The 12/21/12 prophecy? What happened?
If you thought the world was going to end on 12/21/12, you many have just been about 52 years off. The 12/21/12 Mayan prophecy was something much different then what most people thought. Here is the truth.
The Mayan’s had two calendars: the Solar Calendar and the Sacred Calendar. The Solar Calendar was based on the sun and the rotation of the Earth (yes, the Mayan’s knew the world rotated on an axis long before Columbus set sail)
The great Temple of Kukulcan at Chichen Itza in Mexico represents the Solar Calendar. They always tied their calendars to their gods, so their temples were built to represent their calendars. The Temple of Kukulcan (their main God who they believed would return from the East to Earth and user in a 1,000 year period of peace) has exactly 91 steps on each of its 4 sides. 91 times 4 is 364, and the final step on top makes 365 total steps which correspond to the number of days of their Solar Calendar.
The Sacred Calendar is where things start to get interesting. Inside the Temple of Kukulcan is an exact replica of the temple. It was built first and then the Temple of Kukulcan that we see today was built, like a shell, right on top. This inside temple represents the Sacred Calendar. This temple has 65 steps on each side. 65 times 4 is 260 days which is equal to the time that the brightest star in the heavens (Venus) is visible. The Sacred or Lunar Calendar is divided into 13 months of 20 days each. Only the high class had access to the Sacred Calendar. The Solar and Sacred calendars would rotate with each other to provide information. By using both calendars together, the high class could use the information from the calendars to gain power and control over the lower class. The high class could say, ‘If you don’t do as we say then the gods will shut off the sun in two days’. They could make this statement knowing that this Sacred Calendar was predicting a solar eclipse in two days. The Mayan’s used the two calendars together to predict when Kukulcan would return and bring the 1,000 years of peace.
When Cortez sailed from Spain and conquered the Aztecs, he was able to easily do so because Montezuma and the rest of the Aztecs thought that Cortez was the god they were waiting for. Cortez had white skin and came from the East as the prophecy predicted. The Aztecs basically laid down and let the Spaniards conquer them. The Mayan’s, however, put up a fight and it took the Spaniards 20 years to finally conquer the Mayan civilization. The Mayan’s fought because they knew, because of their calendar, that it was not yet time for Kukulcan to return.
So when did the Mayan believe their White Bearded God from the East would return and bring 1,000 years of peace? Their answer is in the calendar.
The two calendars rotating together, gets reset every 52 years on December 21. Each 52 year reset would start 1 of 4 periods. The 4 periods are named Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. It would take 208 years to go through each periods. Each 208 years was a cycle. The Mayan’s predicted that there would be 7 cycles. The Mayan’s also predicted that their god would return during the last Fire cycle.
Each 52 year period would bring change, usually drastic change (for the good or bad).
The scientist have calculated that on 12/21/1960 the wind period started as part of the 7th cycle. The wind period brings environmental change. For example, during the last 30 years, the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico (home to the Mayans) has gone from having a major hurricane every 20-30 years to now having one every 5-7 years.
The final Fire cycle started on 12/21/2012. The Fire cycle is to bring about major social/human changes. Think back to the last Fire cycle. This would have occurred between the years 1804 and 1856. What social/human changes occurred then? The rise of new world superpowers, the fall of great superpowers, the Industrial Revolution, the ending of slavery…
Now we are in the final Fire cycle. What social/human changes have we already seen since 12/21/12? What is to come?
Learn more of the Mayans on one of our upcoming Book of Mormon Cruises to the ancient Mayan ruins of Mexico and Belize. Visit our website for all the details: www.LivingHeritageTours.com
Tom Pettit
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