The Mayan Calendar

The Mayans created 3 calendar systems; they function as gears, linked together.

“Tzolkin” is the name of the shortest calendar; it was for rituals and religious ceremonies, and lasts 260 days, divided in 13 months of 20 days each. “Haab” is a solar based calendar; therefore it lasts 365 days, but those 365 days are divided different from our Gregorian calendar; they have 18 months of 20 days each, plus 5 extra days (this 5 days were considered the bad luck month). Every 52 years, the first day of both calendars coincides, the Mayans call this an “age”.

For the Mayans, “La Cuenta Larga” or the Long Count, began around 5,000 years ago (Gregorian years), the 13 of august of 3114 B.C. and ends in 23 of December of 2012. This calendar lasts 1872000 days.

In 23 of December of 2012, the Mayans celebrate “the end of a completed cycle”, but there is no evidence of that the Mayans thought the world was going to end in that day, but, since their other calendars are cyclical, there are more possibilities for the “Long Count” to be cyclical than to point an end.

Other important point that makes the idea of the Mayans pointing to an end of the world in 2012 less probable is that the Earth did exist before the beginning of their Long Count calendar. So if the Long Count must not point a “beginning” and an “end” for the Earth.

An interesant theory says that they marked the end of their calendar in that day because this day will be a winter solstice. The sun will overlap exactly with the point of intersection of the ecliptic of the Milky Way and Ecuador. At this point, the sun will be located in the cleft of the Milky Way. Or the Milky Way "sit" on Earth. It will be almost like opening a door to heaven to Earth. The Mayans called the last period of the Long Count calendar the period of "purification of the Earth". Probably because afterwards, the "door to heaven" was going to be open, so the ones who where pure, were going to be able to cross it.

The Mayans thought that the Earth was "reorganiced" several times since its creation, so, what their prophecy does say, is that there will be an important event that will probably change the order of humanity, but it won't be the end.

Curious information: Did you know this...?

-The Mayans were the first civilization to introduce the zero to the numeric system.
-The Mayan temple of the moon's door is decorated with images of the dark side of the moon. At the beggining the scientists were confused with the patrons and pictures, but afterwards they discovered that the images in the door were images of the dark side of the moon. How did the Mayans saw it? The moon always faces the Earth with the same side.
-There is still no reason of why their civilization disappeared.
-The Long Count calendar is more exact than the Gregorian calendar