What Did the Mayans Know? is December 21, 2012 the End?

2012 probably brings to mind the movie 'Space Odyssey' for many but it has much larger ramifications to those who understand the significance of the year in the ancient Mayan culture. There are some that believe that the significance of the fact that the Mayan calendar ends with the date Dec 12, 2012 holds no real importance other than they saw no need to go further with their dating system, and others that believe it signifies the end of the world.

Some scientific circles believe that the Mayan significance on the December 12, 2012 date relates to polar shifting. They believe that this type of shift occurs in a regular pattern that has happened before, and will happen again. A polar shift will cause time to flip and all matter to destruct allowing the Earth to regenerate and begin again. Other scientists believe that the Mayan date predicts the next ice age that will cleanse the Earth, yet another 'cycle' that is believed to be a regular occurrence that nature instills to rejuvenate life.

Still others believe that the Mayan calendar does not predict an end of the world as we know it on December 12, 2012 but a new age. While this may seem to play along with the Earthly cleansing and rejuvenation those claims mean the end of mankind and other life on the planet while the new age theory implies a new way of life, thinking, or environment.

The Mayan's rather impressive use of numerology and astrology even in ancient times has helped to propagate the rumors of a reason behind the ending date of their calendar. It is a strange date to leave off on and that has made it seem more foreboding as well. If they were to simply decide not to go any further writing out the cycled dates why not stop at the end of a month rather than the middle? The fact that December is also the final month of the year would also seem to make a case for continuing at least until the very end of the month and finalizing the calendar with a more reasonable closure.

The most startling aspect to the end time prophesy of the Mayan calendar revolves around their understanding of astronomy. The calendar itself is based on the life of the solar system and the sun. This implies that they knew the lifespan of the sun and when it would be extinguished. Even our modern science tells us that the sun will at some point cease be it by implosion or simply dying out. They Mayans believe that there are definite cycles in the solar system that never change and will repeat at certain intervals. They believe a solar cycle is 5,012 years and that cycle is complete on December 12, 2012 at which time the solar system will reset itself causing a gigantic climate shift on the Earth that will extinguish life.

There are many different notions as to the end of days in historical and mythical writings. The dates that have passed showed no changes significant to our life on Earth, and the ones to come are unlikely to produce any results either.