.J. Hanegraaff. ed. 'The 2012 Phenomenon': A historical and typological approach to a modern apocalyptic mythology.. University of Amsterdam. http://skepsis.no/?p=599. 
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  • Osmanagich, Sam (2005). The World of the Maya. Gorgias Press. ISBN 1593332742. 
  • Pinchbeck, Daniel (2006). 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. New York: Tarcher. ISBN 978-1-58542-483-2. OCLC 62421298. 
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  • Schilling, Govert (2008). The Hunt For Planet X: New Worlds and the Fate of Pluto. Springer. ISBN 9780387778044. 
  • Sitler, Robert K. (February 2006). "The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar". Novo Religio: the Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions (Berkeley: University of California Press) 9 (3): 24–38. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024. ISSN 1092-6690. OCLC 357082680. 
  • South, Stephanie (2009). 2012: Biography of a Time Traveler, The Journey of José Argüelles. Franklin Lakes, New Jersey: New Page Books. ISBN 978-1-60163-065-0. 
  • Van Stone, Mark (2008). "It's Not the End of the World: What the Ancient Maya Tell Us About 2012". FAMSI. http://www.famsi.org/research/vanstone/2012/index.html. 
  • Voss, Alexander (2006). "Astronomy and Mathematics". in Nikolai Grube (ed.). Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain Forest. Eva Eggebrecht and Matthias Seidel (assistant eds.). Cologne: Könemann. pp. 130–143. ISBN 3-8331-1957-8. OCLC 71165439. 
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Further reading

This is a sampling of the dozens of New Age books on the subject of 2012:

  • Andrews, Synthia (2008). The Complete Idiot's Guide to 2012. New York, N.Y.: Alpha Books. ISBN 1592578039. 
  • Banks, Gregory Bernard (2009). 2012: Seeking Closure. Stockbridge, GA. ISBN 978-0982436103. 
  • Braden, Gregg et al. (2007). The Mystery of 2012: Predictions, Prophecies and Possibilities. Boulder, Colo.: Sounds True. ISBN 978-1591796114. 
  • Caruson, David (2008). 2013 Oracle: Ancient Keys to the 2012 Awakening. San Francisco: Council Oak Books. ISBN 9781571781949. 
  • Geryl, Patrick; Ratinck, Gino (2001). The Orion Prophecy. Kempton, Ill.: Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN 9780932813916. 
  • Geryl, Patrick (2008). How to Survive 2012: Tactics and Survival Places for the Coming Pole Shift. Kempton, Ill.: Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN 978-1931882682. 
  • Pyramid of Fire (2004), Galactic Alignment (2002), Tzolkin (1994), all by John Major Jenkins
  • Jenkins, Philip (2004). Dream Catchers: How Mainstream America Discovered Native Spirituality. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516115-7. OCLC 54074085. 
  • Joseph, Lawrence E. (2007). Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation Into Civilization's End. New York: Morgan Road Books. ISBN 978-0767924474. 
  • Melchizedek, Drunvalo (2007). Serpent of Light: Beyond 2012. San Francisco, CA: Weiser Books. ISBN 978-1578634019. 
  • Mercier, Patricia (2008). The Maya End Times: A spiritual adventure to the heart of the Maya prophecies for 2012. London: Watkins. ISBN 978-1905857579. 
  • Osmanagich, Sam (2005) (Online text reproduction). The World of the Maya. Piscataway, New Jersey: Gorgias Press (Euphrates imprint). ISBN 1-59333-274-2. OCLC 64204367. http://www.alternativnahistorija.com/WM.htm. 
  • Peterson, John (2008). A Vision for 2012: Planning for Extraordinary Change. Golden, Colo.: Fulcrum Pub.. ISBN 978-1555916619. 
  • Pinchbeck, Daniel (2006). 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. New York: Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin. ISBN 978-1585424832. 

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