By JOHN MAJOR JENKINS

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In my own process of studying the Maya and their traditions, I moved progressively into deeper water with time. Twenty-two years in, I can report back to newcomers that the implications of the Mayan calendar are staggering, its connection to other cosmologies around the globe is deep, and its most famous artifact, the cycle ending date of 2012, encodes an understanding of the cosmos that modern science is unprepared to grasp.

That’s where the investigation leads, but we will not venture so far in this article. Many people will be introduced to the existence of the Maya and their calendar through the attention generated by the 2012 date. You may be one of them. In fact, I hope you are, because this article is written for you. How can we even begin to understand the Mayan calendar and its 2012 date? What is it? What was it intended to represent? What did the ancient Maya believe would happen as 2012 draws close? Sit back and read on, for there are answers to these questions.

In my speaking events and workshops, people ask questions and I’ve noticed that many of them are based on misconceptions. I will anticipate and address these, hopefully guiding you away from dead ends.It is no surprise that 2012, the so-called ‘end of the Mayan calendar’, is a topic filled with images of the end of the world, doomsday, and cataclysm. Many writers have and will exploit such a hot topic to play into human fears. They are not necessarily interested in understanding 2012 as the ancient Maya understood it. Here we must state a guiding principle so we can have a healthy approach to 2012: let’s honour the authentic Mayan tradition.

This seems self evident, but is rarely taken to heart by modern writers. As a result of this unfortunate situation, newcomers are likely to encounter a smorgasbord of ideas, information, opinions, and models about 2012. The loudest barkers in Carnival 2012, as my friend Jonathan Zap reminds me, are likely to be the first ones heard. There’s the Pleiadian faction, there’s the crop circle theorists, there’s the alien invasion crowd, there’s the doomsday tribe, there’s the ascension light workers. People like many choices on the menu, right? Sure, but what about the real ding an sich, the thing-in-itself? Are we interested in getting to the heart of the Mayan insight? I propose that we should be, and that such an approach yields interesting, satisfying, revolutionary, and lasting results.

A little research reveals that a large cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar ends precisely on December 21, 2012. The precision comes from a painstakingly established correlation between the Long Count calendar and our own Gregorian calendar. Scholars figured it out, beginning in the 1890s, testing and retesting the correct correlation. It was settled by 1950.

The Gregorian calendar and the Long Count calendar are simply two different methods of tracking time. Each one tracks one day after another, but designates the days with different symbols and words. The correct correlation between the two means that, for example, 9.16.4.1.1 in the Long Count equals May 7, 755 in the Gregorian calendar. We are simply correlating two different systems. It’s the same challenge of correlating the ancient Egyptian calendar, or the ancient Hindu or Roman system, to a time frame we recognise. With the ‘key’ of the correlation, we can make a precise conversion between the Mayan calendar into our own. It’s not rocket science, and there’s no need to mystify it.

What you need to know is that scholars have isolated the precise correlation for the Mayan calendar, such that the end of the 13-baktun cycle in the Long Count (written 13.0.0.0.0) falls precisely on December 21, 2012. Most importantly, the surviving 260-day calendar (the tzolkin) among the Maya today verifies this correlation, since it confirms that the cycle-ending date falls on 4 Ahau in the tzolkin. Authors that write popular books and broadcast other notions have simply not done their homework.

Next, what is the Long Count and how does it work? The Long Count calendar system was developed about 2,100 years ago in southern Mexico. Archaeologists know this because the first carved monuments with Long Count dates appear in the first-century BCE, mostly in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Theoretical reconstructions of the calendar that trace its origins further back in time are possible, but for now we can rest safely with the carved monuments that date to the first-century BCE. This is a good indicator of when the Long Count was formally inaugurated and carved in stone.

A typical Long Count date contains five place values. A baktun is a period of 144,000 days. A katun is a period of 7,200 days. A tun contains 360 days. A uinal contains 20 days, and a kin is a day. I’m surprised when newcomers begin to wonder how anyone can possibly know this. Some assert that the Maya disappeared long ago, so how do we know this information about their calendar? Well, the truth is that the Maya have not disappeared, as the popular misconception goes. The reason why we can say things with certainty about how the Long Count works is because scholars have reconstructed its operation from a careful examination of the archaeological evidence. It’s not so mysterious or far fetched for scholars to piece together fragments of a forgotten tradition, especially something as tangible as the basic mathematics of a calendar system.

A typical Long Count date is written 8.16.3.12.5. The cycle ending date is written 13.0.0.0.0. After this date, the calendar cycles back to 0.0.0.0.1. Why? Because there are 13 Baktuns in one Creation Cycle, or Age. We know this because there are several carvings that are called ‘Creation Monuments’, and they tell us that 13.0.0.0.0 is the completion of a World Age. The Long Count is thus part of a philosophy of time known as a World Age doctrine. It is a belief that many ancient cultures share, that the world passes through a series of chapters or Ages. For the Maya, an Age lasts 13 Baktuns, which is 5,125 years.

The Maya’s Creation Myth contains information about the World Ages, and therefore we can consult it to gain an understanding of what the ancient Maya believed occurs during a cycle ending. General principles can be identified. For example, at the end of all Ages, humanity goes through a transformation and is reborn. A person chooses from two ways, because free will is honoured. One can go the way of Seven Macaw, the vain ego-driven ruler who appears at the end of the cycle, or one can go the way of One Hunahpu, who sacrifices his false self and is reborn whole.

The point is that the Creation Myth actually provides relevant and meaningful information concerning the ancient Maya belief about what would happen as 2012 approached. Therefore, studying the messages in the Creation Myth is an effective approach for understanding 2012.

Another important question is, why did the Maya believe that the year we call 2012 in our calendar would be so transformative? What is so special about 2012? The answer to this has been the focus of my pioneering research. My 1994 article “The How and Why of the Mayan End Date” really broke the case, as it identified how a rare astronomical alignment (the ‘galactic alignment’) was encoded by the Maya into their Creation Myth. My 1995 book The Center of Mayan Time explored my new findings further, by examining the early Maya site, Izapa, that invented the Long Count cosmology. More discoveries occurred in 1995-1997, and were reported in various articles and in my books Izapa Cosmos (1996) and Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 (1998). The galactic alignment is the key to understanding why the ancient Maya believed 2012 (or, to be more accurate, ‘the years around 2012’) would be so transformational.

What is the Galactic Alignment?

A = the solstice sun’s position 4,000 years ago. B = the solstice sun’s position 2,000 years ago. C = the solstice sun’s position in era-2012 (the galactic alignment). Note the dark rift and the crossroads of the Milky Way and the ecliptic.

The galactic alignment is a rare alignment within the cycle of the precession of the equinoxes, or let’s say ‘precession’ for short. Precession is thought to be caused by the slow wobble of the earth on its axis. The earth spins once every 24 hours, giving us the day cycle. But like a spinning top it also wobbles very slowly, making one complete wobble in just under 26,000 years. This phenomenon changes our angular orientation to the larger field of stars and constellations that surround us. One effect of the precession is that the position of the sun on a solstice or equinox slowly shifts in relation to the background stars. Ancient skywatchers might observe the stars of Capricorn rising ahead of the dawning solstice sun. Eight hundred years later, however, it will be the stars of Sagittarius. The constellations served as markers for this celestial shifting.

For the Maya, the bright band of the Milky Way was a very important feature of the night sky. It was seen to be a river, a road, a cosmic snake, a Great Mother, or even a celestial ballcourt. Compared to the very wide constellations, the Milky Way is a better marker for precessional shifting, because it is thin, like a ‘finish line’ in the sky. If the sun’s position on, say, the December solstice, was tracked, skywatchers would notice it shifting closer and closer to the bright band of the Milky Way. According to my pioneering research, ancient Maya skywatchers noticed this shifting, and calculated forward to the future day when the December solstice sun would line up with the Milky Way. They even used a more precise marker for the alignment, the dark rift in the Milky Way, which lies right along the Milky Way’s mid-plane.

Modern astronomers call the Milky Way’s precise mid-plane the ‘galactic equator’. So, a good definition of the galactic alignment is ‘the alignment of the December solstice sun with the galactic equator’. Modern astronomers have largely ignored this alignment phenomenon, but one named Jean Meeus calculated it after being encouraged to look at it by astrologer Daniel Giamario. With his calculation, and recognising that the sun itself is one-half of a degree wide, we arrive at a reasonable ‘alignment zone’ that stretches from 1980 to 2016. This is the ‘alignment zone’ of the galactic alignment. In the mid-1990s I pioneered a comparative analysis of Mayan traditions, such as the ballgame, king-making rituals, and the Creation Mythology, to show how the Maya were aware of this future galactic alignment (also sometimes called ‘the solstice-galaxy alignment’).

The galactic alignment occurs at an important location along the Milky Way – right at the crossing point formed by the Milky Way and the ecliptic (the path followed by the sun, moon, and planets). This crossroads in the sky is a critical feature of Mayan star lore. It is the Mayan Sacred Tree. Most interestingly, this cross targets the ‘nuclear bulge’ of the Galactic Centre. For this reason, the galactic alignment is often described as an alignment to the galactic centre, which it is, generally speaking.

These astronomical features had profound symbolic meaning for the ancient Maya. And some still do for the modern Maya. The Milky Way was the Great Mother, the galactic centre was her womb, and the dark rift was her birth canal. The December solstice sun was also very important, energetically, because that day signals the turnabout in the year, when increasing night shifts to increasing light. After the December solstice, the light begins to return as days grow longer. When THAT sun, the December solstice sun, shifts into alignment with the dark rift ‘birth canal’ of the Milky Way, the Maya believed the world would be reborn. It constituted a good location to place the end of a World Age, 13.0.0.0.0 in their calendar, and the beginning of the next Age. The cycle ending is ultimately about renewal.

The galactic alignment, so defined, happens only once every 26,000 years. This is the big news, why we should be astounded at what the ancient Maya achieved. If we honour it only as a profound galactic cosmovision, whether or not we believe in its transformational power or correctness, that would be enough to shatter the continuing stereotypes of the ancient Maya as barbaric savages. Progress in understanding the brilliance of the ancient Maya’s achievement is hindered by stereotypes and clichés propagated by an exploitative media, as recent Hollywood movies illustrate. They play into fear and deep-set biases, and newcomers should be on alert for attitudes and books that disrespect the authentic Mayan calendar tradition, the one that makes December 21, 2012 equal to 4 Ahau, 13.0.0.0.0.

But what of it? Does the galactic alignment somehow ‘cause’ change? This is an inevitable question, and one that is currently not easy to answer within the limits of our science. Astrophysicists look at distant galaxies, peer into galactic centres, and theorise about black holes, quasars, and dark matter. That’s all well and good, but they have not looked at the empirical effects of the galactic alignment phenomena. The possibility that our changing angular orientation to the galactic plane might somehow trigger seasonal changes on Earth, over very long periods of time, should be examined. Speaking from personal experience, however, it’s been very difficult to get astronomers and scientists to engage in a rational dialogue about the galactic alignment, although there have been some exceptions.

I’ve suggested scientific research that may answer the question of how the galactic alignment effects life on planet earth. It is, after all, an interesting question. In my 2002 book Galactic Alignment I discussed the Cosmecology theory of Dr. Oliver Reiser. Combining Reiser’s ideas with the galactic alignment concept, which he was not aware of, results in a possible model by which galactic alignments trigger consciousness. In 1995 I noted that our sun is roughly 26,000 light years from the galactic centre. I wondered if this could mean that precession is somehow entrained to this distance. A principle of sub-atomic physics that I located, later confirmed in the work of Reiser, provides the missing clue. The principle of ‘proton precession’ observes that protons have a varying wobble rate or ‘precession’ just like the earth does. The frequency of the wobble is directly related to the strength of the magnetic field that the proton is in, as well as its distance from the source of field. Here we have a principle that connects distance from source to the precession rate.

I am neither a sub-atomic particle physicist nor am I an interstellar astrophysicist, so this is not really my department. I offer this observation to others who are more interested in exploring the empirical models by which precession, and galactic alignments, may effect consciousness on earth.

We may be on the verge of a revolution in how we, in Western countries, understand the cosmos and our relationship to it. We may be going through a paradigm shift, much like the seventeenth century, when the sun became the centre of the cosmos during the Copernican revolution. Now, inspired by Mayan cosmology (just as Copernicus was inspired by Greek precursors), we might begin to see the womb of the Great Mother as the centre of the universe. This shift has important ramifications for our socio-political assumptions, for ‘god the solar father’ cannot be reborn unless it is through ‘goddess the galactic mother’. A higher principle that has been winnowed out of Western thought is reasserting itself, and our embracing it may be the key to transforming our unstable world into a sustainable one.

What Does 2012 Mean for the Modern World?

The pressing question is ‘what does 2012 mean for us?’ Consider this: the Maya offer us the 2012 date and tie it to a rare galactic alignment that our science barely acknowledges. They believed, for reasons we cannot quite grasp, that such an alignment would signal great transformation on the planet. If we look around us today, and recall events of the last twenty, fifty, and a hundred years, great transformation is indeed what is going on. Perhaps we should pay more attention to what the ancient Maya teachings actually say, rather than injecting modern assumptions and distortions into the 2012 discussion. There is no better place for accessing this Mayan wisdom than the Creation Mythology, otherwise known as the Popol Vuh or Hero Twin myth.

And here it is in a nutshell: 2012 bodes a challenge and an opportunity for humanity to rebirth itself. Such a transformational rebirth can only be accomplished through sacrifice, sacrificing the illusions that bind us to states of suffering and limitation. We can reconnect with the higher source, our true selves, the centre and source of the world. This invitation is reflected in the galactic alignment, our sun’s rare alignment with the cosmic heart and source (symbolised by the galactic centre).

This requires a little context and explanation. In the Creation Myth, the vain and false ruler Seven Macaw appears at the end of the cycle. He deceives and controls people, trying to take all the wealth for himself. He represents the archetype of self-serving egoism. That is the Mayan prophecy for 2012. Today, world leaders, megalomaniacal presidents, and even corporations all exhibit this trait. The Mayan prophecy for 2012 has come to pass. This is no accident. Ego takes control of the world at the end of the cycle, and this is a fact of the dynamics of cycles. We see this insight in many World Age doctrines, from the Hindus to the Greeks and especially among the indigenous peoples of the New World, such as the Maya. Spiritual light at the beginning gives way to darkness. Day turns to night, and at midnight the darkness has maximised. Year 2012 represents galactic midnight in the great cycle of precession. Everything is inverted; the ego denies any spiritual authority higher than itself. But because the ego’s vision is short-sighted, limited only to its own gain, it corrupts the world.

There is a second part to the Mayan prophecy in the Popol Vuh. Seven Macaw’s nemesis is One Hunahpu, the December solstice solar deity. He is the father of the Hero Twins, and much of the story is about facilitating his rebirth at the end of the Age. First, Seven Macaw, the ego, must be put in his place. In order for the higher consciousness to appear, for the mind and heart of humanity to be reborn, the self-serving squawking of ego must be stopped. The whole story is about the dynamic between the limited ego (Seven Macaw) and the eternal soul (One Hunahpu). Since One Hunahpu represents the December solstice sun, the entire myth is framed upon the galactic alignment. And here’s the key to the transformation, the key to putting Seven Macaw back into right relationship with One Hunahpu: sacrifice.

The challenge and the opportunity of 2012 lies within the province of our free will choice to sacrifice our illusions, the illusions that entangle our consciousness with the ego limitation of Seven Macaw. 2012 is not about something that ‘will happen’ in a predetermined sense while we sit around waiting. It is about our free will choice to open up and reconnect with the eternal wisdom, or hunker down in defeatism, closing our minds in fear.

These ideas, found in the Maya Creation Myth, are really perennial teachings. It is very significant that hidden within the depths of the Mayan calendar we find the same spiritual wisdom that resides at the root of all great spiritual traditions. Called the primordial tradition or the perennial philosophy, Mayan genius has linked up this global human heritage to galactic seasons of change timed by the galactic alignment of era-2012.

The ramifications of the 2012 opportunity are critical for creating a sustainable future. The key is embodying the higher wisdom, the higher vantage point, to resolve problems that are impossible to solve when consciousness retains an allegiance to lower consciousness, to the self-serving agenda of egoism.

Caption for photo at top of article: The author at Izapa (located in the Mexican state of Chiapas), the origin place of the 2012 cosmology. December 2006.

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JOHN MAJOR JENKINS is a leading independent investigator of Mayan sacred sciences and the origins and meaning of the 2012 calendar. John has authored dozens of articles and many books, including Journey to the Mayan Underworld, Mirror in the Sky, Tzolkin: Visionary Perspectives and Calendar Studies, Mayan Sacred Science, Maya Cosmogenesis 2012, Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness According to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions and Pyramid of Fire. His latest work is a 3-CD program Unlocking the Secrets of 2012. John’s website is an extensive resource for studying the lost Galactic Cosmology of the Maya: www.Alignment2012.com.

The above article appeared in New Dawn Special Issue 4.

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“All was mystery, dark, impenetrable mystery, and every circumstance increased it.” So wrote 19th century explorer John Lloyd Stephens after journeying through the rainforests of Mesoamerica in search of cities long shrouded under a dense canopy of vegetation. Today, some of the mystery has been dispelled. Their great cities, their architecture and their art challenged the splendour of the ancient capitals of Asia and Africa.While Europe languished in the Dark Ages, the Maya devised sophisticated mathematical and astronomical concepts, wrote books and developed trade routes that spanned much of Mesoamerica. They derived many cultural forms from the north, but also devised many cultural innovations that profoundly influenced all subsequent cultures in the area. Much of Maya culture, particularly the religious reckoning of time, is still a vital aspect of Native American life in Guatemala and Honduras.

All that the ancient Maya accomplished is truly awe-inspiring! With a difficult life in the Tropics, with heat and humidity that would melt the hardiest person, and with a very sparse population, the Maya built incredibly sophisticated ceremonial centres, an astronomical science and mathematics among the most sophisticated in the pre-modern world, and the most developed and complex system of writing in the Americas. In recent years, new archaeological and investigative breakthroughs – including the deciphering of Maya glyphic writing – have revealed a much better idea of how the ancient Maya lived their lives.

A Personal Connection

For me, the Maya are my passion. Somehow, I sense a deep inner connection from my soul to this marvellous culture. And in these times, I am able to experience my life from what some may describe as a unique position and perspective. I have lived in the Mayalands for 8 years; I maintain close contact with researchers and archaeologists who investigate the ancient Maya; and I interact with some of the modern Maya Spiritual Elders. I produce an informative monthly 8-page newsletter covering ongoing archaeology and research of the ancient Maya for the Institute of Maya Studies. I also lead group adventures to the Mayalands. Lately, I’ve emerged as one in only a handful of Maya researchers who share their insights about the current 2012 phenomena.

As you know, there is much to read elsewhere about Maya prophesies, but there is only one real Maya prophesy that I am aware of. According to Yukatek Maya Elder Hunbatz Men, the message says that, “In these times, the people of the ‘north’ will come back and help to revitalise the Maya’s own culture.” Yes, I was born in North America this time around, but I am a reincarnated Maya and I’m back to educate and motivate those who I encounter along the way – to communicate positively and realistically about the ancient Maya.

In the mid-1970s, after I had completed my regular schooling, I was invited by some good friends who had bought some land in Belize, to help them with their dream of creating a yoga retreat.

Located in the western Cayo District, their piece of land was on a hilltop above the small Maya village of Sokutz, right along the Mopan River, across from and in view of the ancient Maya site of Xunantunich. The sun would set each evening behind the silhouette of its massive great acropolis pyramid. I loved living outside of the United States at such a young age, even though it was a challenge in numerous ways. We had a Maya family helping and teaching us. We learned how to build structures of wood poles and thatch, how to plant corn and beans, how to grow a garden in the Tropics, what to eat, what not to eat, how to cook, how to survive. The Godoy family taught us how to live, to slow down and move with the cycles of nature around us, day and night.

Some of my best memories are of when my Maya friends and I would cross the river in their dugout canoe and make our own trail (with machetes) up to the top of the pyramid to spend the night on full moons. With the ancient stone and earth below me and the crisp, clear starry nights above me, I was immersed in a new world. I was between worlds. I believe it was here that I first felt the rhythm of the mysterious Maya.

We could only stay in this paradise for a year and a half, but it was a very memorable experience. When funds ran out before the government of Belize could bulldoze an access road to the centre we had created, we had to abandon the project and return to the US. They drove back and I decided to hitchhike and ride buses into Guatemala, then up though Mexico, to California and back to Florida. A three-month wild adventure of a lifetime.

When I arrived in the highlands of Guatemala, I sensed a very intense dejavú… I felt that this was my territory, this was my home. My most memorable experience was the night a Guatemalan friend took me to the top of the active Pacaya volcano. At that time you could struggle to make your way to the uppermost peak and then witness ecstatic eruptions in front and below. The ground would shake with intense tremors. This would lead to eruptions that created multi-coloured clouds and its own lightning. I had never felt so much natural energy.

It was the night of the full moon in Gemini (and I’m a Gemini), a time when in India, they celebrate the Wesak Festival, their most spiritual celebration of the year. On top of that, we witnessed a full eclipse of the moon! It was then that I made a pact with myself to return to Guatemala to live. A few years later, I did return to the land of eternal springtime and was able to stay for six years. It was the best time of my life. The ancient and the modern Maya had touched my heart and soul. It is a feeling of an intense connection that I enjoy sharing.

The Ancient Maya in Space and Time

Ancient Mesoamerica was one of the great independent hearths of civilisation. Out of varied landscapes grew some of the richest cultures of the early historic world of the Americas – Olmec, Zapotec, Izapan, Maya, Toltec and Aztec.

The beginning of civilisation in Mesoamerica dates to about 2000 BCE with the rise of the Olmecs in the Gulf Coast Lowlands of Mexico. Although the Olmecs have traditionally been viewed as the first of a series of civilisations that culminated in the Aztecs just prior to the Spanish Conquest nearly three millennia later, some researchers have argued that it is preferable to consider the cultural developments from 1500 BCE to the sixteenth century CE as one complex system with various flowerings through time and space. Such a view is more than mere semantic fiddling: it indicates how impressed scholars are with the interconnectedness of ancient Mesoamerican cultures, a process that was present from the very beginning, especially in respects to the magnificent culture we have come to know as the Maya.

The Maya lived in the area of Central America that now consists of Guatemala, Belize, the northern parts of Honduras and El Salvador, all of the Yucatán Peninsula and southern Mexico (the Chiapas and Tabasco states). This whole area lies south of the tropic of Cancer and north of the equator, and is about 900 kilometres from north to south and 550 kilometres in the east-west direction.

It is believed the first humans reached Central America about 15,000 years ago. The first identifiable culture, Clovis, existed around 10,000 BCE. Some stone tools dating back to 9,000 BCE have been found in Guatemala. Around this time, the Fourth Ice Age was drawing to a close and the climate was gradually warming up enabling humans to begin eating more plants and less meat. This change was underway around 8,000 BCE.

From 8,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE the inhabitants of Central America gradually became more agrarian and they domesticated beans, corn, peppers, squash and other plants. During this time there was still no jungle, just savannah and grassland and some trees. Evidence indicates that a tropical jungle climate appeared in Central America only quite recently, after the Maya civilisation was well underway. Towards the end of this period, some recognisably Maya villages appeared and pottery and ceramics appeared. Some villages would construct simple ceremonial platforms and temples.

The period from 1500 BCE to 300 CE is called the “Pre-Classic” period of Maya culture. During this period the diversity of Mayan languages developed. The Maya experienced population growth and larger towns were constructed. This was the period when more intense agriculture began (especially corn cultivation). Monochrome ceramics, stone carving and the construction of the first buildings in places like Kaminal Juyú, Izapa, El Baúl, Tikal, Uaxactún and Dzibilchaltún are part of this period as well. Archaeological evidence suggests the construction of ceremonial architecture in the Maya area by approximately 1000 BCE.

The earliest configurations of such architecture consist of simple burial mounds, which would be the precursors to the stepped pyramids subsequently erected in the Late Pre-Classic. Prominent Middle and Late Pre-Classic settlement zones are located in the southern Maya lowlands, specifically in the Mirador and Petén Basins. Important sites in the southern Maya lowlands include Nakbe, El Mirador, Cival, and San Bartolo. In the Guatemalan Highlands, Kaminal Juyú emerges around 800 BCE. For many centuries it controlled the jade and obsidian sources for the Petén and Pacific Lowlands.

The important early sites of Izapa, Tak’alik Ab’aj and Chocolá that appeared around 600 BCE were the main producers of cacao (chocolate). Mid-sized Maya communities also began to develop in the northern Maya lowlands during the Middle and Late Pre-Classic, though these lacked the size, scale and influence of the large centres of the southern lowlands. Two important Pre-Classic northern sites include Komchen and Dzibilchaltún.

Meanwhile, the Olmec culture was developing in southern Mexico. They developed a system of writing and a complex religion. The Olmecs had a considerable influence on the fledgling Maya culture. The Maya adopted many of the Olmec skills and practices and developed them further. It seems that the mixture of the Olmec and Maya cultures touched off an explosion of cultural development. The Izapan culture, in the area of the present-day border between Mexico and Guatemala also flourished during this time. Archaeologists are not sure of the cause, but from 300 BCE to 300 CE, tremendous development occurred in architecture, writing and calendrics throughout the Mayalands and the population increased.

The Classic Period of Maya development is the 650 years from 250 CE to 900 CE. The Maya refined the Long Count calendar and developed a more advanced written language that they apparently inherited from the Izpapans and Olmecs. (The 5,125-year, 13-Baktun cycle of the Long Count ends and restarts on 21/12/2012). The Maya had a tendency to tear down buildings and temples and rebuild new ones over the rubble of the old. Some buildings are built on several layers of previous buildings. Most of the great Maya cities as they appear today were built during the Classic Period, over the remains of previous construction. Architecture and culture blossomed during the Classic Period. The Maya began to accurately record important events on carved stelae. Excellent examples of Maya carved stelae and dramatic stucco art can be seen at Quirigua, Palenque and Copán.

Early in the Classic Period, around 400 CE, the Maya became heavily influenced by the civilisation of Teotihuacan to the north. Teotihuacan was the most powerful culture in Central Mexico. Much about this relationship is unclear, but it appears to have been beneficial to both civilisations because both prospered and developed at this time.

Around the year 650 CE the civilisation of Teotihuacan collapsed. This collapse triggered an upset in the Maya civilisation. Apparently there was a struggle to fill the power-vacuum left by the collapse of Teotihuacan. Now free of its relationship to Teotihuacan, the Maya reached their highest levels of sophistication. Art, astronomy and religion reached new heights. The population grew and cities expanded in this era of greatest Maya prosperity. Astronomy and arithmetic advanced and the Maya were able to measure the orbits of celestial bodies with unprecedented accuracy. The Maya predicted the motions of Venus to a degree of precision only equalled in recent times. Maya cities were much larger and more populous than any city in Europe. The Maya’s greatest artistic works in pottery and jade were made during this pinnacle of Maya development.

However, this peak of Maya development was to be short lived. By 750 CE problems arose and the “collapse” was underway. By this time, the climate was certainly changing from grassland and savannah into the tropical climate we now associate with Guatemala. In any event, the population dropped and the cities were gradually abandoned. By 830 CE construction and development had come to a halt. Some cities in Belize and the Yucatán survived longer, but in Guatemala the population abandoned the cities and redistributed itself into the farming villages of the highlands that we see today.

For reasons that are still debated, the Maya centres of the southern lowlands went into decline during the 8th and 9th centuries and were abandoned shortly thereafter. This decline was coupled with a cessation of monumental inscriptions and large-scale architectural construction. Although there is no universally accepted theory to explain this collapse, current theories fall into two categories: non-ecological and ecological.

Non-ecological theories of the Maya decline are divided into several subcategories, such as overpopulation, foreign invasion, peasant revolt, and the collapse of key trade routes. Ecological hypotheses include environmental disaster, epidemic disease, and climate change. There is evidence that the Maya population exceeded the carrying capacity of the environment including exhaustion of agricultural potential and over-hunting of megafauna. Some scholars have recently theorised that an intense 200-year drought led to the collapse of Maya civilisation. The drought theory originated from research performed by physical scientists studying lake beds, ancient pollen and other data, not from the archaeological community.

The cities the Maya built were ceremonial centres. A priestly class lived in the cities, but for the most part the Maya population lived in small farming villages. The priestly class would carry out daily religious duties, that sometimes included sacrifices, and the commoners would periodically gather for religious ceremonies and festivals.

Around the time of the collapse, there is evidence of invasion from the outside and it’s possible that economic difficulties led them to abandon the cities, but the greatest change seems to be the disappearance of the priestly class; with this disappearance, the Maya stopped working on their cities. The power of the king’s blood no longer was able to overcome the difficulties they encountered and the people quit believing in and supporting the idea of divine kingship. Some people seem to have continued to use their cities for a time, but that eventually came to a halt as well.

Life for the Maya did not really change drastically after the decline of their cities, for the cities were central only in their ceremonial life. Their “Classic” experience came to a halt, but the Maya did not disappear, they returned to their villages and plots of corn, or perhaps relocated far away, but they still survived. Today, there are over 8 million Maya living in Mesoamerica and more than 23 Maya dialects are still spoken.

Understanding 2012

I have long recognised the significance of the up-and-coming December 21, 2012 Maya Long Count Calendar end date and the increasing public interest surrounding the possible effects of the impending alignment involving the earth, the sun and the area looking towards the Galactic Centre of our galaxy.

I enjoy a great friendship with independent Maya researcher John Major Jenkins, who has penned various articles in New Dawn magazine over the past few years. I consider him the Godfather of 2012. John is one of the original investigators who figured out the alignment that the ancient Maya were anticipating, but it was he who put 2012 on the map with the release of Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 in 1994. Since then, a scholarly debate has slowly gained momentum, but it is only recently that a small number of established Maya scholars have begun to voice their opinions. It demands that we all investigate the realities behind the 2012 alignment concept a little more closely.

The Long Count end date that we are concerned with culminates one of the Maya’s 5,200 tun (5,125 year) 13-Baktun Great Cycle calendar “ages” and is the “seating” of the next Great Cycle. As much as it is significant as the ending of one Great Cycle, at the same time, it is the creation of a new sun, a new world age. It is not the end of the world.

Scholars disagree over some of the specific aspects of this alignment as it relates to the ancient Maya stargazers and calendar formulators. Were the ancient Maya really aware of the exact location of the centre of our galaxy? Were the ancient Maya astronomer priests aware of the +/-26,000 year cycle of the precession of the equinoxes? Why did the Maya choose this time, the time that we live in, as the “end” of their Long Count calendar, when their Classic culture played out more than a thousand years ago (around 950 CE)? And why did they “initiate” this calendar cycle in 3114 BCE, more than five thousand years ago, two thousand years or so before their culture ever really began to flourish?

Scholars are now beginning to agree that it is apparent that the ancient Izapan skywatchers and the early Maya did consciously choose the 21/12/2012 date, significant because it is a winter solstice, first as the end date of this Great Cycle and then back-calculated to determine the start date. And very significantly, they started the calendar on a day when the sun was at zenith at Izapa. And even if they weren’t aware of the cycle of the precession of the equinoxes nor even aware of where the “centre” of our galaxy is located, amazingly they did “anchor” this cycle’s end date to a day when viewed from earth, our sun will rise on a winter solstice directly in front of the area of the bright band (bulge) of the Milky Way galaxy where the Galactic Centre is located.

What cycle are we in, which cycle number is ending?

All Mesoamerican cultures and some North American indigenous cultures believe that the evolutional history of mankind here on earth is tied into cycles of creation and transformation. Is it the end of the fourth Great Cycle and the beginning of the fifth or is it the end of the fifth Great Cycle and the beginning of the sixth? And if the latter, would it be referred to as the beginning of the sixth Long Count, or the beginning of a new first cycle in the Grand Cycle of five ages divisible within the +/-26,000 year cycle of the precession?

In my research, I have uncovered the fact that there is a difference among the beliefs of various surviving indigenous cultures, but only recently are researchers uncovering and collecting these beliefs from numerous and varied sources to get a glimpse of the whole situation.

Through a reading of the Popul Vuh, the surviving Quiché Maya Creation Myth, we find that they record four previous ages of creation and destruction (transformation) and we, like the ancient Maya, are living in the fifth cycle. The five separate creation attempts were the mountains and rivers, the animals and birds, the mud persons, the wooden persons, and now humankind (made of maize [corn]). They record that mankind first faced starvation and were eaten by jaguars and other animals. Then we faced cycle endings with transformations by wind, by a rain of fire, and more recently as most ancient cultural traditions around the world record, by floods. The end of this fifth cycle is in the calendar sign of Olin in the Nahuatl language, Caban in Yucatek Maya, and Noj in Quiché Maya, and it involves movement, vibration and earthquake. Plus, not so quite incidentally, my birthday in the sacred Tzolk’in calendar is 7 Caban – another major connection for me.

The Tz’utujil Maya creation myth confirms that we are in the fifth of a series of five eras, and also suggests an evolution through the eras, culminating in the “fruiting.” In addition, it also suggests the need for a conscious evolution during this fifth era lifetime to become the ripe fruits we are designed to be, and that there is a Creation beyond the fifth if only we continue to honour the gods. Aztec, Zuni and Navajo peoples also say we are living in the fifth era, and approaching the sixth.

Do modern Maya use the Long Count calendar?

The Maya discontinued their use of the Long Count calendar long before the Spanish arrived. The Maya living today do not use it. They now only utilise the 260-day sacred Tzolk’in calendar. The use of the Long Count calendar was glyphically carved in stone on ancient Maya stelae to indicate precise days when important rituals or activities occurred, especially period endings. This practice died out around 980 CE. There are no modern Maya predictions or prophecies for this Great Cycle ending, as much as a few confused book writers would have you believe.

And be aware, if any living Maya comes out with some prophesies nowadays, it seems they are just repeating some of the same “new-agey”-type comments that they think we want to hear. They are apparently not voyaging into the cosmic centre to retrieve wisdom and learning from the gods as their ancient royal Maya counterparts were capable of. As carved in stone with images and hieroglyphic writings, ancient Maya kings were required to undertake powerful shamanic rituals culminating in journeys to “the centre of the sky” to commune, invoke and channel the power resident in the cosmic centre. It was the basis behind the ancient Maya belief system that celebrated the power of the king’s blood, evolving into kingship by “divine rule.” It served the Maya well, for more than two thousand years, as the cohesive force that governed their cultural evolution.

The ancient Maya were not coerced into working on building their king’s massive construction projects… they willingly participated. The architecture built into all central ceremonial areas of Maya sites reflects their desire to create sacred space for the king. Their great central temples represented “symbolic sacred mountains” and were built directly on perceived earthly energy centres. The upper rooms were “symbolic sacred caves,” portals for accessing the Maya Underworld, which at night was the Upperworld above them. The king’s throne represented the inner nucleus of power, the hot seat and hotline of communion with the cosmic centre and source. In so many ways, the Maya manifested the saying: As above, so below. From what I can gather from some of the Maya spiritual elders whom I am aware of, the modern Maya are not voyaging into the cosmic centre this time around.

How might 2012 affect us?

There is an “alignment zone” for our sun’s alignment over the Galactic Centre that is 20 or so years (1 Katun) on either side of 2012, due to the perceived “width” of our sun passing over the area of the creation place. The scheduled “movement” transition isn’t going to happen all at once exactly on December 21, 2012. That particular day is only a “marker” for another age of transition, and taken by itself, it certainly isn’t the cause of anything.

Take a good look around… you can’t deny that we are experiencing worldwide transformation and change in many respects and this action will continue to accelerate. Not only is there an increase of powerful earthquakes and changes in climate around the world, but mankind is also being shaken down to the core of our most treasured beliefs. It isn’t just the physical world, but also our mental, emotional and spiritual worlds that will get a big “shaking up.” Current worldwide religious and political system divisiveness needs to transform into a global plan of mutual cohesiveness and sustenance.

Plus, scientists now know that 2012 will be the peak of a great solar cycle and we can expect to experience some major repercussions from increased solar activity. In its most drastic form, solar radiation in the short term could knock out the sensitive communication satellites that monitor and control our ever-increasing technology-dependent existence and also seriously affect our genetics in the long term.

I think you will agree that we are currently living in an age of a quickening transformation. Almost all cultures around the world record and warn in myths or legends and written texts of impending change during these times. With their multiple calendars, the Maya have only provided us with a point of reference in “time,” a guiding “lighthouse” to show us that we’re getting close. We are the ones living now who will experience this transition. It is a wonderful time to have reincarnated! We’re ready to witness the birth of the Maya’s sixth sun on Friday, December 21, 2012. And if one can gleam anything prophetic from the Popul Vuh, one finds that mankind is intrinsically intertwined with the cosmic and astronomical cycles that surround this planet we call home. We need to keep consciously evolving to have all of planet Earth support all of humankind equally. Either by cause and effect or by conscious transmutation, mankind will eventually transform into something completely different in order to survive. And through it all, remember to honour the gods!

The alignment in 2012 is very important astronomically. It involves our sun aligning with the arc of the Milky Way at a crossroads (a Maya creation place) where it hasn’t been for +/-26,000 years. It is a marker of a period of transition and change that is worthy of recognition, understanding and celebration. It is not the end of the world… it is a planetary-wide opportunity to help re-create it. There will be an international push towards aligning human intent towards manifesting a better world for ourselves with a focus towards raising our collective consciousness.

We are all co-creators with the gods. Honour the divine within you; create your own cosmic connection. But be forewarned, no matter if you celebrate the Maya Long Count calendar end date at a Maya site or not, wherever you are on 21/12/2012, take along some strong UV sunglasses and use some strong sun-block. Future generations are depending on you! Have a great 2012!

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Above photo montage of Maya Elder Don Rigoberto, one of Jim Reed’s connections. The printed version of this article includes extensive colour photos, montages and graphics that help explain concepts. Photo © and courtesy the author. Find out about tours to Maya sites by contacting Jim Reed at mayaman@bellsouth.net.

John Major Jenkins’ latest book is The 2012 Story. In a very matter-of-fact manner, John confronts his critics and lays it all on the line. Order your copy at www.the2012story.com.

No where can you get a DVD that tells the 2012 story with all colour images, including NASA photography. Understanding 2012 has its focus on Maya creation centres, the Popol Vuh, the amazing accomplishments of the ancient Izapan skywatchers, and the modern Maya Spiritual Elders. The meaning behind 2012 is told in a manner that you can grasp, then share it with your friends. Order your copy today by contacting Jim Reed at mayaman@bellsouth.net.

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JIM REED is a Maya aficionado who has been involved with Maya studies for 40 years. He is currently editor of the IMS Explorer, an informative monthly newsletter by the Institute of Maya Studies (based in Miami, Florida). He was past President of the Institute in the year 2000. The IMS offers traditional postal mail subscriptions (printed in black and white) and a colourful online version. The IMS thanks our subscribers in Australia and New Zealand and we welcome more! Jim also leads group adventures to the Mayalands. Perhaps you will need to ground yourself soon in the land where time was born. Imagine the possibilities! Contact Jim Reed for more information at mayaman@bellsouth.net. You can also contact him by searching for him using his email address on FaceBook and MySpace.

The above article appeared in New Dawn No. 118 (Jan-Feb 2010).

Read this article with its extensive full colour illustrations by downloading
your copy of New Dawn 118 (PDF version) for only US$2.95

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Over the last two thousand years, there have been literally dozens of proposed dates upon which the world was expected to end. Around 30 CE, Jesus is reported to have said “Judgement Day” would come within the lifetimes of his audience. This is the failed prophecy on which all the others were based.However, for hundreds of years before this, the Hebrew people had a tradition of prophecy. Prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel had predicted that one day the dead would come out of their graves. This concept is preserved in Christianity and Islam, who also expect a Day of Judgement, also known as Yawm al-Ba’th, the day of Rising From the Grave.

There is a lot of talk about 2012 being the latest predicted doom date. This one really stands out because all the others for the last 2,000 years have been based on the Bible, whereas this one comes primarily from the calendars and prophecies of the ancient Maya civilisation. If we can disconnect ourselves from our Judaeo-Christian mind-set, then we shall be better able to look at the subject without projecting those patterns onto it.

What is the Mayan Calendar?

The Maya lived in an area we now call Mesoamerica – south-east Mexico, and the Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, north-west Honduras and north-west El Salvador. In the Classic era of the Maya (250-900 CE), their artistic and cultural achievements reached their height, and this is when they perfected their complex calendar systems.

They had a 260-day sacred calendar, the tzolkin, or cholk’ij based around the period of human gestation; a 365-day calendar called the haab; a Calendar Round – a 52-year period after which these two calendars combine – 73 tzolkins or 52 haabs; and a Long Count calendar system for recording longer periods of time. There were also other calendars that we don’t need to discuss here, except for the “Short Count” or 13-katun cycle, which we shall return to. The Long Count is based around the 360-day year, or tun. There are 20 days in a uinal; 18 uinals in a tun; 20 tuns in a katun; 20 katuns in a baktun (just under 400 years) and 13 baktuns in the era.

Over the last hundred years or so, adventurers, archaeologists and anthropologists have attempted to decode the inscribed glyphs that cover the monuments and temples that are slowly being released from the tangled undergrowth. The first glyphs to be decoded concerned the calendar systems, but even so, the understanding of the calendars is still developing. The Long Count calendar incorporates a cycle called the 13-baktun cycle that is 1,872,000 days long – or about 5,125 years. It defines the current era or Creation in which we live.

Around 1900, a newspaper editor and explorer named John Goodman started publishing his translations of the calendar glyphs, and suggested a correlation between the Maya dates and our own calendar. In ensuing years there have been many other correlations suggested, that put the start-date of the current Creation or era between the extremes of 3392 BCE to 2594 BCE.

Although Goodman and all scholars who followed him knew how many days were in the era and argued over which date in our calendar the start-date corresponds to, it was over half a century before anyone bothered seeing when the end-date might be.

In 1950, J. Eric S. Thompson did a huge study, reconsidering evidence from astronomy, inscribed dates on buildings and stelae, dates recorded in the four remaining bark books, or codices plus post-conquest books; dates in the Julian and Maya calendars recorded by the Spanish invaders, and the unbroken tzolkin count still being used in the highlands of Guatemala. The resulting correlation (the GMT-2 or 584283) is now the one that most Mayanists use, and is only three days away from the one first proposed by Goodman fifty years earlier. Some Mayanists use a correlation that differs from this one by two days (the Lounsbury), and one or two still argue for other correlations, but none fulfil so many criteria as the GMT-2.

The start-date that Goodman suggested was equivalent to 8th August 3114 BCE in the Gregorian calendar. Almost everyone referred to the year as “3113 BCE” until the 1980’s, when it was realised that it was leading to miscalculations because the Gregorian calendar has no “year zero” – Jesus’ birth was said to be in 1 CE and the previous year was 1 BCE. Nowadays, a year is added to BCE dates to avoid the problem.

In 1966, Mayanist Michael Coe published his book, The Maya, in which he announced that the current era would end on the 24th December 2011. Unfortunately, this incorporated the one-year error, and it wasn’t until 1975 that 2012 appeared in print as the end-point.

The 2012 end date and the Nine God Complex

There is only one known inscription that mentions the end date. It is monument 6 from Tortuguero, and is damaged and broken. The epigrapher, David Stuart has translated it. Three calendars cross-reference one date:

“The thirteenth baktun will be finished on Four Ahau, the Third of Kankin, it (?) will happen. (It will be) the descent of the Nine Support Gods to the (?)”

In the GMT-2 correlation, this equates to 21st December 2012. The Nine gods will return on the zero-day, which is the winter solstice.

This nine-god complex – the Bolon Yookte’ Ku’h – are seen as nine individuals or as one god, and the arrival of the Nine gods is echoed in the post-conquest Jaguar Priest prophecies: the Chilam Balam of Tizimin. These prophecies consist mainly of katun prophecies – and the katun is a period of just under 20 years.

When the “Mayan collapse” occurred, and the Classic era finished, the Maya lost their knowledge of the Long Count and just used a 13-katun cycle instead. This calendar only covered an era of 260 tuns, or about 256 solar years, so until recently, the katun prophecies were thought to be about events that occurred centuries ago. But Maud Makemson, translator of the Tizimin, found linguistic and calendrical clues that the prophecies that originally applied to the end of the 13-baktun cycle were retained and re-applied to the 13-katun cycle.

“…in the final days of misfortune, in the final days of tying up the bundle of the thirteen katuns on 4 Ahau, then the end of the world shall come and the katun of our fathers will ascend on high.… These valleys of the earth shall come to an end. For those katuns there shall be no priests, and no one who believes in his government without having doubts…. I recount to you the words of the true gods, when they shall come.”1

This is the key section of the Tizimin that reveals this as a prophecy for the end of the 13-baktun cycle – in other words, 2012. Katuns were named after their final day, and the 13-katun cycle ended on katun 13 Ahau. If this was about the end of the 13-katun cycle it would say “the tying up of the bundle of the thirteen katuns on 13 Ahau…” However, it is saying the time-bundle will be complete on 4 Ahau, which is the last tzolkin day in the current katun, which is the end of the 13-baktun cycle. Where it says “thirteen katuns” above, it originally said “thirteen baktuns,” says Makemson. The current katun is called katun 4 Ahau, because the 21st December 2012 is a 4 Ahau day in the tzolkin. So here we have a prediction of the return of the gods in 2012. In the preceding section, we find the following:

“The Nine shall arise in sorrow, alas… And when over the dark sea I shall be lifted up in a chalice of fire, to that generation there will come the day of withered fruit. There will be rain. The face of the sun shall be extinguished because of the great tempest. Then finally the ornaments shall descend in heaps. There will be good gifts for one and all, as well as lands, from the Great Spirit, wherever they shall settle down. Presently Baktun 13 shall come sailing, figuratively speaking, bringing the ornaments of which I have spoken from your ancestors. Then the god will come to visit his little ones. Perhaps ‘After Death’ will be the subject of his discourse.”2

Here, Makemson has translated a phrase as, “Presently Baktun 13 shall come sailing…”, again referring to 2012. The 13th Baktun will be completed on 21st December 2012, when the Long Count date reaches 13.0.0.0.0 – Mayanists differ as to whether they think the next day will be 0.0.0.0.1 or 13.0.0.0.1. Some think the entire baktun would be numbered 13 and be followed 400 tuns later by the start of the “first baktun” on date 1.0.0.0.0. Anyway, we have here a prophecy of the return of the Nine gods, weather effects, disillusionment with governments, something that sounds like a UFO, and a mass near-death experience of some sort.

Past Eras / Creations / Worlds

If we look at Maya mythology, we find stories of past eras. The most famous of these is the Popul Vuh myth, which is the creation myth of the Quiche Maya, but is also represented in Classic Maya art and architecture. It is a long and complex story involving the descent into the underworld of Hun Hunahpu and Vucub Hunahpu (One one-Ahau and Seven one-Ahau or One Hunter and Seven Hunter) to play a ball game with the Lords of Death, Hun Came and Vucub Came – One Death and Seven Death. They are defeated and killed and One Hunter’s sons – the Hero Twins (called One Ahau or just Hunter, and Jaguar Deer) descend to the underworld to exact their revenge. They beat the Lords of death and become immortal.

Encoded into the Popul Vuh myth are past eras, and various commentators disagree as to how many there are. Professor Gordon Brotherston has found that there are 5 eras encoded.

In the first Creation, the people are made of mud, but they were unable to move freely, walk, talk or breed. The gods ended the Creation with a flood.

In the second Creation, the “doll people” were carved from wood, and were stiff and jerky, with no respect. The Creation ended in darkness, with monsters descending from the sky and slashing them with flint knives, and they are attacked by dogs and turkeys. The survivors became monkeys.

The third Creation takes place during the second Creation, strangely, and in it, Seven Parrot (or Seven Macaw) and his wife and two sons are selfish and destructive – the parrot has teeth and feathers, like an archaeopteryx and the sons are reptiles, one of whom – Two Leg – sounds like a tyrannosaurus. They are defeated by the Hero Twins.

In the fourth Creation, the Hero Twins descend to Xibalba – the underworld, to avenge their father and kill the black and white Death Lords, and limit the boundaries of Xibalba, before ascending into the sky to become the Sun and Moon. In the fifth Creation, Quetzal Snake and companions grind and mold the maize and form the next race of people – the maize people – who are the ancestors of the Quiche.

The theme here, of an evolutionary progression over four past eras, is repeated in other Mesoamerican myths. The Aztec Cauahtitlan Annals describe an initial Sun or era, which was ended by a flood and people changed into fish. The second Sun ended with an eclipse, when the people were torn to pieces. These sound just like the first two eras in the Popul Vuh. The third Sun ended in a rain of fire or volcanic ash. The fourth Sun ended with a hurricane, and the people turned into monkeys, and the fifth Sun will end in an earthquake.

In the Hopi first World, according to Frank Waters’ study, the people communicated telepathically – it was a golden age in which humankind got in touch with the creator through a psychic centre at the top of the head, but they became more self-obsessed and the head centre closed up. Some of those who had avoided the corruption descended into the mound of the Ant people and escaped the destruction, which came in the form of a rain of fire. All went well for a while when they emerged, but eventually, greed spun out of control and led to warfare.

Again, those who still lived the unselfish, pure life that was the plan of the creator, escaped into the Ant People’s world, while the second World was destroyed by spinning off its axis into space, where it froze over.

In the third World, population multiplied. Sexual morality declined, and cities attacked each other with aircraft (flying shields). This time the pure survivors were sealed inside “reeds,” while the world ended via rain and tidal waves.

We are now in the fourth World, or “World Complete” and if we return to evil ways, Masaw, the ex-underworld guardian will take the Earth from us again. This scheme seems to be devolving rather than evolving, but the Hopi say there are a total of seven Worlds, and that each is governed by a psychic centre – the same as the top 5 chakras of the Hindu system. Our consciousness descended from the crown chakra in the first era down as far as the solar plexus in the current era – each era becoming more materialistic than the last – but at the next World era transition, it will start to reverse direction. Each transition is called an Emergence, and symbolised by a labyrinth symbol – identical to the Cretan labyrinth symbol. It is also known as the Mother Earth symbol, or Mother and Child, and the process is seen as a kind of birth process.

The Zuni, who are close neighbours of the Hopi, say we are in the fifth World, and another Pueblo people, the Navajo, also say we are in the fifth.

In Peru, the descendants of the Inca say we are in the fifth Sun:

“The first was lost through water, the second by the sky falling on the earth, which killed the giants that there were, and the bones which the Spaniards have found hidden in various places are theirs… The third sun they say ended through fire, the fourth, through wind; of this fifth sun they had a great account…”3

However, some of them have replaced this original version with a 16th century Catholic myth of three ages – the Age of the Father, the Age of the Son and the Age of the Holy Ghost.

So we have established that there seems to be an evolutionary transition incorporated into these era transitions, and these transitions are accompanied by extreme weather.

Galactic Alignment and Precession

John Major Jenkins has researched into the question of why the Maya would target this winter solstice as the end-point of their 13-baktun cycle, and has found evidence that the Maya were tracking precession. This is the cycle that we call the precession of the equinoxes, where we say we are currently moving from the age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. The earth’s axis is about 23 degrees off vertical, and over a period of about 25,800 years, it rotates in a complete circle. This causes the position of the celestial pole to move over time, so that we have to allocate a new pole star every thousand years or so. It also means that the constellations are moving slowly in the opposite direction to that in which the Sun, Moon and planets move. On spring equinox, if we measure the slow movement of the constellation that is behind the Sun (even though we can’t see it), we find that Pisces is slipping back at a rate of one degree every 72 years. Well, it seems the Maya were measuring this same cycle, but measuring from the winter solstice position instead of the spring equinox. The 13-baktun cycle consists of 5,200 tuns or 360-days years. Five eras of this length amounts to 26,000 tuns – an entire precession cycle.

Between 1980 and 2016, the winter solstice sun is crossing the galactic equator. This is encoded in Maya myths (including the Popul Vuh), and in their ball game, in the art and inscriptions and in the alignments of their buildings. Caves represent the location of the Maya underworld, in the daytime, but at night, Xibalba be, the black road to the underworld, is right there on the galactic equator – the dark patch that astronomers call the Dark Rift. The rebirth of One Hunahpu – the dead father of the Hero Twins – is depicted (on stone carvings from Izapa) being reborn in the mouth of the jaguar toad. The god is the solar deity, and the jaguar toad’s open mouth represents the Dark Rift. This is what Jenkins calls “galactic alignment.” In this way, the Maya saw the coming era transition as a kind of rebirth – the birth of a new Sun, as did the Inca.

Admittedly, 2012 is not the centre of this process – that was around 1998, but it seems the Maya deliberately targeted the winter solstice of 2012 as the significant focus point in the 36-year window of galactic alignment. At this time, the earth’s axis has come into alignment so that on winter solstice it is pointing in the direction of the galactic bulge – the fat central part of the Milky Way, where the Dark Rift is – the visual centre of the galaxy (the actual centre is just off the ecliptic and the Sun will not be in conjunction with that for about another 200 years, but any galactic field effects will manifest along the galactic equator). So it could be that the earth’s magnetic field is interacting with the galactic field, but why in 2012 and not 1998?

The answer to this could be that some other factor will trigger the effect. One possibility is the record-breaking solar-magnetic effects that have been predicted by NASA to occur in 2012, at solar maximum. Every 11 years or so, the Sun’s magnetic field reverses, and at solar maximum, solar activity is at its highest. Over the last few years, the Sun has been getting more active, with larger flares, faster solar wind, and more consequent effects on earth’s magnetic field, moving the Northern Lights to lower latitudes, and causing power blackouts. The recent lack of sunspots has now been explained – they were occurring at a deeper level, and the projected solar maximum for 2012 still persists.

This is one possible factor that might cause an overloading effect at the time of Earth and galactic field interaction – a solar switch. There are some scientific findings that support the possibility that our orientation to the centre of the galaxy can have profound effects on us.

One of these is to be found in the results of Professor Simon Shnoll, after decades of research into biochemical reaction rates and radioactive decay rates. He found that instead of a smooth bell-curve, the results did not average out, but produced certain spikes. These correlated to the sidereal day, sidereal year, and to a short sunspot cycle. In other words, our orientation to the stars (and all the visible stars are in this galaxy) effects our biochemistry.

The second factor is from the work of James Spotiswoode, who found that in experiments with extra-sensory perception, there is a huge jump in people’s abilities when Galactic Centre appears on the horizon. So, perhaps some kind of field interaction could cause a huge jump in human paranormal abilities and changes to our biochemistry and neurochemistry.

This possibility fits in with the predictions that have come from contemporary people all over the world, who have returned after altered states of consciousness, such as near-death experiences, alien abduction, out-of-body states, lucid dreams, remote viewing, experiences with sacred plants, and even deep trance meditation. They are all predicting a huge jump in human consciousness, accompanied by earth changes in 2012.

2012 and “the Return of an Energy System”

In 1975, Dannion Brinkley was speaking on the telephone when a thunderbolt hit the phone line and he was thrown physically into the air. He found himself floating above his body, until, in the ambulance, his heart stopped for 28 minutes and he was propelled down a tunnel, emerging into a bright light. In the presence of a bright silver being, he had a life-recall experience in which he re-lived all the times in his life when he had affected others, and he felt the pain and joy he had given them – a classic self-judgement process. Following this, he was taken to a crystal city, where he was shown over 100 scenes from the future – major world events that have nearly all come to pass in the intervening years. These included the Gulf War, the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear facility, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, technology breakthroughs and climate change. His visions concluded with seeing an escalation of Earth changes that coincide with “the return of an energy system that existed here a long time ago,” and that this will be particularly focused on 2011-2012. Then, between 2012 and 2014 there will be a geomagnetic reversal, and the whole scenario will present a spiritual consciousness-raising opportunity for humankind.

In 1998, a totally independent theory from a Siberian geologist named Alexey Dmitriev was published, and it seems to uncannily echo Brinkley’s predictions. Dmitriev notes in his paper, The Planetophysical State of the Earth and Life, that there are magnetic and atmospheric changes throughout the whole solar system, not just on earth, and that these (as well as the increased solar activity), seem to be connected to a huge build-up of interstellar plasma that has collected on the edge of the heliosphere (the edge of the solar system, where the solar wind meets interstellar space). The outer planets seem more affected, with Uranus and Neptune having had approximate 50-degree alterations in their magnetic fields. Dmitriev says the solar system is becoming embedded in a cloud of plasma, which is triggering these changes (plasma is the fourth state of matter, after solids, liquids and gases – a charged electron cloud), and that they will culminate in “the spontaneous mass evolution of humanity as we now know it.” He also says that it will trigger a geomagnetic reversal, as the increased influx of magnetised plasma interacts with our geomagnetic field.

This coincidence between the 1975 NDE visions of Brinkley and the scientific theory from Siberia two decades later suggests that we may be looking at a potential explanation for the convergence of ancient prophecies in a window area around 2012.

John Major Jenkins has also published a book called The Pyramid of Fire, in which he tracks down a lost Aztec codex that proves what has been speculated by various researchers over the years – that the religion of the Toltecs, based around Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god, known to the Maya as Kukulcan – was originally about the concept of an evolutionary energy that lies dormant at the base of the human spine. The concept is almost identical to the Hindu concept of Kundalini – the fire serpent that can be released from its slumber and raised up the spine, energising the power zones or chakras, until it reaches the crown chakra.

Here we have a connection to the prophecies of the Chilam Balams that mention a return of the gods in the katun 4 Ahau that ends the 13-baktun cycle, specifically, the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, that says in katun 4 Ahau, Kukulcan will return. The 20-year period we are now in, until December 2012, is katun 4 Ahau (the “katun of dishonour”). This suggestion of a mass movement of kundalini is echoed in the Hopi prophecy mentioned earlier, which predicts that in the Emergence to the Fifth World, consciousness starts to move up from the solar plexus to the heart. In Kundalini lore, it is said that when Kundalini reaches the Anahata or heart chakra, the soul awakens.

In this short look at ancient calendars and prophecies, we have seen that the Maya saw 2012 as a new Creation, when the gods will return; many sources foresee increased climate changes; there is a suggestion of a rebirth experience; a mass spontaneous evolution; a raising of consciousness; a near-death experience; a widespread Kundalini experience; a jump in paranormal abilities. This emergence of the next sub-species of human is the Earth’s final hope; that its cancerous organ – humanity – will finally be metamorphosed in the nick of time, from an all-devouring caterpillar into its higher function as a cooperative, telepathic, compassionate earth-lover – perhaps even (as Peter Russell suggests) the global neo-cortex.

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Footnotes:

1. The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, 16.

2. The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, 15-16

3. Murua, quoted in Brotherston’s Book of the Fourth World, 249

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GEOFF STRAY is the author of Beyond 2012: Catastrophe or Awakening – A Complete Guide to End-of-Time Predictions; The Mayan and Other Ancient Calendars, and 2012 In Your Pocket – A Mini-Guide to the End of the World as You Know it. His website is the web’s most massive database on the subject at www.diagnosis2012.co.uk and he gives presentations in Europe and USA and has appeared in documentaries such as 2012: The Odyssey; Transformation 2013 and 2012: An Awakening.

The above article appeared in New Dawn No. 117 (Nov-Dec 2009).

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Many experts, scientists, artists and philosophers have reached the conclusion that the human experience is reaching some kind of ultimate climax. Each person who studies this phenomenon calls this coming event by a different name, or uses different terms to describe it, but essentially they are all speaking of the same event. José Argüelles says that it is the Climax of Matter, Jean Houston calls it Jump Time, and Ray Kurzweil calls it the approaching singularity.

What is interesting about this is that numerous prophesies from ancient traditions around the world have also pointed to this time period as a time of great upheaval and change, perhaps the most important in human history. The Mayans of Mexico marked this time with their famous calendar. The alchemists of Europe built the Cross of Hendaye to describe it. The Qero Indians of Peru call it the Pacha Kuti and the ancient Egyptians referred to it as the Zep Tepi or The First Time. In the Indo-Tibetan tradition it is equated with the final throes of the Kali Yuga, the Age of Iron. Each of these traditions tells us that a great transformative moment is at hand, a moment in which we have the opportunity to release old patterns and re-link ourselves with the essential rhythms and harmonies of the universe.

As we can see from these prophecies, this shift is not just limited to historical tangibles like globalisation, the internet, global warming and the destruction of the environment but is deeply embedded in almost all of the great spiritual traditions of humanity. This approaching singularity is truly the most profound event in history. Everything that we know, everything that we are, is about to undergo a substantial and radical alternation.

Right now there is a great slumber across the land, Alberto Villoldo refers to it as a cultural trance, José Argüelles, a Dreamspell, Riane Eisler, the dominator trance or the last gasp of the patriarchy. It is as if a “glamour” has been cast over our collective eyes, a veil of delusion. Lost in the media haze of “spin,” bogus reporting, and talking points, which reduce deep issues that effect our future to mere sound bites, it has become more and more difficult to discern the false from the true. The prevailing forces of the modern world have brought us to a state where we are out of balance, out of tune. The question is how did this come about?

José Argüelles eloquently speaks of this misalignment resulting from the shift from the Lunar calendar to the Gregorian calendar. The previous calendar, based on Lunar cycles as opposed to our current calendar which is based on Solar cycles, was attuned to a different vibration, one of harmony with the rhythms and cycles of nature. The transition from Lunar time to Solar time was also a transition from cyclic time to linear time. As the Lunar time period waned our right-brain feminine-based qualities of creativity, art and beauty were repressed and the left-brain tendencies of order, efficiency and logic became the dominant force. With industrialisation, the Solar-based calendars took a firm grip on us as we became bound by time, locked into mechanical rhythms, habitual patterns of thought and motion. We have become a society of slaves to the clock and to the machines that appeared to offer us freedom, but at what cost? This leads us to today where we stand isolated from nature and each other. In this we have become a society of consumers. In our greed, we have not only gobbled up the resources of the past, but we are devouring the future as well.

Think about it. The twentieth century with all of its invention, wars and change was brought to us by the power of one single substance – that of Oil. Over the course of the last one hundred years, during this Age of Oil, we have used up millions of years of compacted light created by the bones and residue of the plants and animals that once occupied this planet. On a metaphysical level that means our very environment is suffused with the ‘ka’ or psychic residue of these living beings from the past. Is the Age of Oil an outer manifestation of the karmic traces, or seeds of destruction left over from the beings of a former age? It certainly appears so.

Now that the Age of Oil is coming to an end we will all face enormous difficulties. But instead of planning for these eventualities, our corporations, leaders and politicians are ignoring their responsibilities and are using up the world at an even faster rate than before.

The world, our environment and our future appear to have become a gigantic close out sale – where everything must go.

Just take a look around. It seems that everything is up for grabs now. Anything can happen. The historical process is coming to an end and so the real question that lies before us is this: will the human race survive this process? Will we continue to fall for the seduction of materialism, war and domination or open our eyes and live consciously? Will we finally achieve our potential and manifest our destiny or will we whither away like the dinosaurs and other species that have come before us? Faced with these essential questions, what can we do?

I believe that the answer is to free our minds. Wake up from the trance. And how can we do this? By shifting our focus inward, realign ourselves with the highest of spiritual values. As we look inward, truly align with spirit, perceive and strip away the conditioned actions and karmic traces that have led to the fear-based nightmare of the current “manufactured reality,” the veil that obscures our true vision will dissolve.

It is time to become the heroes and heroines of our dreams, to move beyond fear and transmute its fundamental energy into right action. With every thought we are affecting the shape of the future, with every action we are creating angels or demons.

It is said that as we move to the end point of the cycle, whether it be the end of the world or the end of a life, time speeds up until there is no time, only the moment. In this extraordinary moment of reintegration, the psychic knots that bind us unwind, and the karmic veils are lifted. In that moment we can see with true clarity the pure essence of our being. We come face to face with our eternal nature. Time dissolves into space and all things appear in the perfect simultaneity of the state of pure immediate Present. This is the moment of true awakening. It is the still point between the thoughts, the pause between the in breath and the out breath.

It is what we have been waiting for a long time.

It is time to dream a new dream for humanity, move beyond the confines of linear time. What is going on right now on planet Earth is that a new level of consciousness is emerging. The Qero of Peru say that there has been a tear in the fabric of time itself, a window into the future through which a new species will emerge. The Brahma Kumaris, a spiritual group from North India, tell us that we have already moved from the darkness of the Iron Age to a new age of consciousness called the Diamond Age. With this shift of consciousness, we are all becoming painfully aware of how much work there is left to do.

The great spiritual teachers tell us that the chaos of the modern age is merely part of the natural order, that out of this chaos, a new age of harmony and grace will emerge. Many of us are moving beyond this phase in the cycle, realigning ourselves with spirit and feeling the great call to the light. We are planting the seeds for the world to come.

If we are willing to break free of the cultural trance, let go of the materialist, ego-based mindset and live a more simple and harmonious life in balance with the Earth we will probably survive. If we don’t begin to change now we may not make it.

I once heard Terence McKenna say, “We must act as if the apocalypse has already occurred.” At the time I didn’t understand what he meant. But I think I do now. What Terence was saying is that we must begin to live in the future – right now. We must act as if the corporate, materialist-based culture has already withered away and we are living in a future of our own creation.

In a sense it is the most hopeful situation imaginable.

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Footnotes:

1. The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, 16.

2. The Chilam Balam of Tizimin, 15-16

3. Murua, quoted in Brotherston’s Book of the Fourth World, 249

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Sharron Rose, MA.Ed, is a filmmaker, teacher, author, choreographer and Fulbright Senior Research Scholar in World Mythology, Religion and the Sacred Arts of Dance, Music and Theatre. She is the writer/director of the feature-length documentary, 2012 The Odyssey (Sacred Mysteries Productions, 2006), and producer of the Sacred Mysteries DVD Collection. Ms. Rose is the author of the award-winning book The Path of the Priestess: A Guidebook for Awakening the Divine Feminine (Inner Traditions, 2003), and creator of the instructional DVD Yoga of Light. She is also a contributing writer for the book The Mystery of 2012 (Sounds True, 2007). Her website is www.sharronrose.com.

The above article appeared in New Dawn No. 106 (Jan-Feb 2008).

Read this article with its illustrations by downloading
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—

We have experienced an increasing number of large-scale natural disasters since 1950. This includes earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes and floods. While people are waiting for an explosive 2012 event to announce Armageddon, the signs these are indeed the ‘End Times’ appear to have already occurred.

According to the ancient Maya solar priests, the end of this age – the 5th Sun – would be precipitated by an era of increasing earthquakes. Seven of the ten biggest tremors of last century happened after 1950. In fact, there has been a sharp increase in the number of large-scale earthquakes and volcanic eruptions since 1960.

The frequency in occurrence of earthquakes analysed from data accumulated since 1900 shows there were 120 strong (6-6.9) tremors, 18 major (7-7.9) and 1 great quake (8-8.9) on average annually. A chart for the number of earthquakes worldwide from the last decade is more revealing of recent tremor activity. In 1994 there were 161 strong, 13 major and 2 great earthquakes. The next year there were 185 strong, 22 major and 3 great earthquakes. In 2000 we find 153 strong, 16 major and 4 great earthquakes.

The data makes it very clear that the latter half of the century diverged greatly from the first half in terms of Earth changes. From 1900 to 1960 there were few major volcanic eruptions. Over the past 43 years dormant volcanoes around the globe have become active again. The 1990s saw swarms of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the globe. At the same time weather patterns became more erratic and severe storms more potent.

My research into the Maya 5th Sun prediction, over the past 3 decades, has turned up some very interesting connections: 1) the 2012 forecast is tied to the sunspot cycle and 2) the 2004-2012 Transit(s) of Venus.

The solar priests appear to have been aware of short and long-term solar output cycles. I am convinced the Five Suns or ages the Maya Long Count calendar kept track of were linked to the 26,000-year equinoctial precession, which is connected to the patterns of alternating ice ages and warming interglacial periods.

The Long Count calendar, which marks the passage of a ‘Sun’ cycle, about 5,150 years, began for this age in 3013 BCE. This calendar cycle simply counts the number of days in a ‘Solar’ age. When that number has elapsed the age comes to an end. The previous, 4th Sun, was said to have ended in a deluge, and this 5th Sun is predicted to culminate in earthquakes and impacts from cosmic objects in 2012.

Now, here is where things get very interesting and even disturbing. When I realised the Transit of Venus occurred in June of 2004 and then again in December of 2012 I knew I had to go back and examine past transit cycles. Venus Transits are much like lunar eclipses only the planet passes between the Earth and Sun. It is a fairly rare celestial phenomenon and they occur, in pairs separated by 8 years, in alternating cycles every 105 and 120 years. My first surprise came when I went back and discovered a Venus Transit took place in 1518-1526.

It was during this transit that Cortez invaded and conquered Mexico. The Aztec priests predicted this period would be fraught with danger and this is why Montezuma failed to meet the challenge the Conquistadors posed.

During this 8-year period many paranormal events occurred in Mexico. Strangely enough, “shields” appeared in the skies booming out dire warnings to the citizens of the Aztec Empire. Several temples were set afire by curious beams of light flashing down from the heavens. And the people also told the Spanish chronicler, Bernardino de Sahagun, that a “Pillar of Fire” had been seen hovering on the horizon for an entire year.

Perhaps even more chilling, a decade before these events took place unexplained events accompanied a lunar eclipse. Just after the lunar eclipse occurred, Mt. Popocatepetl erupted. The volcano, which can be seen from the Valley of Mexico, had been dormant for many years so the eruption made the people apprehensive. In 1991, a similar sequence of events took place. As the residents of Mexico City lined the streets to watch a full lunar eclipse, a UFO appeared over the city at 1 pm.

Mount Popocatepetl and nearby Mount Colima began erupting shortly thereafter and they have remained active ever since. UFO sightings have become common throughout Mexico over the past decade. In fact, so numerous that local bishops petitioned the Vatican asking how they should handle the increasing inquiries about UFOs from their parishioners. The Vatican told them to simply accept the reports at face value.

I examined the next Venus Transit, which took place in 1631-39. I found that sunspots stopped appearing for 70 years immediately following this cycle. The radical drop in solar output caused the ‘little ice age’ from 1640 to 1710. Then I pulled up solar data and found that solar output has been on the increase for almost 300 years. Sunspots went from zero in the late 1600s to above 200 in 1960, which appears to have been the peak.

This is when the real meaning of the 2012 prediction dawned on me. The ancient priests were alerting us to a change in solar output. I then turned to the 11-year sunspot cycle and found connections between rising solar maximums and increasing natural disasters, wars, economic cycles and so on. It became apparent that natural disasters and human activity were clearly tied to the sunspot peaks and troughs. You can look at the recent sunspot peaks in 1990-91 and double peak in 2000-02 to see the connections to earthquakes, volcanoes and wars.

We are in a solar minimum phase right now, which would normally last until the end of the decade. The next solar maximum is predicted for 2012. Now, this certainly puts a sharp edge on the end of the 5th Sun prediction. It would appear the ancient solar priests were aware of this double conjunction, the sunspot peak and the second leg of the Venus Transit both occurring in the same year.

Looking at a graph of sunspot activity over the past 300 years what jumped out was the fact 1960 was the peak. Sunspot peaks have actually been declining in each succeeding 11-year cycle since then, from over 200 down to about the 150 range. Oddly enough, the last two peaks have been mirror images of each other. There was a dramatic increase in earthquakes and volcanic eruptions from 1990-92 and again in 2000-02. In terms of the human sphere we witnessed attacks on the World Trade Centre and Bush I & II go to war against Iraq.

The wild cards in this next cycle are the Transits of Venus. We have never gone through a Venus Transit since the advent of our ‘electromagnetic’ civilisation. The last transit was in 1882 and Mt. Krakotoa erupted in that year.

My theory on the transit is that it disrupts the normal flow of energy, the solar wind and other energies the Sun transmits to the Earth. We already know solar flare-ups disrupt radio-telecommunications and even power transmission. If my take on the ancient perception of Venus is correct, we are in for some nasty surprises in the coming eight-year cycle.

Normally, the solar minimum period from now until 2010 would be a fairly calm time with few natural disasters and little social unrest. However, the transit may change that scenario. We can surely count on the years from 2010-2012 being intense and chaotic. We have been very lucky so far because none of the huge earthquakes have hit major cities. If the 9.2 quake that hammered Alaska last year had struck Los Angeles, the American economy would have gone in the tank and taken the global system with it.

We forget how interconnected we are today. My own forecast for this period includes a radical increase in paranormal events, UFO sightings and even miracles. The world is going to be transformed and that process is already underway.

The unity of all life in the cosmos and the fact the Universe is teeming with intelligent beings on many worlds will be an undeniable reality by 2012. We will know the truth of the ancient mysteries and also experience the reality of being spirits in a material world.

WILL HART is a journalist, photographer, and filmmaker who has been investigating ancient mysteries and evidence of extraterrestrial intervention on Earth since 1969. His articles have been published in Wild West, Sierra Heritage, Nature Photographer, Atlantis Rising, Nexus and New Dawn. His first book, The Genesis Race: Our Extraterrestrial DNA and the True Origins of the Species, is the outcome of three decades of research.

The above article appeared in New Dawn 83 (March-April 2004).

© New Dawn Magazine and the respective author.
For our reproduction notice, click here.