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Originally posted by phrixus
Hello everyone!
I quite like the subject of 2012 since it ties into the Mayan calendar which is a very interesting relic but I do find that a lot of people don't know much more about it than they read in books and articles about the end of the world which is a bit sad.
What many don't realize is that the calendar doesn't actually END in 2012, it's just the end of the 13th b'ak'tun and the beginning of the 14th. A "b'ak'tun" is essentially 144000 day cycle. The calendar counts in a sort-of base-20 system and the current date here (which is GMT+12 New Zealand) is 12.19.17.8.17 as I am writing this. Each number counts up to 19 and then ticks over to 0 while adding 1 to the column to the left of it if that makes sense. It's winter and I'm having the flu at the moment so might be a bit off . As December comes and passes in 2012 it'll end the 13.19.19.17.19 cycle and begin 14.0.0.0.0 and so on. Why 17? Well like I said, sort-of base-20. The Winal, as it's called, rolls over when it hits 18. Not quite sure why this happens but it probably made sense to them .
Different scholars have different translations and beliefs but the only thing I can possibly imagine has started all this is part of the Maya creation myth where the gods failed to create the perfect world three times before finally succeeding with the fourth one which is the one we are now living in. Each of these failed creations lasted till the start of their 14th b'ak'tun before the gods 'started over'. Still, even following this myth we are in the 'fourth and correct world' and thus it is not even 'scheduled' to be destroyed. Furthermore, to the Maya the end of a b'ak'tun was a joyous occasion.
After all this has calmed down in say 2013, I do wonder if humanity will have similar predictions about the end of the 14th b'ak'tun which happens sometime around 2400 off the top of my head.
Originally posted by dragnet53
Originally posted by phrixus
Hello everyone!
I quite like the subject of 2012 since it ties into the Mayan calendar which is a very interesting relic but I do find that a lot of people don't know much more about it than they read in books and articles about the end of the world which is a bit sad.
What many don't realize is that the calendar doesn't actually END in 2012, it's just the end of the 13th b'ak'tun and the beginning of the 14th. A "b'ak'tun" is essentially 144000 day cycle. The calendar counts in a sort-of base-20 system and the current date here (which is GMT+12 New Zealand) is 12.19.17.8.17 as I am writing this. Each number counts up to 19 and then ticks over to 0 while adding 1 to the column to the left of it if that makes sense. It's winter and I'm having the flu at the moment so might be a bit off . As December comes and passes in 2012 it'll end the 13.19.19.17.19 cycle and begin 14.0.0.0.0 and so on. Why 17? Well like I said, sort-of base-20. The Winal, as it's called, rolls over when it hits 18. Not quite sure why this happens but it probably made sense to them .
Different scholars have different translations and beliefs but the only thing I can possibly imagine has started all this is part of the Maya creation myth where the gods failed to create the perfect world three times before finally succeeding with the fourth one which is the one we are now living in. Each of these failed creations lasted till the start of their 14th b'ak'tun before the gods 'started over'. Still, even following this myth we are in the 'fourth and correct world' and thus it is not even 'scheduled' to be destroyed. Furthermore, to the Maya the end of a b'ak'tun was a joyous occasion.
After all this has calmed down in say 2013, I do wonder if humanity will have similar predictions about the end of the 14th b'ak'tun which happens sometime around 2400 off the top of my head.
Isn't B'ak'tun 1 the most evil one? it is one that hasn't repeated itself and hasn't for a long time if I remember correctly.