2012 phenomenon

For the movie based on the phenomenon, see 2012 (film).

an inscription in Mayan characters
A date inscription in the Maya Long Count on the east side of Stela C from Quirigua showing the date for the last Creation. It is read as 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Kumku and is usually correlated as 11 or 13 August, 3114 BC on the Proleptic Gregorian calendar. The date of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kʼankʼin is usually correlated as 21 or 23 December 2012.
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The 2012 phenomenon was a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012.[1][2][3] This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar,[4] and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.[5][6][7]

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era.[8] Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and Sagittarius A*, a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy,[9] the Nibiru cataclysm in which Earth would collide with a mythical planet called Nibiru, or even the heating of Earth's core.

Scholars from various disciplines quickly dismissed predictions of cataclysmic events as they arose. Mayan scholars stated that no classic Mayan accounts forecast impending doom, and the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented Mayan history and culture.[10][11][12] Astronomers rejected the various proposed doomsday scenarios as pseudoscience,[13][14] having been refuted by elementary astronomical observations.[15]

  1. ^ Defesche, Sacha (17 June 2008). "The 2012 Phenomenon". Skepsis.
  2. ^ MacDonald, G. Jeffrey (2011). "Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?". USA Today.
  3. ^ Robert K. Sitler (February 2006). "The 2012 Phenomenon: New Age Appropriation of an Ancient Mayan Calendar". Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 9 (3): 24–38. doi:10.1525/nr.2006.9.3.024. ISSN 1092-6690. OCLC 357082680.
  4. ^ "2012 Maya Calendar Mystery and Math, Surviving Yucatan". Yucalandia.com. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2012.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ChiItza was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT122112 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hff was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference anasatas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASA1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Milbrath was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ David Stuart, The Order of Days: The Maya World and the Truth about 2012, Harmony Books, 2011
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference webster was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Brown, Mike (2008). "SI do not ♥ pseudo-science". Retrieved 12 December 2012.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nibiru and Doomsday 2012: Questions and Answers was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference NASA2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).