2012 and the Mayan Calendar: facts and fantasies

David Pratt

January 2011

Contents

Introduction
Mayan timekeeping
Astronomical alignments
Mythological connections
Timewave hallucination
Doomsday or new dawn?
Our evolutionary journey
Sources

Introduction

Mayan timekeeping

The red line indicates the extent of Mayan civilization, which extended over what is now southern Mexico and into Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador. Circles denote major Classic sites, and squares denote post-Classic sites. (en.wikipedia.org)

The Maya attained a high level of precision in their astronomical observations, especially the cycles of the moon, sun, Mars and Venus. The Dresden Codex yields a mean lunar month of 29.530570 days, or 0.00002 days less than our present value. It also yields a value of 583.92026 days for Venus’ synodic period – an error of just 0.08 days in over 481 years. Like many ancient peoples, the Maya were aware of the precession of the equinoxes (a cycle of some 25,920 years); the Paris Codex, for example, appears to have been used for predicting solar and lunar ecliptic longitude over the course of a precessional cycle (Jacobs, 1999; Jenkins, 1998, 339-42).

El Caracol observatory, Chichén Itzá, Mexico. (en.wikipedia.org)

There is evidence that mariners, traders, missionaries and migrants from several continents (including Europe, Africa and Asia) visited Mesoamerica at different times and influenced its various civilizations (see The ancient Americas). Some features of the Mayan calendar and cosmological traditions point to contacts with India, China and Indonesia (Kearsley, 2001, 2002; Kelley, 1974).

Tzolkin, haab, calendar round

The Maya had an intricate system of calendars. The sacred or religious calendar, or tzolkin (tzolk’in in modern orthography), has a period of 260 days, and consists of 20 ‘weeks’ of 13 days each. It is of great antiquity, and was prevalent across all Mesoamerican societies. It is still used in some regions of Oaxaca, Mexico, and by the Mayan communities of the Guatemalan highlands. It was used to determine the time of religious and ceremonial events and for divination. The tzolkin day on which a child is born was believed to determine its personality. Since two tzolkin periods (520 days) equal three eclipse half-years, it was also used to predict eclipses.

The figure of 260 days is significant for various reasons. It closely matches the period of human gestation, or the completion of nine full-moon cycles. It is equal to the zenith passage interval of the sun observed from 15ºN, the latitude of Izapa (one of the places where the calendar was developed). It equals a third of the synodic period of Mars (one solar orbit by Mars in relation to the earth), which is about 780 days. It is the length of time between planting and harvesting maize, the staple diet of the Maya. It may also be significant that 260 years is about 1/100 of the length of the precessional cycle, a fundamental earth rhythm.

The Maya used a vigesimal number system (i.e. one based on 20, not 10).

Tzolkin signs. The tzolkin year begins with 1 Imix, followed by 2 Ik, 3 Akbal,
and so on, ending with 13 Ajaw (formerly Ahau). (ancientscripts.com)

Like other Mesoamerican cultures, and also the ancient Egyptians, the Maya had a 365-day civil or secular calendar. It is known as the haab (haab’), and also as the vague year, since it drifts in relation to the seasons. It consists of 18 ‘months’ of 20 days each, plus 5 ‘unlucky’ days at the end, called wayeb. It was used primarily to time agricultural activities such as the planting and harvesting of maize. The four tzolkin day-signs on which New Year’s Day (in the haab) can fall are known as the year-bearers, and are associated with the four sacred mountains of the four directions, and the four seasonal quarters (equinoxes and solstices).

Haab signs. A year begins with 0 Pop, continuing up to 19 Pop,
followed by 0 Wo etc., ending with Wayeb.

The Maya viewed the tzolkin and haab as a set of intermeshing cogs, turning until a particular day of the tzolkin again coincided with the same day of the haab. This occurs after 18,980 days, the lowest number divisible by both 260 and 365. This cycle, known as the calendar round, is equivalent to 73 tzolkin years, or 52 haab years, or just under 52 solar years. A calendar round date consists of the tzolkin date followed by the haab date, e.g. 4 Ajaw 8 Kumku.

The interlocking tzolkin and haab. The date shown is 4 Ajaw 8 Kumku (see getflashy.com).

The Mesoamericans were of course aware that a year was slightly longer than 365 days. They equated 1508 haabs (29 calendar rounds) with 1507 tropical years, yielding a tropical (or solar) year of 365.242203 days – a figure closer to the actual value than the 365.2425 days of our Gregorian calendar (Jacobs, 1999).

Long count

Neither the tzolkin nor haab system numbered the years, but the combination of a tzolkin date and a haab date was enough to uniquely identify dates for a period of 52 years. For tracking longer periods of time the Maya employed the long count, which numbers years consecutively from a particular starting point (rather like our western calendar). During the Classic period the long count used five place values:

Dates on monuments tend to include both the long-count date and the calendar-round date, with the numbers and time-period symbols being arranged vertically. In modern notation, a date equal, for example, to 9 baktuns, 3 katuns, 17 tuns, 8 winals and 11 kins is written 9.3.17.8.11.

The oldest long-count date yet found corresponds to 36 BCE, but most scholars believe that the long count was invented up to 500 years earlier. By the time of the Spanish conquest, the long count had fallen into disuse. Instead, a short count (of 13 katuns) was used, in which a particular date would recur about every 256 years.

Many Mayan records, such as stela C at Quiriguá (Guatemala), give the date of the current creation as 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ajaw 8 Kumku, which is generally believed to correspond to 11 August 3114 BCE in the proleptic Gregorian calendar (see next section). So if the present age also lasts 13 baktuns – a period of 1,872,000 days, or about 5,125.36 solar years – it will end on 21 December 2012. It is interesting to note that five 13-baktun cycles add up to 25,627 years, or about one precessional cycle.

Some inscriptions indicate that, instead of resetting to zero after 13 baktuns, the calendar continues running as far as 20 baktuns, like all the other place values except the winals (which only go up to 18). Moreover, above the baktun there are several higher-order periods. Mayanists have named the first four as follows:

Most of the long-count dates which occur in the stone inscriptions have a baktun count of 9, which lasted from the 5th to the 9th centuries, the period of the Classic Maya. But at Palenque there are two long count dates – 1.18.5.4.0 and 1.18.5.3.6 (14 days apart) – pointing to a time 2794 solar years prior to 9.0.0.0.0.

There are also Mayan inscriptions referring to dates well before and after the present 13-baktun cycle. For instance, an inscription commissioned in the 7th century CE by King Pakal of Palenque predicts that an anniversary of his accession will be commemorated 4169 years in the future. His accession is also linked to a similar accession 1,246,826 years earlier. Stela F at Quiriguá, a sandstone monolith towering 7.3 m (24 ft) high, was erected in 761, but also refers to a date 90 million years earlier and another date over 400 million years in the future. The Dresden Codex contains the date 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13 (thirteen 13s, 13 being a sacred number). Stela 1 at Cobá gives the date 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, placing it either 4.134105 x 10²⁸ years in the future, or an equal distance in the past; the string of 13s could, however, be intended to convey the extensiveness of time (Gronemeyer & MacLeod, 2010; Van Stone, 2009; en.wikipedia.org).

Correlation problem

The most widely accepted correlation of the Mayan long-count calendar with the western calendar is known as the GMT correlation, after the three scholars who worked on it during the first half of the 20th century – Joseph Goodman, Juan Martínez Hernandez and Eric Thompson. They came up with several possible correlations, including 584285 and 584283 – these being the Julian day numbers on which the current 13-baktun cycle is thought to have begun (Julian days are counted from 1 January 4713 BCE).

The favoured correlation is 584283 (sometimes called GMT minus 2 (GMT-2), though the 584285 correlation is sometimes called GMT+2). It puts the start date (0.0.0.0.0) on 11 August 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar (or 6 September 3114 BCE in the Julian calendar) and the end date (13.0.0.0.0) on 21 December 2012. This correlation is popular among anthropologists because there are Mayan inscriptions that put the end of the cycle on tzolkin day 4 Ajaw, haab day 3 Kankin, and 21 December 2012 is 4 Ajaw according to the tzolkin calendar still used by Quiché Indians in the highlands of Guatemala. The second most popular correlation is 584285 (also known as the Lounsbury correlation), which gives an end date of 23 December 2012; some researchers argue that it provides a better match with astronomical data on certain monuments.

Over the past hundred years scholars have suggested over 50 different correlations, ranging from 394483 to 774078, meaning that the 13-baktun cycle might have ended in 1493 or might not end for another 521 years. Some of correlations are listed below (Finley, 2003; Van Stone, 2009).

Theosophical researcher Frederick J. Dick (1921, 1925) proposed that the start date of the 13-baktun cycle was 14 November 3632 BCE in the Gregorian calendar (Julian day no. 395182), and that the end date was 26 March 1495; this would require the modern Mayan tzolkin calendar to be out by 179 days. He also argued that the real starting point of the Mayan calendar (0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0) was 5,042,152 BCE. Whether Dick’s theory is correct or not, theosophical literature says that the Maya ‘had their Zodiac from untold antiquity’, and that they, or their ancestors, were coeval with ‘Plato’s Atlantis’, i.e. with Poseidonis, one of the last remaining Atlantean islands, which sank around 9500 BCE (SD 2:35, 50; see Sunken continents). The heyday of Atlantean civilization, however, is said to have been several million years ago, when it covered the entire earth. G. de Purucker says that the Americas were populated by different Atlantean peoples over a long period of time, via both the Atlantic and Pacific (see The ancient Americas).

During the past 10 years, one of the main challengers to the GMT correlation has been the Wells-Fuls (WF) correlation (660208), which Bryan Wells and Andreas Fuls arrived at independently (Fuls, 2008; Nanninga, 2008). This shifts the 13-baktun cycle forward by 208 years, so that it began on 27 June 2906 BCE (Gregorian; 21 July 2906 BCE, Julian) and ends on 6 November 2220 (660208+1872000 = 2532208; fourmilab.ch).

The GMT correlation is derived from colonial manuscripts from the 16th and 17th centuries, where dates are given in both the Mayan and the Christian calendars. It assumes that there was no break in the calendar from the Classic period onwards. Andreas Fuls argues that this is unwarranted because there is a shift in both the tzolkin and haab dates given in post-Conquest documents (a different year-bearer system). In addition, the katun references in the chronicles are not consistent and there may have been several calendars in use at once. Fuls believes that it makes more sense to base the correlation on the Maya’s astronomical observations between 8.16.0.0.0 and 10.2.9.1.9.

Fuls ran thousands of computer simulations and concluded that the 660208 correlation gave the best fit, over a period of 1543 years, with astronomical observations found in the Dresden Codex and on Classic period monuments. There are over 200 inscriptions indicating how many days had elapsed since the new moon; the new correlation matches this information very well, but so does the 584385 GMT correlation. In the Dresden Codex, one of the very few Maya writings to escape the book burnings of Bishop Diego de Landa in the 16th century, there is a table showing when Venus was visible as morning or evening star. Fuls says that the GMT correlation matches this table very poorly, in contrast to the new correlation. He also looked at the lunar nodes and various data relating to the position of the sun and the changing seasons, and concludes that this information, too, favours the new correlation.

Fuls says that only the WF correlation matches all the astronomical data with an acceptable tolerance. He cites other supporting evidence, including obsidian hydration data, ceramic sequences, changes in Mayan glyphs and historical connections. He concludes that ‘the WF correlation makes sense of the vast majority of the data relating to this issue, and is the only possible solution for much of the data’. (For Fuls’ table showing how the WF, GMT and other correlations match different types of data, see: archaeoastronomie.de.)

 

Fuls says that on the date 9.11.0.0.0 Venus appeared as evening star and set behind stela 10, as observed through a window of Temple 22 at Copán. According to the Wells-Fuls (660208) correlation, this date corresponds to 23 August 860 CE (Julian calendar), when Venus could indeed have been seen setting through the temple window (top). According to the GMT (584285) correlation, the corresponding date was 11 October 652 CE, but Venus was too far south to be observed through the temple window (bottom). (user.tu-berlin.de)

The Wells-Fuls correlation has not received any backing from Mayanist scholars and has been criticized on several grounds (Finley, 2003; Smulders). First, it entirely ignores the information provided by the Spanish chronicles. This information is not always entirely reliable; for instance, the date 13 Ajaw 7 Xul is placed in 1540, whereas other data in the chronicles indicate that the correct date is 1539, but the WF correlation places it in 1747. Second, in general the WF correlation does not match carbon-14 dates as well as the GMT correlation. It should be noted, though, that some C14 dates suggest that the GMT correlation is 200 years too late (haecceities.wordpress.com). Third, the WF correlation is at odds with the tzolkin calendar still used by the Quiché Maya, and implies that at some point five days were dropped over a large geographical area. Creation monuments always equate 13.0.0.0.0 with 4 Ajaw; 21 December 2012 matches this according to the Quiché Maya, but the WF end date does not.

Fourth, the fact that the WF correlation is mainly based on astronomical data is problematic. No correlation perfectly matches all the data, nor should we expect this. For example, scribes sometimes used the formula 6 lunar months = 177 days to date new moon from earlier observations, an error of 0.18 days, or 1 day over 3 years. The fact that the GMT correlation matches the moon age date with an average error of three days is therefore acceptable. In some cases numerically significant dates were recorded for astronomical events rather than the ones on which they actually occurred. Critics have noted that the base date in the Dresden Codex Venus table appears to be in error if the GMT correlation is used. But the Codex was compiled several centuries after this date, and it may have been included for ritual or augural purposes. There is also the problem that naked-eye observation of, for example, the rise of Venus just before dawn heavily depends on atmospheric conditions and the acuity of the observer. Unlike the WF correlation, the GMT correlation was not contrived to force a fit with astronomical data, so the latter can be used as an independent check – and supporters believe it passes this test with acceptable accuracy. Clearly, the debate is far from over.

An inscription at Yaxchilan, Guatemala, indicates that a zenith passage of the sun took place on 3 May 755 (Julian calendar) according to the GMT correlation, or 17 March 963 according to the WF correlation (Smulders). In the above charts, the centre of the circle is the zenith, and the outer green circle represents an altitude of 60º. At noon on the GMT date the sun passed 0.5º from zenith (top), whereas on the WF date it came no closer than 16.4º (bottom). (Redshift 7)

Interestingly, the GMT long-count start date of 6 September 3114 is close to the start date of the Hindu kali-yuga (or dark age), which began at midnight on 17/18 February 3102 BCE (Julian calendar dates). The kali-yuga, which will last 432,000 years, is the final in a sequence of four yugas, making up a maha-yuga of 4,320,000 years; the entire lifetime of the earth is said to last 1000 maha-yugas. The currently accepted view is that dynastic Egypt also commenced around 3100 BCE. The Maya start date is assumed to be entirely mythical, in the sense that there were no Mayan astronomers in 3114 BCE. The same is assumed – probably wrongly – about the kali-yuga start date, which is notable for the fact that all the other eight planets, the asteroid Ceres, and the sun and moon were in the same 90.4º region of the heavens (see Secret cycles, app. 1); Hindus also consider it the day when Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, left the earth. On the GMT 13-batkun start date, the same 11 celestial bodies except the moon, Jupiter, Uranus and Pluto were spread over 95º, while on the Wells-Fuls start date the same 11 bodies except the moon, Ceres, Pluto and Neptune were spread over 73º. If we consider only the seven ‘sacred planets’ (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, sun, moon), the spread was 41º on the kali-yuga start date, 150º on the GMT start date, and 159º on the WF start date. Neither of the latter two dates is therefore particularly impressive in this respect.

The eight major planets at the beginning of the kali-yuga. (fourmilab.ch)

World ages

According to the Popol Vuh, the creation story of the Quiché (or K’iche’) Maya, we are currently living in the fourth ‘creation’ or world age (Girard, 1979). The three previous ages ended with a cataclysm, followed by the creation of a new humanity. The third age ended with a flood, and according to several inscriptions it lasted 13 baktuns. When the present world era ends, it will be followed by the start of the fifth age – not the destruction of the entire world. The Maya regarded the transition from one katun or baktun to the next as a time of transformation and renewal. Mayanist Sandra Noble says that for the ancient Maya, ‘it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle’, and that to see 21 December 2012 as a doomsday event is ‘a complete fabrication and a chance for a lot of people to cash in’ (usatoday.com). According to Guatemalan Maya elders of the Eagle Clan, the fifth cycle will be one of wisdom, harmony, peace, love, and the return of natural order (Braden et al., 2007, 282).

The Toltecs, Aztecs, Zuni, Navajo and some Incas say we are in the fifth world age or ‘sun’, while the Hopi and some other Incas, like the Quiché Maya, say we are in the fourth age. There is also a Tzutujil Maya myth that indicates we are now in the fifth age (Braden et al., 333). The Aztecs may have seen the collapse of Classic Maya civilization in the 9th century as the end of the fourth creation. An Aztec manuscript from 1558 gives the lengths of each of the previous eras as 676, 364, 312 and 676 years respectively (Stray, 2006, 27); these figures are all multiples of 52 years (the calendar round). The Aztecs predicted that the current era would be destroyed by earthquakes, but did not say how long it would last. On the other hand, based on the Aztec calendar stone and other sources, Gordon Brotherston has argued that each of the five Aztec world eras lasts 5200 years, giving a total duration 26,000 years, a clear reference to the precessional cycle (Jenkins, 1998, 340-1). Mythical stories of the successive creation of progressively improved human types, interrupted by cataclysms, are a faint echo of the theosophical teaching on the evolution of successive humanities or ‘root-races’ over the course of tens of millions of years (Moffett, 1975).

The Aztec calendar stone, or sunstone, 3.6 m (12 ft) in diameter, made of basalt, and weighing about 22 tonnes. The central motif is the sign for 4 Ollin (= ‘movement’ or ‘earthquake’), the date on which the fifth sun began. It is surrounded by four motifs representing the start and end dates of the previous four suns (Van Stone, 2009). (wikis.lib.ncsu.edu)

Although there are many instances of the Maya recording the previous 13.0.0.0.0 date, there is only one inscription that unequivocally refers to the end date of the present 13-baktun cycle. It is found on monument 6 at the Mexican site of Tortuguero, which mostly records the recent history of B’alam Ajaw (Jaguar Lord), who ruled from 644 to 679. One translation of the partly effaced text reads: ‘The 13th pik [baktun] will be finished on 4 Ajaw, the third of Uniiw [Kankin]. ... [?] will occur. [It will be] the descent [?] of Bolon Yokte K’u [the many strides god?] to ... [?]’ (edj.net). Bolon Yokte K’u is a god of change, destruction and period endings (transitions from one cycle to the next). A more recent translation is: ‘In 2 kins, 9 winals, 3 tuns, 8 katuns and 3 baktuns, the 13th baktun will be completed. It will be 4 Ajaw, 3 Kankin. It will happen, the witnessing of the adornments of Bolon Yokte in the great investiture’ (Gronemeyer & MacLeod, 2010). The text refers to a ceremonial event, and certainly nothing apocalyptic.

Right panel, monument 6, Tortuguero. (Gronemeyer & MacLeod, 2010)

There is also a possible reference to the end of the 13-baktun cycle in the colonial-period Mayan texts from the Yucatán peninsula known as the Books of Chilam Balam:

4 Ajaw katun is the 11th katun according to the count. Chichen Itza is the seating of the katun. The settlement of the Itzas comes. The quetzal comes, the green bird comes. He of the yellow tree comes. Blood-vomit comes. Kukulkan shall come.

The katun believed to be ending on 21 December 2012 is a 4 Ajaw katun, since it ends on the day 4 Ajaw. But 4 Ajaw katuns occur about every 256 years. The passage in question explicitly refers to the 4 Ajaw katun in the mid-18th century, but many scholars believe it refers to the arrival of a historical figure known as Kukulkan in the Yucatán in a far earlier 4 Ajaw katun that ended in November 987. Given the Mayan emphasis on cycles, however, any 4 Ajaw katun would probably share similar qualities (Braden et al., 102-3). There are no other known references to the end of the present 13-baktun cycle. The sacred Popol Vuh, for example, makes no mention of it or of a future world change.

There are over 10 million Maya living today, but the vast majority do not attach much significance to baktun 13, and are certainly not preparing for doomsday. Although some Mayan tribes in the Guatemalan highlands still use the calendar round, use of the long count on which the 2012 date is based ended many centuries ago, and contemporary references to the date are rare. Robert Sitler writes:

While many Maya have long spoken of a coming time of great changes, the specific references to 2012 are a recent addition. ...

The few individual Maya who actively participate in the 2012 phenomenon tend to be heavily involved with foreign associates, ... and live a decidedly nontraditional lifestyle. Not surprisingly, their contributions often blend traditional Maya beliefs with an amalgam of New Age spirituality that includes visits from extraterrestrials, prophetic crystal skulls, and origin stories going back to the lost city of Atlantis. Confusing matters further, several non-Maya individuals pose as Mayan elders and spread their own version of 2012 lore. (Braden et al., 95-6)

Quetza-Sha, an Aztec-Mayan shaman, says that the Maya ‘came from the stars’, from Pluto, Neptune and Uranus, and that 2012 will see the birth of a unified ‘solar tribe’, and the beginning of the Aztec sixth sun. Humans will supposedly be transformed into fifth-dimensional beings in 2029 (Braden et al., 98; Stray, 29).

Don Alejandro Cirilo Pérez Oxlaj, a respected Quiché Mayan elder, says that on 20 December 2012 the earth will ‘pass inside the centre of a magnetic axis’ and ‘may be darkened with a great cloud for 60 to 70 hours’. It will enter another age, accompanied by earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanic eruptions and widespread illness, leaving few survivors. He has also said that the Maya first came to Atlantis, that they received repeated visits by Pleiadean masters who brought crystal skulls with them, and that the wise ones will return in 2012 (Stray, 29; Braden et al., 99-100).

Some Inca shamans believe that 2012 heralds a pachacuti, a period of upheaval and renewal. There will be a ‘tear in the fabric of time’, through which a new human species – Homo luminous – will emerge. The 12th true Inca will allegedly emerge between 2000 and 2012, and the ‘shining ones’ will lead Peru and the rest of the world into a new era of peace (Stray, 249-50).

A Pueblo Indian from northern New Mexico has said that the fifth world will start on 23 December 2012. A Zulu shaman claims that a terrible ‘star with a long tail’, Mu-sho-sho-no-no, will return in 2012, and that on its last visit thousands of years ago the earth almost turned upside down. Maori elders have said that there will be a ‘dissolving of the veil’, or merging of the physical and spiritual planes, in 2012 (Stray, 34-5, 37-9).

It seems that some self-styled ‘shamans’ and ‘elders’ are eager for a stake in the 2012 action, and that they are just as capable of talking nonsense as anybody else. Guatemalan Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun takes a more sober approach, saying he is tired of being bombarded with questions about the Mayan calendar ending in December 2012: ‘I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff.’ He says that the doomsday theories spring from western, not Mayan ideas (newsday.com).

Astronomical alignments

Galactic alignment

It is often claimed that the GMT correlation’s end date for the 13-baktun cycle – the winter solstice in 2012 – was chosen by the Maya because it marks a rare alignment between earth, sun and the centre of our galaxy. It would be more precise to say that there is a window of a century or two during which this approximate alignment occurs. Some writers stress that the solstice sun will be aligned with the dark rift in the Milky Way, located near the galactic centre. John Major Jenkins has played a key role in focusing attention on the ‘galactic alignment’ and on the Maya’s knowledge of galactic cosmology.

The band of luminosity known as the Milky Way marks the plane of our galaxy, where most stars are concentrated. The galactic equator runs approximately along the middle of the Milky Way, and defines the reference plane of the galactic coordinate system. The ecliptic – the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun – intersects the galactic equator in two places, located in Sagittarius and Gemini, at an angle of 60.2º. In the course of each year, the sun, as viewed from earth, moves along the ecliptic through all the constellations of the zodiac from west to east, crossing the galactic equator twice.

As the earth rotates, it gyrates slowly on its axis (rather like a spinning top), so that its north and south poles trace an approximate cycle (actually a spiral, according to theosophy) around the ecliptic poles. This phenomenon, known as precession, gradually alters the positions of the stars, and causes the points at which the equinoxes and solstices occur each year to slowly precess (move westwards) against the background constellations of the zodiac, i.e. in the opposite direction to that of the earth’s annual motion around the sun. The average rate of precession is 1º in 72 years, or one zodiacal constellation (averaging 30º) in 2160 years, or a complete circuit of the zodiac in 25,920 years (see Poleshifts, part 1).

Thus, year after year the sun’s location on the ecliptic at the times of the two equinoxes and two solstices drops back 1/72º. At intervals of about 6480 years, the sun will conjunct the galactic equator in Sagittarius at the time of the spring equinox, summer solstice, autumn equinox and winter solstice in turn. And when one of the equinox/solstice points conjuncts the galactic equator in Sagittarius, the other equinox/solstice point conjuncts the galactic equator in Gemini six months later.

If we take the ecliptic coordinates of the winter solstice point (longitude 270º, latitude 0º) and then convert them to galactic coordinates for different years (using NASA’s online converter), we can find out how close it was to the galactic equator (gal. lat. 0º) and the galactic centre (0º, 0º) at different times. This reveals that the centre of the sun was exactly aligned with the galactic equator in 1998. Since the disc of the sun, as seen from earth, is about half a degree across, it began crossing the galactic equator around 1978 and will finish around 2019.

In 1998 the winter solstice point was 6.38º from the galactic centre.* It can never exactly coincide with the galactic centre because the centre does not lie on the ecliptic. In 2012 the winter solstice point will be 6.29º from the galactic centre (over six times the diameter of the sun). It will come closest to the galactic centre in about 2220 (the Wells-Fuls end date for the 13-baktun cycle), when it will be 5.57º away. In 1812 the angular separation was 7.98º, and in 2612 it will be 7.79º. (If, instead of taking galactic coordinates 0º, 0º as the galactic centre, we use the coordinates of Sagittarius A* (359.944º, -0.0462º; see below), the angular separation values increase by about 0.06º.)

*This and similar figures are calculated using the coordinates generated by NASA’s online converter and the standard equation:
    angular separation = arccos ([sin La1 * sin La2] + [cos La1 * cos La2 * cos (Lo1 - Lo2)])
where La1 and Lo1, and La2 and Lo2, are the latitudes are longitudes of the two positions concerned.

Winter solstice 21 December 2012, showing the ecliptic (green), the celestial equator (red), the galactic equator (purple), and the band of the Milky Way (blue; the lighter the outline the brighter the enclosed area). The alignment is not visible from the earth’s surface since it includes the sun and therefore takes place during daylight hours. (CyberSky 5)

Two important points should be borne in mind. First, the galactic equator is an imaginary and rather arbitrary line through the approximate middle of the very irregularly-shaped Milky Way; we cannot assume that this exact same line held any particular significance for the Maya. As the winter solstice point shifts along the ecliptic, from Sagittarius towards Scorpius, it will be in the central region of the band of the Milky Way for a century or more.

Second, the galactic centre is not so much a single point as a region. Astronomers call that region Sagittarius A, a complex radio source, located some 26,000 light-years from earth in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. It is hidden from view at optical wavelengths by large clouds of cosmic dust. It contains an intense compact radio source known as Sagittarius A*, which is believed to be the best marker of the galactic centre. Sagittarius A is situated in the area of the Milky Way known as the central bulge, or nuclear bulge, one of the broadest and brightest parts of the Milky Way. Defining a midpoint of the Milky Way in this region by naked eye is not easy because its edges are vague and ill-defined, and depend on the clarity of view.

The Dark Rift or Great Rift appears to the naked eye as a dark lane that divides the bright band of the Milky Way lengthwise, over about a third of its extent, stretching from Cygnus southwards to Sagittarius, where it obscures the galactic centre, and finally to Centaurus. It is caused by a series of interstellar dust clouds located between the solar system and the stars of the Sagittarius arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

The Dark Rift from Cygnus to Scorpius, showing the winter solstice sun in 2012. GC = galactic centre. (Redshift 7)

Some researchers say that the 2012 alignment involves the winter solstice sun and the dark rift near the galactic centre, rather than the galactic centre itself. However, the rift is not precisely defined. The diagram below shows Jenkins’ outline of the dark rift in the central bulge, partly based on his own observations from an altitude of 11,400 ft in the Rocky Mountains.

Top: Jenkins’ diagram of the dark rift in the central bulge. Bottom: The changing position of the winter solstice sun over the past 5000 years. Jenkins has drawn the sun so large (14º across instead of 0.5º) that it overlaps the galactic centre. (Jenkins, 1998, 107, 111; emergent-culture.com)

A comparison of Jenkin’s above diagrams with the photos and sky charts included here reveals enormous differences, depending on viewing conditions and technique. If Jenkins’ depiction is what the ancient Maya really saw, then the solstice sun does not actually enter the rift. But according to all the other photos and planetarium programs it does. Using the Guide 7 software package, Stephen Tonkin shows that the winter solstice sun will remain in the dark rift for about 150 years, and will be in the centre of it in 2030 (astunit.com).

In 2030 the sun will lie in the middle of the part of the dark rift crossed by the ecliptic. (astunit.com)

In this photo of the central bulge of the Milky Way, Jenkins (2010) has marked the position of Jupiter at 11 pm on 19 May 679 CE. The dark rift looks very different from the depiction in his above diagrams. He says that in this photo Jupiter is ‘in alignment with the dark rift’. Its location on the ecliptic is about 2.5º below the point where the sun will be at winter solstice 2012. The winter solstice sun was in the same position as Jupiter is in this figure about 180 years ago – an indication of just how flexible the ‘dark rift alignment’ is.

Photo of the dark rift near Sagittarius (the constellation includes the Teapot asterism). The cross marks the direction of the galactic centre. The winter solstice point currently lies a small distance to the left of it (see the chart below). (enews.coloradomtn.edu)

Positions of the galactic centre and the winter solstice on 21 December 2012, showing the Teapot asterism. (CyberSky 5)

The central bulge of the Milky Way, observed from Peru at an altitude of 10,000 ft. The winter solstice point in 2012 is slightly to the right of and below the exact centre of the photo. (auroras-illuminations.blogspot.com)

Jenkins (1998, 113-14) admits that there is a period of some 900 years in which the winter solstice sun lies within the band of the Milky Way and is relatively close to the ‘galactic heart’, but he says that the alignment ‘culminates’ in 2012, when the solstice sun, galactic centre and dark rift are within 3º of each other. As shown above, this claim is false (as Jenkins has since recognized). Sometimes he refers to the period 2012 +/- 50 years as the ‘2012-era’ in which the alignment reaches its peak.

It can’t be ruled out that the Maya calculated that the winter solstice sun would be aligned with the approximate centre of this part of the Milky Way in the period around 2012, and that they designed the long-count calendar so that a 13-baktun cycle would end on the winter solstice in 2012. It is far more common, however, for the year in which a calendar begins to mark an important historical, astronomical or mythological event, as is the case, for example, with the Gregorian, Islamic, Hebrew, Hindu, Chinese, and Tibetan calendars. If the ancient Maya did single out the winter solstice in 2012 as the end of a calendrical cycle, only they could say whether the winter solstice point is now exactly where they expected it to be, which would require knowledge of how the rate of precession varies over the course of at least 2000 years.

Aquarian Age

Some people have linked 2012 to the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. The position of the vernal equinox in 2012 is shown in the chart below.

Position of the vernal equinox in 2012, showing the celestial equator (red), ecliptic coordinate grid (green), Pisces and Aquarius, and their boundaries as recognized by modern astronomy. (CyberSky 5)

Although we often think of the zodiac as divided into 12 equal constellations of 30º each, their actual sizes vary and they sometimes overlap (the Maya recognized 13 zodiacal constellations). The vernal equinox is clearly still well within the constellation of Pisces. Since the equinoxes precess at the rate of about 1º in 72 years, it will be several hundred years before the vernal equinox conjuncts the main stars of Aquarius (i.e. before their ecliptic longitude is 0º). If we consider stars up to the 6th magnitude, the equinox will conjunct the first star of Aquarius (not shown in the above figure) in 2363. If we only consider stars up to the 5th magnitude, the equinox will coincide with the first star, Omega2 Aquarii (not included in the figure of Aquarius), in about 2700, as shown in the chart below. The equinox will conjunct Gamma Piscium (the westernmost star included in the figure of Pisces in the charts shown here) a little earlier, in about 2610.

Position of the vernal equinox in 2700. (CyberSky 5)

The constellation of Pisces extends about 40º along the ecliptic and overlaps Aquarius. The vernal equinox will not coincide with the last major star in Pisces (Beta Piscium) until 2815 (it can be seen to the right of the 0º ecliptic meridian in the above figure).

If we divide up the zodiac more evenly, then the date of the entry into Aquarius will change. H.P. Blavatsky, like some other researchers in the late 19th century, said that the Aquarian Age began at the end of the 19th century (see Poleshifts, app. 1). Some astrologers and astronomers place the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius between 2000 and 2300.

Transit of Venus

Transits of Venus over the disc of the sun are very rare and currently occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits taking place eight years apart, separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The first of a pair of transits of Venus took place on 8 June 2004 and the next will be on 5-6 June 2012. After 2012, the next transits will be in December 2117 and December 2125.

The 2004 transit of Venus. (en.wikipedia.org)

Solar eclipses

Solar eclipses occur two to five times per calendar year. In 2012 there will be a partial eclipse on 20 May and a total eclipse on 13 November. The last total solar eclipse was on 15 January 2010.

 

Left: Annular solar eclipse of 2005. Right: Total solar eclipse of 1999.

On the day of the May 2012 solar eclipse, at around noon, the sun, moon and Pleiades will all be in near alignment above the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichén Itzá, Mexico. Kukulkan, the feathered serpent, is a man-god, civilizer and spiritual hero, equivalent to Quetzalcoatl among the Toltecs and Aztecs.

20 May 2012, at around noon (CyberSky 5). The centre of the circle is the zenith, directly above the Pyramid of Kukulkan. South is up, north is down. The outer yellow circle represents an elevation of 80º (i.e. 10º from zenith). The sun is 0.5º from zenith, the moon (grey) 2.9º, and the Pleiades (the cluster of six stars below the sun) about 3.5º.

The Pyramid of Kukulkan is said to have been built by the Toltecs around 830 CE. Each year on the spring equinox the rays of the sun cast a shadow that looks like an undulating snake on the side of the northern stairway. A serpent’s head carved in stone at the bottom of the stairway completes the picture of an upside-down serpent descending from the sky, with its tail pointing upwards. The Crotalus rattlesnake, which recurs frequently in Mesoamerican art, has a marking on it which is identical to the Mayan sun glyph (‘Ajaw’), and its rattle (in the end of its tail) was called ‘tzab’, a word also used for the Pleiades star cluster.

Spring equinox at the Pyramid of Kukulkan. (mydarksky.org)

Given the pyramid’s latitude (20º41'), the Pleiades have in fact passed more or less over its summit every day since it was built. In 830 the declination of Alcyone (a prominent star in the Pleiades) was 19º47', and since then it has steadily increased as a result of precession, reaching 24º6' in 2000. Astrologically, the permissible margin of error for a conjunction or alignment is up to 8º (for reference: the width of your clenched fist held at arm’s length is equal to about 10º).

Since Chichén Itzá is situated in the tropics, the sun passes overhead twice a year. Given its latitude, the sun zenith passage dates are 23 May and 19 July; the sun can be considered to be overhead for a few days on either side of these dates, as no shadows are cast.

Thanks to precession, since around 2000, when the sun is at zenith on 23 May, the Pleiades (Alcyone) have been within about 5º of zenith, and this will continue to be the case until around 2400, after which the Pleiades will move further away. And on 20 May, every year from about 1800 to 2300, when the sun is very close to zenith at noon, the Pleiades are within about 4.7º of zenith. As said, on 20 May 2012 the moon, too, will be part of the noon alignment; the eclipse itself will take place for a period of about 6 hours centred on midnight 20/21 May.

Jenkins (1998, 78) says that the sun-Pleiades alignment at Chichén Itzá began around 2000 and continues for over two centuries. But as shown, the period can easily be extended a couple of centuries earlier and later depending on what day we choose and how accurate the alignment must be. Jenkins points out that 20 May 2012 is tzolkin day 10 Chikchan, which means ‘serpent’. 21 December 2012 will be 4 Ajaw (‘lord’/‘sun’) in the tzolkin calendar, and 3 Kankin (‘snake’) in the haab calendar. Either it is a coincidence that 20 May 2012 is a Chikchan (serpent) day (the probability is 1 in 20 since there are 20 tzolkin signs), or the Maya deliberately designed the calendar so that this would be the case.

It is not difficult to find other notable alignment dates involving the sun, moon and Pleiades for the Pyramid of Kukulkan, as shown below.

On 25 May 1600, at around noon, when the sun was 2.4º from zenith,
the moon was 2.8º from zenith and the Pleiades (Alcyone) 2.5º.

On 17 May 1863, the date of a partial solar eclipse, when the sun was 1.4º from zenith, the
moon was 0.4º from zenith, and the Pleiades (Alcyone) 3.1º. This date is tzolkin day 3 Ajaw.

On 20 May 1947, the date of a total solar eclipse, when the sun was 0.8º from zenith, the moon was 2.3º from zenith, and the Pleiades (Alcyone) 3.3º. Mercury can be seen just below the ecliptic.

On 24 May 2199, the date of a partial solar eclipse, when the sun is 0.2º from
zenith, the moon will be 2.1º from zenith and the Pleiades (Alcyone) 4.4º.

Mythological connections

Galactic astronomy

The Maya, like other ancient peoples, attached great significance to the Milky Way, especially the bright central bulge in which the galactic centre lies, through which the ecliptic runs, and along it the planets seen in the night sky. Scholars have identified the crossing point of the Milky Way and ecliptic as the Mayan sacred tree, and the modern Quiché call that spot the ‘crossroads’. The Quiché Maya called the dark rift in this region the ‘road to the underworld’ (xibalba be) or the ‘black road’.

According to John Major Jenkins, the Mesoamericans symbolized the Milky Way and the dark rift in various ways:

The sky-snake Mixcoatl sometimes represents the Milky Way (Jenkins, 1998, 52).
Deities, warriors or ancestors are sometimes shown emerging from its mouth.

The diagram below shows how precession causes the Milky Way in Sagittarius at the time of the December solstice to gradually sink lower in the sky between 6000 BCE and 2012 CE. Jenkins argues that when the December solstice sun aligns with the birth cleft (dark rift) of the Great Mother (Milky Way), the next world age, or ‘sun’, is born. As noted above, this is not something that suddenly ‘happens’ in 2012, but is a prolonged process that is already well under way.

Since 6000 BCE the Milky Way has moved ever closer to the
December solstice sun at dawn. (Jenkins, 1998, 257)

At Izapa, situated in the Mexican state of Chiapas, there was a thriving civilization from about 450 BCE to 100 CE, between the decline of the Olmecs and the rise of the Maya. The long-count calendar first appears in archaeological records in the 1st century BCE during Izapa’s heyday. Jenkins believes that for hundreds of years, Izapa was the home of esoteric mystery teachings and initiation rites into galactic cosmology.

Stela 25, Izapa.

Jenkins argues that stela 25 shows the sky at midnight on the December solstice in the era 300 BCE. The bird in the tree is Seven Macaw, representing the Plough (Big Dipper), an asterism forming part of Ursa Major, close to the north celestial pole. The caiman-tree stands for the Milky Way; the caiman’s head represents the nuclear bulge and its mouth the dark rift. The figure holding the pole (axis) is the civilizer-hero Hunahpu, one of the two hero twins featured in the Popol Vuh. This stela shows the Plough in a strong, ascended position. As a result of precession, the Plough’s position changes, leading to the downfall of Seven Macaw (as described in the Popol Vuh), and with it the Olmec worldview, which saw the polestar as the cosmic centre. That is why stela 2 at Izapa shows Seven Macaw in the process of falling. Jenkins speculates that the Maya replaced the polar centre with the galactic centre.

Stela 25 in colour. (siloam.net)

According to the Popol Vuh, Vucub Caquix, known as Seven Macaw or Seven Feathers of Fire, is a vain bird deity/demon who boasted of being the sun and moon of the twilight world between the former creation and the present one. He was shot out of his tree with a blowgun by Hunahpu, but still managed to tear off the latter’s arm and escape with it. Seven Macaw finally died after the twins had deprived him of his teeth, jewels and gems.

Rush Allen challenges Jenkins’ interpretation of stela 25 in several respects, saying that the story from the Popol Vuh is about far more than the motion of the stars as seen from Izapa. It looks at first sight as though Seven Macaw is standing firm on his perch, and has won a victory over Hunahpu by severing his arm. Allen argues that Seven Macaw is actually no longer alive. A vulture is sitting on his head, and a long serpent is holding him to his perch, propped up by Hunahpu’s severed arm.

The staff held by Hunahpu is the polar axis, and resembles the Egyptian djed pillar. The djed pillar usually has four crossbars near the top, which, among other things, can represent the poles of four distinct axes: the zenith (personal pole), the celestial pole (the projection of the terrestrial pole), the ecliptic (solar) pole, and the galactic (divine) pole. The stick in stela 25 has three perches, but there is a fourth (the galactic one) attached to the head of Seven Macaw. Despite the demise of Seven Macaw – the Plough’s increasing distance from the north celestial pole as the latter shifted into Ursa Minor – he remained tied to his perch because he was still a key pointer towards the ‘top’ of the world. He represents a link with the past, pointing the way for future generations.

Allen argues that stela 25 stands for the star chart below, which represents the heavens at sunrise on 21 December 2012, when he expects the next age to begin. One Hunahpu (First Father, the father of Hunahpu) stands for Ophiucus, the Serpent-holder (formerly known as Serpentarius); Ophiucus is the 13th zodiacal constellation, which intersects the ecliptic between Sagittarius and Scorpius. His right arm is on the polar axis joining the two solstices, which passes through the celestial pole. The perch on Seven Macaw’s head points at right angles to this axis, indicating the direction of the galactic meridians. One Hunahpu is holding a great serpent (the constellation Serpens), symbolizing the spirit of the cosmos, originating from the mouth of the Milky Way (Quetzalcoatl). Further details of Allen’s interpretation can be found here: siloam.net, siloam.net. At the very least, it illustrates how much fun can be had trying to unravel the different layers of meaning in ancient myths.

Star chart corresponding to stela 25, according to Rush Allen. One Hunahpu = Ophiucus; Seven Hunahpu (One Hunahpu’s brother) = Sagittarius; Seven Macaw = Plough/Big Dipper; Hunahpu & Xbalanque (hero twins) = Gemini; NCP = north celestial pole (Polaris, in Ursa Minor); NEP = north ecliptic pole; NGP = north galactic pole. The stars Alcor and Mizar are situated in Ursa Major, while Thuban is situated in Draco and was the polestar around 3000 BCE.

Stela 11, Izapa.

Stela 11 shows One Hunahpu, the primal solar lord or deity, being reborn from the mouth of a frog. The glyph of an upright, open frog mouth means ‘to be born’. For Jenkins, this stela represents the rising of the winter solstice sun in the dark rift. In particular, it represents the birth of a new ‘sun’ or world at the 2012 winter solstice. One Hunahpu is shown measuring the cosmos with his outstretched arms at the dawn of the new age. Of course, the rebirth of the sun is a daily occurrence, though it has special significance at the times of the equinoxes and solstices, and a solstice or equinoctial sun aligned with the galactic equator and/or near the galactic centre has even greater significance. The rebirth of the sun symbolizes the spiritual rebirth each of us must strive for, by elevating our lower, terrestrial self so that it can channel the nobler qualities of our higher, solar self.

The ancient Greeks, who derived much of their knowledge from the Egyptians, believed that human souls descended to earth through the silver gate (or gate of man) and reascended to heaven through the golden gate (or gate of God). These gates represented the two points where the ecliptic and galactic equator intersect, currently situated in Gemini and Sagittarius respectively (and previously in Cancer and Capricorn respectively). Other versions of the myth say that human souls can ascend by either gate, but that the silver gate leads to reincarnation while the golden gate leads beyond reincarnation. It is also through the golden gate that the gods descend. These gates were also called the gates of the sun, because not only humans but also the sun dies and is reborn at the same gates whenever an equinox or solstice comes into alignment with them in the course of the precessional cycle, as is the case in the present era (keyofsolomon.org; Stray, 2006, 41-2, 111).

Universal symbolism

Many ancient cultures saw the Milky Way as a road of souls or of the gods, or as a river of life or death (Kearsley, 2001, 657-8; en.wikipedia.org). The peoples of China, Korea and Japan believed it was the silvery river of heaven. Many Australian aboriginal peoples, too, saw it as a river in the skyworld. In Egyptian mythology, it was regarded as a pool of milk (a symbol of spirit) from the cow goddess Bat, and also as the celestial Nile. In Greek mythology the Milky Way was produced by milk from the breast of the goddess Hera; the word ‘galaxy’ derives from the Greek term for our galaxy: ‘galaxias’, or ‘kyklos galaktikos’, meaning ‘milky circle’. The Hindus saw all visible stars and planets as a dolphin swimming through the waters of space, with the Milky Way as its abdomen; they also called it akasaganga, the Ganges river of the sky. The Maoris saw the Milky Way as a canoe, and regarded the central bulge as a whale. The aboriginal people of northern India call it ‘the path of the snake’, while the Andaman Islanders called it ‘the path used by angels’.

The caiman of Mesoamerica corresponds to the makara of India, an amphibious creature variously portrayed as a crocodile-fish, a creature with the head and forelegs of an antelope and the body and tail of a fish, a creature with an elephant’s head and fish’s body, and a dolphin or shark. Helena Blavatsky says that makara is only ‘loosely’ and ‘flippantly’ called the ‘crocodile’ and that it has various esoteric meanings. ‘Ma’ is equivalent to ‘five’ and ‘kara’ means ‘hand’, signifying a five-pointed star or pentagram, the symbol of man; it is also a reference to the fifth of the seven element-principles: manas (individual mind), derived from mahat (universal mind). Makara is connected anagramatically with ‘kumara’; the kumaras were the four/five/seven sons of Brahma, who are described as spiritually pure sages (SD 1:219, 2:354, 576-8) – hence the literal meaning of ‘kumara’: ‘mortal with difficulty’. ‘Kumara’ also denotes the spiritual element in each one us (OG 2-4).

Astrologically, Makara is Capricorn (the Sea-goat), the 10th sign of the zodiac, which follows the 9th sign, Sagittarius. Blavatsky calls it ‘the most sacred and mysterious of the signs of the Zodiac’ (SD 2:268fn), associated with the fifth class of ‘celestial beings’ or creative powers, which are said to contain within themselves the two poles of mahat, and the dual nature of man, the spiritual and the physical (SD 1:221). Like the Mesoamerican caiman, Makara also has a direct connection with Sagittarius. This is because the signs of the zodiac always begin with the first point of Aries at the vernal equinox, whereas, due to precession, the vernal equinoctial point is now located in the constellation (or house) of Pisces. The sun enters the sign of Capricorn at the winter solstice, but at that time it is in the constellation of Sagittarius. In an older system, Capricorn represented the 8th sign of the zodiac (SD 2:256) – which would have been aligned with the constellation Sagittarius some 2000 years prior to the beginning of the Piscean Age.

Ancient Indian mythology associates the mythical makara with the creation of the world, and they are often depicted disgorging human heads, deities, lotuses or other elements of creation; alternatively, a hero or deity is sometimes shown defending himself from its jaws. The makara is sometimes depicted vertically, with its head at the bottom. All these motifs are widely found in Mesoamerica. In addition, the makara, caiman and related Mayan kawak (cauac) or ‘earth monster’ sometimes have a curved, upturned snout, and also a trefoil, which has been interpreted as representing the triune qualities of ‘divine breath’ (Kearsley, 80-4, 144-52).

Buddhist depiction of Makara, displaying a trefoil on its ‘gills’ (below the eye) (Mathura, northern India, 2nd cent. BCE).

Caiman with a trefoil on its nostrils, and a man’s head (far right) emerging from the mouth (Guatemala, pre-early Classic). (Kearsley, 82, 84)

Ancient form of Makara from Mathura in northern India (2nd cent. BCE)
displaying a trefoil on its cheek, and a deity or hero fighting the creature.

Makara with a vertical curved body, widely found in many Buddhist, and later
Hindu, carvings in India and Sri Lanka (Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, 1st cent. BCE).

Makara head with a deity emerging from its jaws (Prambanan,
Central Java, Indonesia, 9-10th cent. CE). (Kearsley, 83-4)

Kawak with an upturned crocodile snout, a head emerging from the mouth,
and a ‘flaming trefoil’ on its body, a symbol also found in India and Chinese
Buddhism (Copán, Honduras, 8th cent. CE). (Kearsley, 80-1)

In ancient Egypt the god corresponding to Makara was Sobek (or Sebek/Sebakh) (TG 283). He is portrayed as a crocodile, a man with the head of a crocodile, or a mummified crocodile, and is sometimes shown wearing a solar disk and horns like those of Amon-Ra. In some myths, it was Sobek who first came out of the waters of chaos (primordial matter) to create the world. The Egyptians depicted the dead as transformed into a crocodile. Blavatsky says that the true emblem is not a crocodile but a dragon: ‘He is the “dragon of wisdom” or manas, the “human soul,” mind, the intelligent principle, called in our esoteric philosophy the “fifth” principle’ (SD 1:219, 408-9). When a dead soul is ‘merged in Sekhem’, this refers to the essence of manas being unified with the two higher ‘principles’ – atman (divinity) and buddhi (spiritual soul) – after death, in the state of consciousness known as devachan, equivalent to the Egyptian Aanru, a division of Amenti, the afterworld. In Sekhem lies concealed ‘the mysterious face’, the ‘triple-crocodile of Egypt’, symbolizing the higher human triad, i.e. atman, buddhi and manas (SD 1:220).

Blavatsky explains part of the crocodile symbolism as follows:

The rising Sun being considered the soul of the gods sent to manifest itself to men every day, and the crocodile rising out of the water at the first sunbeam, that animal came finally to personify a solar-fire devotee in India, as it personified that fire, or the highest soul with the Egyptians. (SD 2:577, also 1:220)

Just as, for the Hindus, Makara is the vehicle of Varuna, a god of the sky and celestial ocean, so the dolphin is ‘the vehicle of Poseidon-Neptune with the Greeks, and one with him, esoterically’; this dolphin is the ‘sea-dragon’ just as ‘the Crocodile of the sacred Nile is the vehicle of Horus [a solar deity], and Horus himself’. Poseidon placed the dolphin among the constellations and it became Capricorn, the goat with the hind part of a dolphin, which is equivalent to Makara (SD 2:577-9). Poseidon corresponds to Varuna, and one of the constellations associated with him was Draco (Dragon), the constellation in which the north ecliptic pole (or solar pole) lies. A dragon, like a serpent (or naga), can symbolize wisdom, spiritual immortality, reimbodiment or regeneration. A dragon may stand for the sun, the logos, an initiate, or the monad (atman-buddhi); the slaying of a dragon refers to the taming of the unruly, lower human nature or the regulation of chaotic cosmic forces (ETG, dragon). A serpent can also stand for the celestial equator, ecliptic, Milky Way, and astral light (psychic plane) (SD 2:356).

Given the Mesoamerican use of a frog to denote rebirth, it’s interesting to note that the Egyptian frog/toad goddess, Heket, was ‘one of the chief deities connected with creation, on account of her amphibious nature, and because of her apparent resurrection, after long ages of solitary life enshrined in old walls, rocks, etc.’ – a reference to tales of frogs and toads being found alive inside solid rock where they must have been entombed for vast periods of time. Like the god Khnum, Heket was depicted on mummies and connected with immortality and ‘resurrection’ (SD 1:385-6) – meaning rebirth, and also initiation into adeptship. Just as manas, the human soul, is merged with atman-buddhi after death, so it is our task to bring about the same union while on earth, following in the footsteps of the buddhas and christs.

As Sharron Rose says, ‘Symbols, myths, and metaphors contain within them the potential to arouse numerous intuitive connections and associations within all of us’ (Braden et al., 2007, 310). For instance, the ‘underworld’ can refer to the night sky, dark patches in the Milky Way, the earth itself, after-death states (especially those in the lower realms), or our lower, earthly nature. Our souls descend to the ‘underworld’ at each new incarnation, just as divine beings or avatars do so at longer intervals. And it is in our own inner underworld that each of us must conquer and transform our lower, selfish inclinations, just as successful initiates have done before us.

H.P. Blavatsky emphasized that myths and legends can be interpreted on many different levels simultaneously: e.g. astronomical/cosmological, numerical/geometrical, anthropological, physiological/physical, geological/geographical, psychological, and spiritual/mystical (SD 1:311, 2:22fn). And symbolism that applies to the human level has its correspondences at terrestrial, solar, galactic and cosmic level, in accordance with the axiom ‘as above, so below’.

Mayan knowledge

Jenkins (1998, 112-13) argues that naked-eye observation alone would be sufficient for the central bulge of the Milky Way to be seen as a cosmic womb or place of creation, pregnant with life, and for the dark rift nearby to be seen as a birth portal. He points out that the ancient Maya used hallucinogens obtained from sacred plants or the Bufo marinus toad, and argues that these drugs enabled Mayan shaman-priests to see subtle energy fields not normally visible to the eye. As a result, the central bulge of the Milky Way may have appeared as a blazing energy-knot in the night sky, enabling them to understand that it was the region of the galactic centre. A method of heightening the effect of such drugs was to administer them by inserting an enema jug into the rectum. Needless to say, the highest forms of clairvoyance do not require the use of psychedelic substances, whether administered orally or anally. Mayan shamans may have included genuine adepts and initiates, but they are unlikely to be the priests who performed human sacrifices, with the irrational aim of appeasing the ‘gods’.

Enema jug in a Mayan rectum. (Jenkins, 194)

Young Maize God (identical with One Hunahpu). Limestone sculpture that once adorned the facade of a temple at Copán, Honduras. Above the figure’s serene countenance is a pointed crown of maize leaves, resembling the protuberance – the ushnisha, or ‘crown’ – seen on the heads of statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas in the East; it represents the radiating power of the crown chakra and third eye (pineal gland), the sign of a spiritually awakened individual. The figure’s hands are extended palms outward, one raised and one lowered, in a classical teaching gesture (or mudra) characteristic of bodhisattvas and buddhas (Girard, 1979, xii; theosociety.org).

The Maya had a place-glyph meaning ‘black hole’, which played an important part in creation events and king-accession rites. Jenkins automatically links this to the modern scientific concept of a black hole. Mainstream astronomers believe that the central, nonluminous structure in the galactic centre (i.e. within Sagittarius A*) is a superdense black hole of about 4 million solar masses, and Jenkins says the Maya were well aware of its existence.

Trying to foist the modern irrational concept of a ‘black hole’ on the Maya is misconceived. A black hole is supposedly the result of a massive star or large volume of interstellar gas undergoing gravitational collapse and imploding. Theoretically, gravity within a black hole increases to infinite strength, crushing everything drawn into it to an infinitesimal ‘singularity’ of infinite ‘spacetime curvature’ and infinite density. Within a black hole, space and time can supposedly even metamorphose into one another. The indirect evidence cited in support of black holes merely points to the existence of large concentrations of nonluminous matter undergoing energetic explosions. But such phenomena are in no way explained by invoking infinite gravity, curved spacetime and infinitesimal singularities because these concepts are figments of the mathematical imagination (see Black holes, redshifts, and bad science). The Maya saw the central bulge in Sagittarius partly as a creative centre, whereas a black hole is purely destructive. Galactic centres pour out matter and energy, but black-hole believers claim that these originate from an ‘accretion disc’ of gas and dust attracted to black holes, not from within the black hole itself. The concept of a central (dark) sun, involving states of energy-substance unknown to materialistic science, makes far more sense.

Timewave hallucination

The I Ching has been used as an oracle for millennia. It consists of an arrangement of 64 six-line hexagrams, made up of two types of line – broken (yin/female) and unbroken (yang/male). The McKennas argued that the I Ching had originally been used as a lunar calendar in which the 384 lines making up the hexagrams represented the 384 days in a lunar year (13 months of 29.53 days).

       

Hexagrams no. 32 (persevering) and no. 64 (not yet fording, not yet completed).

Starting from the King Wen sequence of the 64 hexagrams, Terence McKenna applied a series of arbitrary mathematical operations and, with the help of a computer, generated a wavy line which he labelled the ‘timewave’. First he counted the number of lines which changed in each successive hexagram. The resulting graph was then reversed and recombined with itself to produce a simple wave. A series of further manipulations followed, during which simple waves were laid end to end, stretched horizontally and vertically by various factors and superimposed. The result is a set of 384 numbers, which when plotted produce the ‘eschaton wave’. This wave is then repeated at a series of levels, each 64 times greater than the one below, and combined into a ‘modular wave hierarchy’, composed of 26 levels. Quite arbitrarily, Terence McKenna declared that the resulting wiggly line represented the ebb and flow of ‘novelty’ through time, from the origin of the universe to a point in the future where the graph hits the baseline (representing infinite novelty).

The vertical axis is marked in arbitrary ‘units of novelty’, with smaller units being used for graphs showing earth events than for graphs showing cosmic events. To give the horizontal axis a historical timescale, McKenna assumed he was living in the ‘end time’, and decided, quite arbitrarily, that a major peak of ‘novelty’ towards the end of the graph represented the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 5 August 1945. He assumed this marked the beginning of the final cycle of 67.29 years (64 ‘lunar years’), which meant that the graph ended on 17 November 2012, when there would a ‘maximum ingression of novelty into spacetime’, or a ‘concrescence’. When McKenna learned that the Mayan 13-baktun cycle was believed to end on 21 December 2012, he arbitrarily shifted the end point to that date, which meant that the bump that had previously corresponded with the dropping of the atomic bomb now corresponded with 8 September 1945, an unremarkable date. But this didn’t seem to bother him.

Timewave for 1989 to 2012. Descending lines supposedly represent an
increase in novelty while ascending lines denote a decrease in novelty
and an increase in routine and habit. (en.wikipedia.org)

After setting out the complex and arbitrary mathematical procedures used to generate the ‘timewave’, Ian Bell concludes: ‘Time Wave theory is misconceived and does not warrant further investigation’ (iancgbell.clara.net). The idea that a graph generated from just 384 numbers can represent the development of novelty over the lifetime of the universe beggars belief. And it’s curious that the basic unit of time in this graph is one day (of its present length) of our own rather irrelevant planet. Another built-in assumption is that change proceeds at an increasing speed, ultimately reaching a ‘singularity’, when everything imaginable should occur simultaneously.

Timewave enthusiasts spend their time trying to match wiggles in the graph with events in the history of the universe, the earth and humanity, and in particular the United States. To help them, there are now four different versions of the timewave, partly as a result of criticisms by mathematician Matthew Watkins. The favoured version is the ‘Sheliak wave’. This version shows nothing corresponding to the attack on the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001. A version using the Huang Ti number set is said to show an ‘exact resonance’ with this event, but this version ends on 23 December 2012 rather than 21 December.

Because of the way it is generated, the timewave is fractal, meaning that similar shapes are repeated on different scales; magnification of a small portion of the wavy line looks just like the overall wavy line. Fractal scaling supposedly allows the timewave to accurately show events on a timescale ranging from tens of billions of years to a billion-billion-billionth of a second. Its proponents look for supposed connections or ‘resonances’ between historical events on the basis of curve similarities. For instance, there is supposed to be a ‘perfect resonance’ between the explosion of new lifeforms in the early Cambrian (530 million years ago), the ‘crucifixion of Christ’ (supposedly in 27 CE), and the murder of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in September 1981. The assassination of President Kennedy, on the other hand, fails to show up at all in the timewave.

Timewave resonances. McKenna invited readers to identify the major events that
are assumed to have happened on the two other dates listed. (web.archive.org)

The fact that the concept of ‘novelty’ is so vague and ill-defined makes it easier for proponents to find an explanation for whatever the timewave shows. For instance, knowing that the timewave says that the end of the Reagan administration in the US was followed by a period of sharply increasing novelty, enthusiasts look for events that confirm this. To really test the timewave, it would be necessary to define novelty precisely, and to calculate the increase/decrease in novelty represented, for example, by the 1968 student riots, the Tiananmen Square massacre, the invasion of Kuwait, or the fall of the Berlin wall, etc. before looking at what the timewave shows (peromyscuslyle.tripod.com).

The Black Death in the mid-1300s reversed a dramatic – and
unexplained – increase in novelty in the years leading up to it.

The original timewave showed only minor novel influences during the Second World War, which McKenna saw as confirmation that war is fundamentally habitual. When the revised version showed a dramatic increase in novelty for much of the war, McKenna suggested that this was probably due to the development of nuclear science and technology, leading to the production and use of nuclear weapons. In other words, whether the timewave goes up or down, some explanation can always be dreamed up.

Why did novelty fall for most of the 1960s until the riots of 1968?
Why was novelty falling again at the time of the first moon landing on 20 July 1969?

McKenna accepted that the universe originated in a ‘big bang’, which he dated at 22 billion years ago. Modern big bangers put it at 13.7 billion years ago. Given that the big bang is a mythical event based on a misinterpretation of the redshift, it seems that the timewave can even predict things that never happened!

Terence McKenna, who died of brain cancer in 2000, advocated the smoking of DMT (dimethyltryptamine) as a way of coming into communication with ‘extradimensional’ lifeforms, which he called ‘self-transforming machine-elves’. These beings had allegedly told him that the laws of physics would be transformed around 2012. He once said: ‘We can make the millennium an occasion for establishing an authentic human civilization, overcoming the dominator paradigm, dissolving boundaries through psychedelics, recreating a sexuality not based on monotheism, monogamy and monotony’ (deoxy.org). His drug-induced ‘timewave’ is an illustration of the self-delusion that may result.

Doomsday or new dawn?

The supposed ‘end’ of the Mayan calendar in 2012 has unleashed a flood of theories, speculations and predictions about global catastrophes and/or the possible beginning of a new age. All sorts of ‘shifts’ have been predicted: e.g. earth shift, axis shift, climate shift, intellectual shift, consciousness shift, evolutionary shift, cosmic shift, directional shift, phase shift, quantum shift, dimensional shift, and world-age shift.

One blogger comments:

Like the widely believed idea of The Rapture – that when Jesus Christ returns he will suck up the living bodies of all the believers and the innocent (even unborn foetuses) and leave the unbelievers to burn in a living hell on Earth – the growing cult of 2012 is a modern day creation, making use of old writings to capitalise on very modern fears and anxieties, and consumer guilt.

Let’s face it. An entire genre of very popular movies and books and video games, and the mind-boggling success of the American Evangelical movement (70 million strong and reportedly still growing), proves that many Westerners secretly love the idea that we’re all about to cop it in the neck, in a mega-apocalyptic sense. (yournewreality.blogspot.com)

Benjamin Anastas (2007) writes:

Judging by the sheer number of predicted end dates that have come and gone without the trumpets blowing and angels rushing in, we are a people impatient to see our world redeemed through catastrophe – and we are always wrong. Gnostics predicted the imminent arrival of God’s kingdom as early as the first century; Christians in Europe attacked pagan territories in the north to prepare for the end of the world at the first millennium; the Shakers believed the world would end in 1792; there was a ‘Great Disappointment’ among followers of the Baptist preacher William Miller when Jesus did not return to upstate New York on Oct. 22, 1844. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been especially prodigious with prophetic end dates: 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 1994. Any religious movement with an end-time prophecy is certain to attract followers, no matter how maniacal or fringy ...

In the run-up to the supposed beginning of the third millennium on 1 January 2000 (strictly speaking, it began a year later), doomsayers issued dire warnings of earthquakes, famines, floods, plagues, poleshifts, magnetic reversals, and continents sliding into the sea. But nothing scary happened. Even the widespread computer system failures that the Y2K problem, or millennium bug, was predicted to cause failed to materialize. Attention then turned to the planetary alignment on 5 May 2000, and the disasters it would bring. But again, nothing happened. Every year there are disasters of one type or another, and 2012 will probably be no different. But there is no reason to expect any entirely unprecedented events in December 2012, whether it be a global cataclysm or an abrupt leap in human evolution.

Planetary alignment, 5 May 2000. (fourmilab.ch)

A key figure in setting the 2012 bandwagon in motion was José Argüelles. In his 1987 book The Mayan Factor, he claimed that the Maya had designed their 5125-year cycle so that its end would mark the earth’s passage through a ‘synchronization beam’ coming from the centre of the galaxy, which would prepare earth and humanity for an evolutionary leap to the next dimension. He claimed that 1987 marked a ‘harmonic convergence’ that would culminate in 2012, and that the project was managed by a race of ‘galactic masters’ from ‘star bases’. On 16-17 August 1987 thousands of enthusiasts gathered at earth’s ‘acupuncture points’ to create a ‘synchronized and unified bio-electromagnetic collective battery’. However, the battery was apparently flat, as nothing in particular happened.

Argüelles also made the following prophecy: ‘The final five-year period, AD 2007-2012, will be singularly directed to the emplacement of galactic synchronization crews at all the planetary light-body grid-nodes.’ Then, in the final moments:

a great voltage will race through this finally synchronized and integrated circuit called humanity. The Earth itself will be illumined. A current charging both poles will race across the skies, connecting the polar auroras in a single brilliant flash. Like an iridescent rainbow, the circumpolar energy uniting the planetary antipodes will be instantaneously understood as the external projection of unification of the collective mind of humanity. In that moment of understanding, we shall be collectively projected into an evolutionary domain that is presently inconceivable. (Stray, 2005, 199)

It’s not known what Argüelles was smoking when he penned this drivel.

Oops!

Alignments

As already explained, as far as astronomical alignments are concerned, nothing special will happen on 21 December 2012. The winter solstice point has been moving closer to the galactic centre for centuries, and will come closest in some 200 years. The solstice was exactly aligned with the galactic equator in 1998, but nothing dramatic happened. Similarly, the fact that the earth and sun are now aligned with part of the dark rift has not produced any noticeable effects, nor are any to be expected. Some writers, however, think that the ‘galactic alignment’ will create a combined gravitational effect between the sun and the mythical supermassive black hole (Sagittarius A*) at the centre of our galaxy, creating havoc on earth. But apart from the fact that the sun will not be exactly aligned with the galactic centre, the gravitational force between the sun and earth is 2 million times stronger than that between Sgr A* and the sun. Another researcher contends that the ‘galactic alignment’ will cause the ‘galactic pineal eye’ to ‘radiate its light and restore our individual pineal eyes to their full potential of transmundane vision’ (Stray, 241). So that’s something to look forward to ...

Poster for the 2009 movie 2012.

John Major Jenkins claims that at times in the precessional cycle ‘the Earth’s protective magnetic shield becomes unstable and oscillates’, allowing ‘greater amounts of mutational rays to strike the surface’, resulting in a greater chance of evolutionary mutations and a ‘possible transformative effect on human consciousness’ (Stray, 42). He says that when the winter solstice meridian crosses to the other side of the galactic equator this will signal a ‘field-effect energy reversal’. As an illustration of a ‘field-dynamic reversal’, he mentions that hurricanes and (most) tornadoes spin anticlockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere, and says that the Milky Way’s equator is just as much a field-effect dividing line as the earth’s equator. When the winter solstice sun crosses the galactic equator, the earth will allegedly pass through a ‘paradoxical null-point’, producing a ‘world age shift’, a ‘pole shift in our collective psyche’, with the result that ‘our basic orientations will be inverted’ and ‘the human spirit can emerge from unconscious patterns and blossom’ (Jenkins, 1998, 327-30).

It should be borne in mind that, as viewed from earth, the sun appears to cross the galactic equator twice a year. But the solar system does not physically cross through the galactic equator or the galactic plane at these times. In fact, the sun never crosses the galactic equator, because the galactic equator is defined as passing through the sun, as part of the sun-centred galactic coordinate system. The galactic plane (which is often confused with the galactic equator), on the other hand, is the plane bisecting the galactic disc, with about half the galaxy’s mass situated above it and half below it. The solar system oscillates up and down through the galactic disc in a cycle lasting over 80 million years. The sun is currently almost 100 light years above (north of) the galactic plane, and moving further away. By the time we’ve returned to it and spent about 3 million years passing through it, some 30 million years will have elapsed (2012hoax.org; 2012hoax.org).

From an astrological point of view, the passage of Venus over the face of the sun results in new cultural impulses and great changes. The transit in 2012 is expected to impact humanity and accelerate its spiritual evolution toward greater collaboration and peaceful coexistence (Braden et al., 155-6). One writer has suggested that the Venus transits in 2004 and 2012 will trigger the first major outbreak of human telepathy, resulting in a kind of global brain, as Gaia wakes up (Stray, 81).

Solar effects

There has been a lot of unfounded scaremongering about the damage that intense solar activity and an accompanying reversal of the earth’s magnetic poles might cause. Massive solar flares and coronal mass ejections can interfere with radio and satellite communications, and cause geomagnetic storms that can knock out electricity transformers. But 2012 doomsayers go much further. One of them thinks that during the next solar maximum the earth’s magnetic field will collapse and reverse, resulting in earthquake and volcanic activity and the demise of civilization by the end of 2012 (Stray, 75-6).

From a historical perspective, the sun has indeed been very active in recent decades. The smoothed curve for the previous sunspot cycle (no. 23) peaked at a sunspot count of 120 around January 2000. In 2006 NASA ‘experts’ predicted that the current sunspot cycle (no. 24) would be extremely intense and peak at 156 to 180 sunspots in 2012. But suddenly the sun became very quiet, and since then the predicted sunspot peak has been dramatically reduced; the current estimate is that the smoothed sunspot number will peak at about 59 in June/July 2013 (wattsupwiththat.com; solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov). However, some scientists predict a high level of seismic and volcanic activity in the period from 2012 to 2014 (Choi & Maslov, 2011).

Above: Yearly-averaged sunspot numbers from 1610 to 2008. (science.nasa.gov)
Below: Sunspot cycle 23 and prediction (Jan 2011) for cycle 24. (solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov)

A rather wild claim is that the originally predicted very active solar cycle and the resulting alleged increase in the Schumann resonance frequency of the ionosphere will switch on some of our ‘junk DNA’ (whose function is officially unknown), leading to mass telepathy and telekinesis, and the birth of a new species, Homo spiritus (Stray, 76).

Paul LaViolette contends that the core of our galaxy is not a black hole but a massive object that explodes periodically, sending out a galactic superwave of cosmic rays. This pushes more dust into our solar system, causing elevated solar activity and blocking out sunlight. Other effects include seismic activity, geomagnetic variations, and an intense electromagnetic pulse. He argues that the last galactic superwave ended the ice age about 13,000 years ago, and that minor ones occur more frequently, with the most recent outburst occurring 700 years ago. He believes there is a 90% chance that a superwave will arrive in the next four centuries. A minor one would not trigger major geomagnetic or climatic changes, but would cause high-voltage surges in power lines and telephone lines (etheric.com; Stray 91-2, 222). LaViolette cites evidence consistent with his hypothesis, though it does not prove it altogether.

Geomagnetic shift

Based on past magnetic fields recorded in rocks, scientists believe that the earth’s magnetic field flips polarity from time to time (so that a compass needle would point south rather than north), though they are not sure how. The process is said to take hundreds or thousands of years to complete, though there is evidence of more abrupt magnetic excursions, at least on a local scale. Reversals are said to occur at irregular intervals, with the last one taking place 780,000 years ago. The strength of the magnetic field has dropped 38% over the last 2000 years and by about 10-15% over the past 150 years (en.wikipedia.org). The rate of decrease and the current strength are said to be within the normal range of variability. Scientists believe that the following reversal could take place within the next few thousand years.

Some 2012 writers claim that a reversal of the geomagnetic field, perhaps induced by massive solar outbursts, might happen as soon as 2012 and cause most of humanity to have an out-of-body experience, owing to its influence on our biochemistry, or cause kundalini energy to awaken and rise up the spine, resulting in enlightenment. Some writers think that geomagnetic fluctuations alone may be sufficient to cause a mass opening of the pineal eye, out-of-body experiences, increased telepathy, and more bouts of poltergeists, UFOs and other paranormal phenomena (Stray, 117, 153, 271).

Claims that earth will be part of a planetary alignment, or syzygy, on 21 December 2012 are false. (fourmilab.ch)

Another far-fetched idea is that a magnetic pole reversal in December 2012 or perhaps an unusual planetary alignment will trigger a catastrophic displacement of the earth’s entire crust (or rather lithosphere). As a result, a tidal wave up to 2 km high will sweep around the planet, wiping out most life on earth (Stray, 94, 96). A shift of the entire lithosphere, however, is geologically impossible (Poleshifts, part 2). Others expect a shift in the earth’s axial tilt, but this would probably require an impact with a very massive celestial body, and nothing is known to be on a collision course at present.

Nibiru

A persistent idea in some alternative circles is that the solar system has a 10th planet, Nibiru, which has a highly elliptical orbit and enters the solar system every 3600 years. Based on his interpretation of Sumerian legends, where the name ‘Nibiru’ comes from, Zecharia Sitchin claims it is peopled by the Annunaki, the biblical ‘sons of God’, who allegedly created humans some 450,000 years ago by genetic engineering of female apes. There is no concrete evidence for such a planet, and its supposed extremely elliptical orbit is physically implausible (2012hoax.org).

According to Sitchin, Nibiru is not due to return until 2900, but some 2012 believers claim it is already on its way back towards the inner solar system and will collide with the earth in 2012. E.C. Krupp (2009) comments:

Some insist ... that a NASA conspiracy is in play and that Nibiru, looming in on the approach, can already be seen in broad daylight from the Southern Hemisphere. It was supposed to become visible from the Northern Hemisphere, too, by last May [2009], but like a fickle blind date, it stood up those awaiting it.

Hunbatz Men, a modern Mayan daykeeper, claims that the Maya knew about Nibiru, and that its seventh moon will activate our kundalini energy and our ‘genetic memories’. He says it has a period of 6500 years, and is inhabited by beings operating on a higher ‘mental frequency’ (Stray, 28-9). It sounds like he has been reading too much 2012 fiction.

Warmist hype

Those who swallow or perpetuate the 2012 hype are often followers of the ‘catastrophic man-made global warming’ cult, whose beliefs are based mainly on the outputs of climate models programmed by scientists who believe that CO2 drives the climate and who downplay the natural cycles of climate change (see Climategate; Climate change controversies). The earth has generally warmed since the depths of the Little Ice Age 400 years ago, but not linearly, and most of the warming has been in nighttime, winter temperatures in the northern hemisphere (a strange way for CO2 to behave). During the Medieval Warm Period (c. 950-1300) it was warmer than today, as it was in Roman times and the Holocene Climate Optimum (3500-6000 years ago). During the last major ice age (Pleistocene), each of the last four interglacials, going back half a million years, was several degrees warmer than today.

Reconstructed extra-tropical (30-90°N) mean decadal temperature variations relative to the 1961-1990 mean, showing the Roman Warm Period (RWP), Dark Ages Cold Period (DACP), Medieval Warm Period (MWP), Little Ice Age (LIA) and Current Warm Period (CWP). (scienceandpublicpolicy.org)

Burning fossil fuels can release various pollutants, but CO2 is not one of them; it is a vital ingredient in photosynthesis and plant growth, and essential to life on earth. That is why farmers artificially increase the CO2 concentration in glasshouses to around three times the current atmospheric level. At times in the geologic past, the atmospheric CO2 concentration has been over ten times higher than today, even during major glaciations. Warmists believe that unless CO2 emissions are slashed, the earth will soon reach a ‘tipping point’ leading to runaway warming. Some writers consider it to be significant that the Kyoto Protocol, which was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, expires in 2012. Geoff Stray writes: ‘2012 is emerging from the collective unconscious as the end of time, or year of ascension, or the year of catastrophe, or the deadline for cleaning up the planet by the Kyoto Protocol’ (270). The Kyoto Protocol has failed miserably to reduce emissions, and recent efforts to replace it have come to nothing – which is good news for the plant kingdom. Yet despite steadily rising CO2 levels there has been no statistically significant global warming since 1995.

Global temperature and atmospheric CO2 over geologic time. (geocraft.com)

Photon belt

Another baseless idea is that the solar system revolves around the Pleiades star cluster – or more specifically, Alcyone – in a period of about 24,000 years. The Pleiades are also said to be surrounded by a ‘photon belt’ – for which no evidence exists – which earth is supposedly approaching. However, the earth is not heading towards the Pleiades but away from them; earth and Alcyone are moving apart at 10 km/s.

The Pleiades lie about 380 light years away in the Taurus constellation, so an orbit around them would measure up to about 2400 light years. To circle them in only 24,000 years, the solar system would have to be travelling at 10% of the speed of light, a thousand times faster than the earth’s velocity around the sun. If this were true, the constellations would noticeably change shape within a single lifetime.

We will supposedly enter the photon belt in 2011, triggering an ascension to ‘fourth-level density’ (Stray, 200). Another claim is that when the solar system is inside the photon belt, the present day/night cycle will be replaced by a 2000-year period of continuous light during which humanity will be transformed into spiritually enlightened ‘Atmosphereans’ (etheric.com).

Apocalypse

Several Christian groups and individuals have claimed that the ‘Day of the Lord’ will arrive in 2012. New Jerusalem will apparently be located in central California and will be fully functioning by 2012. A Jewish writer claims that the gates of heaven will open to ‘the righteous’ on 17/18 September 2012, and close eight days later (Stray, 58, 65). According to some interpreters of the ‘Bible code’ (which involves extracting equidistant letters from the Hebrew text and looking for multiple words that may carry a prophetic meaning), for 2009/10 the word ‘comet’ combines with ‘days of horror’, ‘darkness’ and ‘gloom’ – so that prophecy has already failed. 2011/12 combines ‘comet’ with the words ‘earth annihilated’. But the annihilation won’t be total, because there will allegedly be a great terror in 2014 and another great terror, fire and earthquakes in 2113 (ibid., 68). Code proponents say that the discovery of the code enables humanity to alter fate – a useful position to take as it means they can’t be called to account when their ‘prophecies’ fall flat on their face.

New age

New-agers have high hopes for December 2012. In particular, they expect a sudden evolutionary breakthrough and the emergence of a higher human species, sometimes called Homo noeticus or Homo universalis, who will live in an age of wisdom and enlightenment. ‘We’re on the verge of transitioning to a dispensation of consciousness that’s more intuitive, mystical and shamanic,’ says 2012 author Daniel Pinchbeck (Anastas, 2007).

The Mayan symbol at the centre of the disc is Hunab Ku, meaning ‘one god’.
(mendonews.files.wordpress.com)

Some people expect sudden mass outbreaks of telepathy and clairvoyance, and widespread communication with beings ‘beyond our three-dimensional world’. Others forecast the return of aliens and/or spiritual masters from distant stars. Channellers, UFO contactees and some out-of-body experiencers have also received messages about 2012. One contactee predicts ‘the acceleration of evolving consciousness to a point in 2012 AD, when we would transmute our 3D consciousness to become truly multidimensional, galactic beings’. Another imaginative writer claims that the Maya were aware that by 2012 earth and all of humanity would be fully integrated into the ‘extraterrestrial federation’ (Stray, 169, 172).

Like channellers and contactees, users of psychedelic drugs have also obtained ‘insights’ into 2012 by tapping into the earth’s thought atmosphere (the astral or psychic world), which is by now infested with all sorts of 2012 material. Someone calling himself ‘Copehead’, after taking Syrian rue (harmal), magic mushrooms and laughing gas, declared: ‘Time stops in 2012. ... This is the birth of religion.’ After taking Salvia divinorum (diviner’s mint), ‘Damaeus’ stated: ‘We will hear the calling before it ever happens and consciousness/spirit/soul will simply float away, leaving our physical bodies to be destroyed with the worldwide earthquakes or whatever other disasters nature has in store’ (Stray, 155-6). So the message seems to be: don’t mess with psychedelics or you too might start talking like this.

One 2012 writer has declared: ‘We are about to pass through the stargate, the wormhole, and the null point of hyperdimensional space’ (Braden et al., 210). A more down-to-earth view is expressed by Bob Makransky, a contemporary Mayan priest. When asked about the significance of 21 December 2012, he replied:

Nothing is going to happen in 2012. There is no Mayan prophecy about 2012. ... The Long Count will reset to 0.0.0.0.0 on December 21, 2012. But this is just a major calendar change – their equivalent of Y2K – with no more spiritual significance than the change of millennium had for us. This 2012 thing is being touted by some non-Mayans as a kind of New Age version of the Rapture: a miraculous transformation of human consciousness which sweeps humanity up into the clouds to escape the coming tribulation. But things don’t happen that way in real life. If there is a fundamental transformation in human consciousness, the way it will probably occur is that the environment and civilization will deteriorate over the next few decades. And then people will draw together and open their hearts to one another, as they do in the face of any natural catastrophe such as an earthquake or flood. When people lose their faith in the system and start listening to their own hearts is when the system will change. (whatismagic.com)

Our evolutionary journey

Evolutionary cycles

According to author Peter Russell: ‘Within a few generations, perhaps within our lifetimes, we could reach the end of our evolutionary journey’ (Braden et al., 22).

Theosophy offers a very different vision of our evolutionary timeline. The globe we live on is said to be the most material of 12 globes that together make up the earth planetary chain; the other globes are situated on more ethereal planes and are therefore beyond our range of perception. The earth will exist for 4.32 billion years and we are just past the midpoint (see Geological timescale). During our planet’s lifetime, the various kingdoms of monads (or consciousness-centres) associated with the earth make seven rounds through all the globes. The present, fourth round on our own globe began 320 million years ago, and most of humanity became selfconscious some 18 million years ago, in the third root-race. We are now in the fifth root-race, the fifth stage in the unfoldment of consciousness on this globe in the present round, and still have many millions of years to go before completing the last two stages (see Evolution in the fourth round).

When the present globe round is complete we will pass on to the higher globes and, after a period of rest, we will then make a further three rounds through all the globes before our evolution during the present embodiment of this planetary chain is over. If we make the grade, we will then enter the higher, spiritual kingdoms and continue our evolution for several more embodiments of the earth. After that we will make similar evolutionary journeys, from the lowest kingdom to the highest, on the other sacred planets of our solar system, and eventually in other solar systems etc. So in one sense evolution is beginningless and endless; there are only temporary starting and stopping points, an endless succession of periods of evolutionary activity followed by periods of rest.

Astrological influences

Our planet is constantly subject to planetary, solar and galactic energies and forces of various kinds, which exercise an influence on everything happening on earth. Helena Blavatsky writes: ‘Ancient wisdom added to the cold shell of astronomy the vivifying elements of its soul and spirit – astrology. [S]idereal motions do regulate and determine ... events on Earth ...’ (SD 1:645). Gottfried de Purucker contrasts ancient and modern astrology:

Modern astrology is but the tattered and rejected outer coating of real, ancient astrology; for that truly sublime science was the doctrine of the origin, of the nature, of the being, and of the destiny of the solar bodies, of the planetary bodies, and of the beings who dwell on them. It also taught the science of the relations of the parts of kosmic nature among themselves, and more particularly as applied to man and his destiny as forecast by the celestial orbs. From that great and noble science sprang up an exoteric pseudo-science, derived from the Mediterranean and Asian practice, eventuating in the modern scheme called astrology – a tattered remnant of ancient wisdom. (OG 10)

William Judge emphasized that ‘the ancients always considered the “ambient” – or entire heavens – at birth, as that which affected man, and that the planets were only the pointers or indices showing when and where the influence of the “ambient” would be felt’ (Echoes 2:13).

Subtle energies (sometimes called fohatic magnetisms; FSO 125-8, 139-45) are constantly reaching us from all parts of the heavens (faster than light), their influence being stronger at times of particular conjunctions and alignments. The sun, as viewed from earth, passes through all the constellations every year. But the zodiacal age we now are in is named after the constellation the sun is in at the time of the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. If we chose the autumn equinox or the summer or winter solstice instead, the present age would have a different name. Clearly, the present Piscean Age does not mean that only influences from Pisces are at work.

A point emphasized by the theosophical tradition is that astrological influences do not fatalistically determine our lives:

[T]he science of astrology only determines the nature of effects, by a knowledge of the law of magnetic affinities and attractions of the planetary bodies, but ... it is the karma of the individual himself, which places him in that particular magnetic relation. (BCW 6:327)

[T]he stars do not make you, they mark you for what you are. (Dialogues 3:6)

The old astrologers used to say: the wise man controls his planets, the fool submits to them. (FSO 142)

We are subject to many outside influences, but it is our own inner nature that determines to what extent we succumb to negative influences or benefit from positive influences, whether human or cosmic. The main driving force of our evolution is our own inner will. We all have the power to unfold our higher potential through our own self-directed efforts, by increasingly making our thoughts, words and deeds a reflection of all that is most noble in us.

Drugs and inner development

The unguided use of psychedelic substances to artificially induce altered states of consciousness and temporarily transcend everyday awareness is of dubious value. Possible side effects include disorientation, anxiety, panic, paranoia, delirium, psychosis, schizophrenia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle cramps, convulsions, mood swings, and impaired memory, concentration and judgement (emedicine.medscape.com). Those taking such drugs experience visual and auditory ‘hallucinations’, in which they may seem to travel to other realms and communicate with other beings. Psychedelics open a door to the astral realms, the lower reaches of which are a reservoir of baser thoughts, emotions and images, of elementals or nature-spirits, and of the decaying astral shells, or kama-rupas, of deceased humans, which remain vivified for a time by their lower mental energies.

Even if drug-induced experiences seem positive and mystical, they may owe a lot to self-delusion. Sarah Belle Dougherty (1994) writes:

Generally experiences are the expression of one’s own mind – hallucinogenic drugs, for example, are recognized as being nonspecific catalysts that amplify the individual’s consciousness rather than introduce new material – and the ordinary person cannot tell whether they are coming from the spiritual or the limited mental/emotional or psychic parts of himself. Unless highly trained, those in altered states of consciousness are not accustomed to functioning self-consciously in the astral sphere of reality, and are even more likely to be deceived by appearances and become confused there than on the physical plane ...

There is also danger to the unprepared and unguided in opening an inner link to these realms of being, as the conduit may be difficult to close off if undesirable phenomena impinge on the person. ...

The uninformed use of consciousness-altering methods can have a very adverse effect on the circulation of energies through the human constitution and result in unhealthy physical or psychological states. ...

It is easy to become caught up in the glamour and drama of altered states both as an end in themselves and a means to personal powers or success, material or spiritual.

Genuine inner growth, she says, ‘represents a way of life, not isolated experiences’. It involves purifying and disciplining our mental and emotional nature so that our personal selves can transmit the radiance of our higher, divine selves: ‘the path to becoming truly human, and ultimately godlike, is that of compassion, of centering our consciousness in the more universal aspects of ourselves while making the everyday ego our servant instead of our master’.

Spiritual traditions warn of the dangers of forcing the development of psychic powers. Our latent powers will unfold naturally in the course of our evolution, and hopefully not before we have acquired the wisdom to use them selflessly. G. de Purucker writes: ‘No chela [disciple] is ever permitted to cultivate any psychical powers at any time, until the great foundation has been laid in the evocation of the spiritual and intellectual energies and faculties: vision, will power, utter self-control, and a heart filled with love for all’ (FSO 30).

John Major Jenkins has some rather exaggerated notions about what Mayan shamans were able to accomplish when intoxicated with hallucinogens. He claims that they could literally travel into the galactic centre, and were able to conjure up ‘wormholes’ – tunnels through a ‘higher dimension’ – and travel through them to a ‘transdimensional realm’, powered by the legendary black hole in the centre of the galaxy (1998, 202-3, 318). Shamans, he says, ‘could project their consciousness wherever they wished – into other realities, other planes of being, other planets and dimensions. They could journey back to the dawn of time, to the center and source of all life and being, and return with power and wisdom’ (321).

A genuine adept or initiate does not of course require drugs to project his consciousness to other places or realms, or to exercise clairvoyance or other occult powers. Furthermore, according to the theosophical tradition, only the highest adepts can consciously travel beyond the different planes of the earth planetary chain. G. de Purucker writes:

[T]he range of consciousness of the human ego is over this globe D. The range of consciousness of the bodhisattva, and most of the mahatmas, is over the planetary chain. The range of consciousness of the highest bodhisattvas and of the buddhas is in the spiritual monad whose consciousness-sweep covers the solar system, whereas he who has raised himself into the divine consciousness of the divine monad within him, his highest self, has a consciousness-reach ... which covers the galaxy. (Dialogues 3:433, see Sevenfold constitution of nature and man)

Before we can travel selfconsciously to higher globes of our planet, or to other planets or solar systems we have to become truly selfconscious here on earth:

[Through] study and training ... neophytes become finally able to remain fully self-conscious while the body is in sleep; and the adept or high chela, through the same training pushed to a still greater length, is able to remain fully aware and active on inner planes after the body dies. The man who has thus made himself more or less fully acquainted with the functions and characteristics of his own nature can, during his lifetime, travel self-consciously out of his body to other parts of the earth and, with increased power, even to other planets. But greater than this is the power to visit self-consciously the inner worlds which environ us, and to bring back a relatively complete recollection of the experiences and knowledge so gained. (FSO 536)

Most of the mahatmas are said to be advanced fifth-rounders, meaning that they have developed their consciousness to a level that most of us will not attain until far into the fifth round. Gautama Buddha is described as a sixth-rounder (FSO 512-16). Mahatma Kuthumi (KH) writes:

When our great Buddha – the patron of all the adepts, the reformer and the codifier of the occult system – reached first nirvana on earth, he became a planetary spirit; i.e. – his spirit could at one and the same time rove the interstellar spaces in full consciousness, and continue at will on earth in his original and individual body. ... [T]hat is the highest form of adeptship man can hope for on our planet. But it is as rare as the buddhas themselves ... (ML2 43 / MLC 62)

The path of compassion

The widespread wish for a more caring, compassionate and peaceful world, one not dominated by selfishness, greed and violence, is of course to be applauded. But such a change won’t be brought about mainly by the action of outside forces – whether it be fluctuations in the earth’s magnetic field, a beam of energy from the galactic centre, or the arrival of spiritual masters from the Pleiades. It will come about through the steady transformation and inner growth of each one of us, working in harmony with nature and with one another.

Arjuna Ardagh puts it this way:

Because we feel cut off from all of life, our relationship to the world is characterized by desire. We often feel that something is missing; if only we could get what is missing from the outside, then we could relax. This is the very mind-set that propels the global economy. This is how it is possible to sell more and more stuff to more and more people. ...

While this sense of lack may sometimes be caused by real hardship, most human beings live in ‘psychological lack’: a feeling that they need more money, more things, more power over more people, more sexual partners in a greater variety of positions. They just need more. Then they can relax. ...

In every culture and in every age, a few isolated individuals have broken free of this hallucination and have realized that the sense of a ‘separate me’ is actually a fantasy. ... The sense of a separate entity that craves and needs things from its environment starts to melt like a snowflake in the sunshine. In its place is recognized consciousness, presence, a causeless love that lacks nothing at all. Rather than being on this planet ‘to get more for me,’ life becomes a flow of generosity of spirit. The reason to be alive is to bless, to love without restraint, to give irrationally. (Braden et al., 229-31)

Becoming truly human is the work of countless lives, and there are no shortcuts. In this respect, whether 21 December 2012 is the end of one of the Maya’s calendrical cycles or not is of no great importance. The idea that 2012 offers us some sort of unique opportunity is a myth. Every day is potentially a new beginning, full of new challenges and fresh opportunities for self-development and helping others.

Sources

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Benjamin Anastas, ‘The final days’, 1 July 2007, New York Times, www.nytimes.com

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www.2012hoax.org

Abbreviations:

The ancient Americas

Poleshifts

Secret cycles

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