Bugarach: the French village destined to survive the Mayan apocalypse

From The Guardian:  Bugarach: the French village destined to survive the Mayan apocalypse

Bugarach … AKA 'the doomsday destination'. Photograph: Reuters

 

Up in the foothills of the Pyrenees, in a tiny village nestled amid breathtaking landscapes and eagles in flight, a man in a woolly hat pushes a wheelbarrow up a narrow street whistling to himself as the smell of woodsmoke drifts out of chimneys. The only sight slightly out of place are 20 zombies, staggering wild-eyed and bleeding, down the mountain path. But, unlike most of the bizarre things said about this place, the zombies at least make sense. "We're making a pastiche film about the apocalypse for our university leaving do," says Joel, 23, a pharmacy student from Montpellier dressed in a torn grey suit with two black eyes and a dribble of blood from his mouth. His student friend, a dwarf in a cow suit, adds: "Bugarach was the perfect setting. Everyone knows this village as the world centre of armageddon, we couldn't resist."
Bugarach, with its two narrow streets, 176 residents, little agriculture, scores of wild orchids and virtually no pollution, was barely heard of a few years ago. Now, it's arguably the most famous village in France, known variously as "the village at the end of the world", the "chosen village", or as CNN put it, "the doomsday destination".
According to a prophecy/internet rumour, which no one has ever quite got to the bottom of, an ancient Mayan calendar has predicted the end of the world will happen on the night of 21 December 2012, and only one place on earth will be saved: the sleepy village of Bugarach. The mayor, Jean-Pierre Delord, a farmer in his 60s, first spotted the apocalyptic forecast online two years ago after being alerted by a villager. He mentioned it at a council meeting, suggesting special security measures, perhaps army logistics, to handle an influx of visitors in December 2012. Someone at the meeting told the local press and before long world news agencies and Japanese TV crews were pacing the cobbles asking baffled villagers their views on armageddon.
Bugarach, in the French Pyrenees. Photograph: guardian.co.uk The French government's dedicated sect-watchdog, known as Miviludes, was soon on the case, keen to prevent any apocalyptic sect activity, or ritualised suicide by doomsday cults such as the Order of the Solar Temple, which lost members in ritual killings in the Alps in 1995. French government officials had spotted 2.5m websites referencing the Bugarach end-of-the-world phenomenon by the end of 2010. These have now mushroomed. Meanwhile, rumours of the impact on Bugarach got more outlandish, helped by media that couldn't resist the saga of a rural doomsday. Planes from America were said to have been fully booked for December with passengers who had only bought one-way tickets, hippy cults were claimed to have built bunkers beneath the village, and half-naked ramblers were said to be seen wandering up the mountain in procession, ringing bells. This turned out to be far from true. But as D-day approaches, the rumour has created a heavy atmosphere among villagers, who are keen for all of this – though not the world itself – to end.
At the tiny town hall, the leftwing, independent mayor of 36 years, Jean-Pierre Delord is dressed in jeans and wellies. "The Bugarach sign at the entrance to the village has been stolen for the third time – that costs a lot of money, you know," he sighs. Not to mention the pebbles taken from the mountain above the village and sold online as talismans, something he has filed a legal complaint about. Or the online sale of "prayers". There was even one idea by a budding entrepreneur to charge hopefuls five euros to send their last wills and testaments to Bugarach to be buried underground there for the end of the world, but it never happened
"The village has always attracted people with esoteric beliefs, they were here before and they will come afterwards, but this is something quite different," Delord says. This corner of southern France has long been a cauldron of mystic fables and occult conspiracy theories. Nearby Rennes-Le-Chateau, described in the Cadogan Guide as "the vortex of Da Vinci Code madness", is famous for its riddles of hidden treasure and a supposed cover-up of Jesus and Mary Magdalene's married life in France. All around is the countryside of the Cathars, the mysterious and persecuted medieval heretical sect, who have now inspired a local tourism drive. Nostradamus is said to have spent some of his childhood in nearby Alet-les-Bains.
But in Bugarach, says Delord, "it's all about the mountain". At 1,320m, the peak of Bugarach looms over the village. It sits alone, not part of a range, and some believe its spooky shape inspired the mountain in Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Known as the "upside down mountain", it is a geological oddity whereby the lower layers of rock are mysteriously younger than those at the top. It is also host to a bewildering number of caves. Strange sounds from underground and odd light effects at the top have for decades seen the mountain likened not only to a UFO landing pad, but a "UFO underground car park", with regular spaceship vrooming and revving allegedly heard from within. UFO believers often travel here, looking for bits of spaceship amid the mountain rock. It has been claimed that the former French president François Mitterrand came here by helicopter to investigate.
For decades, the village has been a source of UFO sightings. Photograph: Getty Images Delord has no criticisms of anyone's beliefs about UFOs, or otherwise, "It's a magnificent mountain and people say they do see things – brilliance, lights, not necessarily extraterrestrials," though he hopes aliens do exist somewhere in the universe. The number of ramblers who have climbed the mountain has boomed since the apocalypse prediction, from 10,000 in 2010 to 20,000 in 2011. Delord rejects suggestions by some that he stoked the media frenzy himself. But does he believe the world will end on 21 December? His eyes widen. "Of course not. This is the 183rd end-of-the-world prophecy since antiquity. But I can't take the risk of a lot of people coming here, trying to climb the mountain and getting hurt." He wants the local authorities to shut off mountain paths and control any crowds.
In the organic shop on the edge of the village, a couple of civil servants from Nice were just down from the mountain top, enthusing about the weird sensations: how their compass went haywire, the strange cloud formations "in the shape of a wide-toothed comb". "There's an energy that's difficult to define but it does feel unique," says Corine Leblanc, who has lived here for several years. But suspicions and counter-theories abound about the apocalypse prophecy. Could it be designed to distract people from a real debate about whether wind turbines should be built in the village, some ask. Leblanc's partner, Patrice Etienne, worked in events management and communications in Paris for two decades and is sceptical. Could talk of the army closing off the mountain on 21 December in fact be cover for covert military operations and secret tests on paranormal activity? He's cynical about details such as fears that cult members might arrive here to end their lives. "Why come to the only place on earth that will be spared the apocalypse if you want to commit suicide? Wouldn't that be a bit like trying to drown yourself wearing a lifejacket?" he frowns.
"Is it that if you throw yourself off the mountain, then a spaceship would come by, scoop you up and save you?" wondered the owner of a guest-house in neighbouring Rennes-les-Bains, a spa-town known for its own esoterists, hippies and spiritualists, quick to add that she didn't believe for a second that Bugarach's mountain was an intergalactic Noah's ark. Normally, she would be shut for Christmas, but this year after a slow summer she had bookings for 21 December, so far mainly journalists.
The oddity is that tourist bookings this year seem to be down slightly, not up. The usual walkers, eco-tourists and people coming for spiritual retreats seemed put off by news crews doing lives-to-camera on armageddon. One Estonian rambler had taken refuge in Rennes-Le-Bain's thermal springs saying, "I went for one walk around Bugarach and was stopped by two TV crews asked if I'd prepared for the apocalypse."
In Bugarach, looking round the tiny church, Barbara Delahaye, a Spanish tourist in her 50s and a fervent Catholic, said there was no harm in all the fuss. "As Christians, one must always be prepared for the end of the world, it's not a bad thing to be kept aware of that."
Marco, an Italian warehouse worker from Genoa, had driven here to spend two days "looking for traces of UFOs" on the mountain. "I expected more people to be here," he says when he realises that he and a journalist are the only people at his guest-house that night.
In her restored terraced house, Valerie Austin, the local choir leader, summed up the odd atmosphere. "People come and look at us villagers as if we're all peculiar and in contact with some other world. I'm just waiting for one of them to give us a banana, I feel like a monkey at a zoo. We, the people that live here, have nothing to do with this," she says. Austin, a music teacher from Northumberland, moved here 24 years ago because "all the things I thought important in life seemed to be here: beautiful scenery, no pollution, clean water and kind of authentic, old-fashioned life-style."
She manages a holiday cottage that lost bookings over the summer because "people who wanted a quiet holiday were put off by the media buzz". The choir couldn't plan their usual pre-Christmas concerts in local villages because they weren't not sure whether there would be mayhem on the roads.
Does she believe any of it? "The Mayans couldn't even predict their own downfall, could they?" she sighs.
Bugarach peak. Photograph: AFP One of the most far-fetched claims has been of an apocalypse-inspired property boom in Bugarach as people allegedly rushed to set up home near safety. If prices have gone up in recent years, it has only been part of the long-running general move of city-dwellers looking for the rural dream. For-sale signs dot the village and neither sales nor prices have soared. "Why would you buy a house if the world was about to end?" asked one villager.
John Argles, a builder from London, was mid-construction on his dream house by the stream. An "atheist and a realist" he was surprised when he arrived that people asked him if he'd come for Doomsday. "That had nothing to do with it," he says. It was the nature, including its resident flock of vultures, that had tempted him. "It's the nearest thing to utopia I could find." He plans to meet friends for a celebratory drink in the local bar on 22 December.
Whatever its origins, the Bugarach prophecy has implanted itself in France's collective consciousness. Nicolas D'Estienne d'Orves, a novelist and opera critic for Le Figaro, released a book on it last week, The Village of the End of the World. A documentary on the life of villagers, The World Stops at Bugarach, will air on French TV, fittingly, on 20 December. D'Estienne d'Orves says it was "impossible" to get to the bottom of the genesis of the Mayan Bugarach rumour. "It was grabbed on to because this is a place where there's nothing, so you can easily project your fantasies on to it. It's like filling a balloon with air," he says. His book includes the letters received by Bugarach's mayor over the past two years of apocalypse frenzy, including one well-wisher proposing to organise "The Bugarach music festival: a new world beginning for humanity" to coincide with the end of the world, in which he promised to get together Peter Gabriel, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Led Zeppelin, Jean Michel Jarre and the Black Eyed Peas.
The French government, however, is obliged to take it seriously. More than 700km away in his Paris office near the prime minister's residence, Serge Blisko, head of Miviludes, says he would be advising local authorities on how to prepare policing and keep an eye for gurus and sects exploiting people. "After these moments, there can be a danger of psychological collapse. If fragile, vulnerable people expect an event like the end of the world and it doesn't happen, they can feel let down and in anguish," he says.
Meanwhile, on sale in the village is wine called "Cuvée Bugarach" labelled: "If there's only one left, I shall be that one." It helps "communicate with extra-terrestrials", the blurb says.
Over the next weeks, the state will decide what level of security is needed in the village on 21 December, whether to close mountain paths and how to handle any visitors. Although if it's snowing and icy, it would be almost impossible to access it by car via the death-defying canyon bends of the nearby Gorges of Galamus.
At the town hall, the mayor, while hoping the fuss would soon be over, was still proud of his village's fame. "If I'd have have had to pay a communications agency for this kind of publicity, it would have been a fortune," he says.

 

Mayan prophecy 2012: Spend the Maya apocalypse in Albuquerque, New Mexico

From Examiner.com:  Mayan prophecy 2012: Spend the Maya apocalypse in Albuquerque, New Mexico 

I hear the end of the world is coming, when is the date for the Mayan prediction or prophecy for the apocalypse?
As the Thanksgiving weekend is winding down today, some are already thinking ahead to the Mayan 2012 prophecies for an apocalypse.
As you may know, the end of the Mayan Long-Count calendar arrives with the winter solstice of 2012. That's December 21, 2012. In central New Mexico the solstice arrives at 4:12 AM, so an inventive company is going to celebrate the event a few hours later with a Sunset Float. They company, Quiet Waters Paddling Adventures, has a Web site complete with a countdown clock to the Mayan end of the world.

Quiet Waters Paddling, by the way is less than a half-hour drive from gay-friendly Albuquerque. The city's official Web site, itsatrip.org, had an official GLBT section. Click here to go directly to that microsite.

The company is hoping the apocalypse will be more closely aligned with the original Greek meaning of the term (a revelation of something hidden), rather than the actual end of the world. The tour will gather together at 1:30 in the afternoon, then head to the Rio, where we'll take in the famous Sandia Sunset, following with a campfire, snacks, hot chocolate, and the ubiquitous S'mores.
The company offers this disclaimer, "Obviously, if the world really does end at 4:12 AM, this event will be canceled."
Rates:
Rates are per-person. Limit of one adult per kayak, or two adults per canoe. Children under twelve who float along with a parent or guardian in the same boat do so at half price (Applies to children floating along with one adult in a kayak or two adults in a canoe).
Mayan Apocalypse Sunset Float: $59.00
But once again, the date for the Maya prediction for the end of the world, or apocalypse is December 21, 2012. While the Mayan prophecy is causing anxiety for some, most think of it as a day of fun before the holidays, not a day of gloom.

 

Mindpix Corporation Announces Co-Production with ZZYX Entertainment LLC PR Web

From Equities.com:  Mindpix Corporation Announces Co-Production with ZZYX Entertainment LLC

Orlando, FL (PRWEB) November 18, 2012

Mindpix Corporation (OTC Pink: MPIX) is pleased to announce that they have signed a Co-Production agreement with ZZYX Entertainment LLC, for the production and distribution of their December 21, 2012 Concert Event called “The New Beginnings 12-21 Concert”. The New Beginnings 12-21 Concert will be a Live Global musical festival event from around world. December 21, 2012 marks the end of a “World Age” in the Mayan culture. Mayan elders do not prophesize 12-21 as the end of the world but rather a time of transition highlighting the importance of how we choose to enter the future ahead. We will ask the question “how can we create positive change and a better planet for our children and generations to come?” This event will seek to unite people in a common cause, through the universal language of music, asking people to take action for positive change around the planet and to raise funds for charities who are affecting change everyday. The Live event will be streamed around the world with special premium programming available on a pay for view basis. More details on the concert including: locations, performing artists, celebrity contributors, beneficiary charities and how to view the event will be released over the next two weeks.

Armando Almirall, President and CEO of MPIX states; “I am extremely pleased to announce that we have aligned with ZZYX for our 12-21-12 New Beginning Event. ZZYX is an ideal production partner with a rich portfolio of projects that we are also exploring. Rick Garson, the founder of ZZYX as well as the creator of such television specials as the Billboard Music Awards and more, is an iconic Executive Producer. We cannot be more pleased having Rick lead our production team on this and future projects to come. "

ZZYX Entertainment (http://www.zzyxentertainment.com) is a full service media company founded to create and produce global media events. ZZYX has a unique perspective in conception, executing and monetizing of media properties, providing a total solution to develop, produce, market and distribute broadcast television programming. The ZZYX team member credits include the creation and/or production of the Billboard Music Awards, the Blockbuster Awards, America’s Party Live New Year’s Eve TV Specials from Las Vegas, Super Bowl TV Specials, World Music Awards, and the Global Harmony Concert Series which launched with Divas in Beijing – “the premiere cultural event of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”.

Rick Garson, the Chairman and CEO of ZZYX states “12-21-2012 is an Equinox event that only happens every 26,000 years. This is a once in a millennium opportunity to kick-off of a 365-day awareness campaign with multiple events to bring people together. Change starts with one. This global event can literally reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide. People talk about doing good, but few do. This kick-off concert event and the ongoing campaign will give all of us the opportunity to help make a difference. This has been a personal mission of mine and I am excited at the opportunity to join forces with Mindpix who share the same passion to help make a difference through the universal language of music.”

“The New Beginning” theme originated in Mayan history, celebrating the ending of the current Mayan 'long count calendar' – the oldest and most accurate calendar in the world. This event only occurs every 5,126 years and will officially take place on the 21st of December 2012. This December 21, 2012 date marks not only this year's Winter Equinox but also the precession of the Earth, which many believe is the alignment of planet Earth with the very center of the Milky Way galaxy. Experts say this alignment only occurs once every twenty six thousand years.

Armando Almirall, President and CEO of MPIX continued to state, “This is a wonderful occasion for a global celebration. Music is the common, unifying and harmonious expression that all humans share and hopefully seen by millions. We also see this as a significant revenue-generating event through pay-for-view access to a premium live stream event. We will be donating a significant portion of the proceeds to charitable organizations. We are working with ZZYX to create a formal board and foundation in this regard and look forward to announcing more details in the very near future. Our vision is for this webcast to be a model for other, similar, musical events in the future celebrating the opportunity we all have to create positive change in our world.”

Doomsday 2012 Hoax: NASA Scientist David Morrison Debunks End Of World Theories

From HuffPost World News:  Doomsday 2012 Hoax: NASA Scientist David Morrison Debunks End Of World Theories 

Is the world going to end right in the middle of the upcoming holiday season? While that wouldn't be good for retail sales, many people feel that Dec. 21, 2012 is a date that will linger in our minds forever -- assuming we all survive the calamities that are supposedly headed our way.
The ancient Mayan civilization calendar is believed to end this year on Dec. 21. And somehow, through word-of-mouth, movies, books, the Internet, etc., a cult-like belief system has sprung up in our culture suggesting any number of awful things will take place on that date.
Some of these include:

• An unknown planet on a collision path with Earth.
• A close encounter between Earth and a black hole in deep space.
• More natural disasters around our planet.
• A shifting of Earth's magnetic poles.

But where did all of these rumors actually start?
Many believe it goes back thousands of years to the ancient Sumerian culture who reportedly discovered a twelfth planet they called Nibiru -- aka Planet X -- which was predicted to have a close encounter with Earth in 2003.
When that didn't happen, a new Doomsday was moved to December 2012.
On the other hand, there are some who believe the December date heralds not doom and gloom, but a more positive transformative experience for Earth and its inhabitants.
It all sounds rather sketchy, especially to a scientist.
"It's all a hoax, and it's based on absolutely no factual information. None of the things that are supposed to happen are real, and so it's kind of hard to even have a scientific discussion about what they're worried about because there's no science there," said David Morrison, a leading space scientist and director of the Carl Sagan Center for Study of Life in the Universe at the SETI Institute in California.

While SETI scientists are involved with the ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, they also want to quiet any fears the public has about the alleged Doomsday.
To that end, Morrison created a special Doomsday 2012 Fact Sheet in September that's posted on both SETI and NASA websites.
According to this fact sheet, "opinion polls suggest that one in 10 Americans worry about whether they will survive past December 21 of this year."
"Think about that. It means when you walk down the street and look around, there are 25 million people who presumably have no stake in anything because their world's going to end in [December]. That is scary," Morrison told The Huffington Post.
When Morrison was researching information for his Doomsday fact sheet, he didn't find anything that confirmed that the Mayans left us any dire predictions.
"The Maya scholars I've talked to say flat out they did not make any such predictions. The question then is does their calendar end? Well, that's not true, either, because there are written references to dates that are hundreds of years in the future, which indicates the calendar must keep going," he said.
"So, this is not a Maya thing -- they don't think anything bad's going to happen, and it's only meaningful if you believe the Maya could predict the future."
Morrison assured HuffPost that he's not building a bunker in his backyard to protect himself and his loved ones.
"I am not. And that's a whole other thing that's part of this mythology about how the government has been frantically building bunkers to house millions of people underground -- the elite, of course, not the rest of us. And that's just crazy."

There is, however, one part of this whole Doomsday scenario that the NASA/SETI scientist is very concerned about.
"I think it is wrong to put out a website or make a YouTube video in order to frighten children," he said. "That is something we should be truly offended by. And my main concern is that children have said they are contemplating suicide. A science teacher in Stockton, Calif., said the parents of two of her students told her they were planning to kill the children and themselves in a family suicide before the 21st of December.
"For children who are asking, 'Will Christmas come this year, Daddy?' I think that's evil," Morrison said.
That's also a concern of Jonathan Alpert, a New York City-based psychotherapist and author of "Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days."
"I have adults who see me and have beliefs that the world is ending, and they have kids, so it permeates into the kids' thinking," Alpert told HuffPost. "They're instilling fear in their young ones. Kids learn from adults, so if you're a kid and you witness your parents getting frenetic and anxious around the end of the world, and they're hoarding water and this and that, then naturally you'll develop a similar response."
Alpert says that, even though scientists reject the Doomsday scenario, it still affects people.
"In a way, it's like a folklore," Alpert explained. "People want to feel like they're part of something. They want to believe in things, even if those things are somewhat outrageous. There's a feeling of belonging-ness."
To help parents and children cope with any Doomsday issues, Alpert offers some advice.
"I would say stick with the facts. Kids are impressionable and easily influenced and ideas can be perpetuated in an unhealthy way, so parents should certainly take an active role in knowing what their kids are being exposed to and subsequently re-educating their kids."

 

Ancient Mayans subject of locally produced film

From OnlineAthens (GA):  Ancient Mayans subject of locally produced film

The key to understanding Mayan creation mythology resides in Athens.
Well, sort of.
Standoff Studios, an Athens-based film production company, just finished work on a film called “Mayan Blue” that literally dives into the ancient history of the Mayan civilization in present day Guatemala.
Deep beneath the waters of Lake Atitlan in the Central American country, a lost city of Maya has hid submerged for about 2,000 years. A local diver discovered the ruins in the 1990s, but the Guatemalan government kept his discovery quiet for many years.
The discovery, the film’s writer/producer Hamilton Craig said, was “pretty hush-hush down there.” Most people hadn’t heard of it, he said, as Guatemalan authorities wanted to prevent looting of the historical site.
“We lucked into finding out about it,” Craig said.
About five years ago, the Standoff Studios team were busy producing a TV show about diving. Filming took them regularly down to Guatemala, where they met the site’s discoverer, Roberto Samayoa.
Work on “Mayan Blue” began in earnest in 2010 and continued through 2011.
“Mayan Blue,” directed by Rafael Garcia, features the academic work of American and Guatemalan archaeologists. The resulting film, featuring underwater cinematography as well as explorations into many dry Mayan historical sites, unveils this found city’s place in the ancient Mayan’s creation myth.
Spoiler alert: It’s rather important.
“It’s without a doubt a unique site,” Craig said.
He feels they’ve made an important contribution to the archaeological canon concerning the Mayan civilization.
“It’s archaeological. So the archaeologists can hypothesize,” he said. “Can they prove anything definitive? No. But we can create some strong possibilities through ancient texts and murals.”
As the end of the world, per the Mayan calendar, approaches, Craig said they aren’t rushing the film out to audiences to capitalize on the apocalyptic hubbub. The film’s findings, Craig said, are tied to the calendar, which stops on Dec. 21, but represents the opposite end of the cycle.
Standoff Studios is currently entering “Mayan Blue” in film festivals across the world, and is also in negotiations with TV companies for the rights.
“Mayan Blue” will screen in Athens “as soon as the opportunity arises,” Craig said.

 

Ancient Visions of a 2012 Eclipse

From Reality Sandwich:  Ancient Visions of a 2012 Eclipse

[Note:  Tropical dates given in this article are Gregorian unless otherwise noted.]

Get ready for a full solar eclipse coming to your planet on November 13, 2012.  This will be the final full eclipse of the current 13-baktun cycle of the Mayan Long Count, and that is just the beginning.  The significance of this event transcends even Mayan cosmology, in which, as we will see, it is deeply integrated, speaking to a unified planetary vision of natural cycles, harmonic mathemagics, and the opportunity for a radical cultural renewal.
Evidence for human interest in recording natural cycles goes back 35,000 years or more.  The earliest known artifact to express a substantial mathematical awareness, with the potential to be used in a properly "calendrical" fashion, is The Ishango Bone.  This baboon fibula was incised with 168 tally marks, and inset with a crystal, around 25,000 years ago in equatorial Africa, near the headwaters of the Nile river.  The exact purpose of the Ishango Bone is debated among scholars, but the inscribed intervals suggest its usefulness in integrating a number of factors.  The level of sophistication may be very advanced; its set of four consecutive prime numbers (11, 13, 17, 19) in particular, has generated a great deal of speculation.  The notches are arranged into three columns, two of 60 marks, and one of 48.  It has been suggested that the intervals of 60 each record a cycle of two lunar months, and the notch-lengths and spacing of all three columns may indicate the changing phases.  Also, the number 168 is a perfect multiple of 28, a number sacred to the moon in many traditions around the world, including the indigenous Igbo of Africa.
It may also be significant that in addition to the 168 incisions, the bone's inset crystal is believed to have been used to make incisions itself.  The creative potential of the crystal is then, in a sense, the bone's 169th element, introducing the sacred moon number thirteen (13 x 13 = 169).  The numbers 168 and 169 are the only consecutive multiples of 28 and 13 smaller than their common product 364 (= 28 x 13).  This "plus one" relationship of 168 to 169 also relates the product of 13 and 28 with the solar year:

28 x 6 + 1 = 13 x 13

13 x 28 + 1 = 365

These same mathematical phenomena are evident in advanced calendrical computations, many thousands of years later, and on the other side of the planet, in the few surviving hieroglyphic books of the Maya.  The book known as the Paris Codex contains an almanac of years composed of thirteen 28-day intervals.  Conspicuous in this almanac is the repeated presence of the number 168.  These supposed "distance numbers" have been discussed at length by scholars, but remain an enigma, with no clear consensus emerging as to their purpose.  Less remarked upon, but also significant, is the almanac's base day, which is 12 Lamat, the 168th day of the Mayan ritual calendar.

Out of the several hundred almanacs in the 3 principal Mayan codices, only one other utilizes 12 Lamat as its base [1].  This is the Eclipse Table of the Dresden Codex.  This Eclipse Table demonstrates such accuracy and sophistication in its ability to predict eclipses that it is one of the most widely appreciated examples of intellectual achievement by the Maya, or any of the world's ancient cultures.  According to the evidence of Michael Grofe's insightful, detailed analysis, as incredible as it may seem, the Maya who constructed this document were capable of predicting eclipses with an accuracy that stretches modern computer programs to their limits [2].

In addition to beginning with day 168 of the ritual calendar, the Eclipse Table also incorporates the "plus one" day 169.  This is conceptualized in a simple fashion, by equating the base of the table, 12 Lamat, with zero, and thereby equating 13 Muluc -- kin 169 -- with day one.  The significance of this kin is then emphasized on the page following the table, which associates 13 Muluc with a series of large astro-numerically significant intervals.  The number 169 also plays a role in the introductory section of the Eclipse Table, in the form of a column of 13 consecutive 13s.  This column relates to the 364-day almanac of the Paris Codex, probably as a method for integrating eclipses with a number of other celestial cycles over a period of 130 years [3].

Although the Maya offer us the most definitive, precise examples, these same patterns are found throughout the ancient world.  One of history's most mathematically sophisticated calendrical traditions existed among the Essene Jewish community at Qumran during the final centuries of the BC era.  The principal calendar of this community was of 364 days, which incorporated, to at least some degree, cycles of 13 and 28.  Of paramount importance to this calendrical tradition was the cycle of priestly courses, which determined the rotation of responsibility for the administration of temple activities among the 24 priestly divisions of Israel.  Each division succeeded in turn for a period of one week, defining a full 24-week cycle of precisely 168 days (= 24 x 7).

The ritual importance of the number 168 is also evident in 14th century England's chivalric Order of the Garter.  Like King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table, this order was organized by the number 13.  Furthermore, the order's founder, King Edward III, is said to have worn a mantle embroidered with 168 garters, with one additional garter -- the 169th -- worn around his leg.

Thousands of years earlier, the neolithic culture of England had constructed megalithic monuments demonstrating an impressive astronomical awareness.  The earliest stage of construction at Stonehenge included a circle of 56 stations (= 28 x 2), known today as the Aubrey holes.  This circle is believed to have functioned as an eclipse calculator through integrating cycles of 13 and 28 days [4].  During this same period, another megalithic site known as Woodhenge was built just two miles to the west, composed of 168 distinct post holes.

More intriguing connections to these matters are found in the Egyptian legend of the death of Osiris.  According to Plutarch's account of this legend, after an important interval of 28 years (being either his age or reign) Osiris met his destiny at the hands of his adversary Set (Typhon) on the 17th day of the month Athyr.  As Plutarch further relates, Set is associated with eclipses and a polygon of 56 sides [5], suggestive of the Aubrey holes just mentioned.  According to the calendars of Plutarch's time, the date of Set's "eclipse" of Osiris -- 17 Athyr -- corresponds to November 13.  (This concerns the Alexandrian/Coptic calendar of Egypt and the Julian calendar of Rome.  The correlation is within one day of November 13 by tropical Gregorian reckoning for 100 AD, approximate date of Plutarch's Moralia.)

Incredibly, November 13 also corresponds to both the first day of the Mayan Eclipse Table (in 755 AD), and to the full solar eclipse of 2012, the last such event of the Mayan calendar's famous 13th baktun.  Just let that sink in for a moment.

Before going further, it is important to acknowledge some of the complex subtlety inherent in Mayan astronomy, as exemplified by the Eclipse Table.  The Mayan Long Count date at the base of the Eclipse Table is 9.16.4.10.8.  In the traditional correlation (which I fully accept), this actually corresponds to November 10, 755 AD, meaning day one of the table -- 13 Muluc -- would correspond to November 11.  According to astronomical models, however, November 12-13 would more accurately synchronize to the new moon at this time.  The main body of the table appears to address this discrepancy with the inclusion of "warning stations".  The recorded intervals of the table identify individual days, but each interval is accompanied by three consecutive day-signs, which define a three-day range in which an eclipse might be expected.  This three-day leeway, and the associated astronomy, has played a significant role in debates over the calendar correlation, with many scholars proposing a shift of two days (familiar through various references to either December 21 or 23 as the end of the 13th baktun), such that November 13, rather than November 11 would be day one of the Eclipse Table.

In my studies of Mayan timekeeping, I have come to realize that such discrepancies are typically deliberate (note that "warning stations" are exceedingly rare in Mayan almanacs), and, far from indicating any sort of imprecision, often act as windows into insights even more profound than the literal reading would suggest.  Therefore, one might view the November 11 correlation as particularly relevant to the traditional count, and the November 13 discrepancy as a sort of initiatory mystery.

With this in mind, it is worth taking a look back at the year 2010.  At this time the traditional Mayan day-count demonstrated the exact same relation to the tropical year as it did in 755 AD, the year of the Eclipse Table's base date.  That is, November 11, 755 AD (Gregorian) and November 11, 2010, were both 13 Muluc in the traditional count.  This type of synchronization with the tropical year has a probability of occurring once in 260 years.  (A similar synchronization with the strictly 365-day haab occurs every 52 years.)  Although an eclipse did not occur on either of these two dates, the year 2010 was notable for a full lunar eclipse that took place on the day of its southern solstice, exactly two years before the end of the 13th baktun.

This two-year interval highlights another famous discrepancy known as the Dreamspell.  The Dreamspell is a modern interpretation of the Mesoamerican ritual calendar, which, while popular, has not been taken seriously by many scholars.  Interestingly, however, during the final years of the 13th batkun, the discrepancy between the two counts is such that a day in the traditional count will be followed 2 years and 2 days later by its Dreamspell equivalent.  Therefore, November 11, 2010 -- the traditional day 13 Muluc -- is followed 2 years and 2 days later by November 13, 2012, when the Dreamspell day 13 Muluc and the final full eclipse of the 13th baktun coincide.

The formulation of the Dreamspell did not arise out of a conscious effort to manifest this particularly remarkable synchronicity; it is based on a reading of patterns and discrepancies in the monuments of ancient Palenque and the colonial era books of Chilam Balam.  To simplify, the main criteria places the baktun shift of 2012 in a year named 7 Cauac, signifying 'the time between incarnations', in conjunction with a discrepancy of 47 days.  The canonical Solar New Year of the ancient Maya (as distinct from their 365-day haab) corresponds to July 26, which was observed throughout the Yucatan and the Chilam Balam tradition.  The final such Solar New Year of the 13th baktun occurred on the traditional day 12 Eb, 47 days before 7 Cauac.

This New Year was determined by observing solar zenith (no shadow) at the latitude of Edzna, a pioneering Mayan astronomical center, where the courtyard of the main acropolis contains a gnomon for the purpose.  Edzna shares this latitude, and a number of other characteristics, with the great city of Teotihuacan in central Mexico.  Both cities are laid-out in a virtually identical manner with respect to horizonal astronomy, and both experienced early stages of construction at virtually the same time.  This early stage corresponds roughly to the Long Count's transition from the 8th to 9th baktun, a date memorialized in the books of Chilam Balam as the beginning of the pyramid-building phase of Mayan civilization.  This baktun shift of 41 AD occurred in a year in which the July 26 zenith at Edzna also coincided with the beginning of the 365-day haab of the Classic Maya, on the traditional day 7 Cauac -- an astoundingly uncommon convergence of factors. [6]

The coincidence of 7 Cauac with July 26 in the first year of this important era of Mayan history also entails the occurrence of 13 Muluc on November 13.  Furthermore, the phases of the moon during this year also correspond to the Eclipse Table and 2012, placing the new moon within one day of Nov 12.  In 41 AD, however, the eclipse did not occur with 12 Lamat / 13 Muluc, but one month earlier.  This indicates a whole other level of synchronization, having to do with the 26,000-year cycle of stellar precession.  In the 1971 years between 41 AD and 2012 the the fixed stars have shifted with respect to the tropical year by approximately 28 days, describing the arc of Earth's orbit over one lunar month.  The stellar configuration of Earth's November skies today, corresponds to the configuration of October 2000 years ago.  Therefore, according to a galactic frame of reference, the solar eclipses of the 41 AD and 2012 baktun shifts are nearly identical.  

This phenomenon is intrinsically related to the human understanding of precession.  The measurement of eclipses in relation to the fixed stars is one of the chief means by which Hipparchus was able to introduce the concept to Old World astronomy, and it has been suggested that a similar approach was taken by the Maya, with the Pleiades star cluster -- important throughout Mesoamerican cosmology -- as their point of reference [7].  The luni-stellar alignments of 41 AD and 2012 are such that both years witnessed eclipses with the sun, moon, and Pleiades all in alignment. (The eclipse of May 20, 2012 had its own set of remarkable circumstances, which I have explored elsewhere.)  To appreciate this, on the evening of November 13, whether you are in a position to view the eclipse or not, notice that the Pleiades (that unmistakable glittering jewel) will be rising in the east just after the sun sets in the west.  Reflect that you are witness to the same celestial patterns as the great moon sages, 5 baktuns past.

(Note that all 4 of these solar eclipses -- April 19, 41 AD, October 14, 41 AD, May 20, 2012, and November 13, 2012 -- are either total, annular, or hybrid, meaning, as opposed to partial eclipses, they all exhibit a perfect alignment between sun, moon, and Earth.)

This 5-baktun cycle is approximately equivalent to one thirteenth of a full precessional cycle of 26,000 years, which takes us back to the Ishango Bone origins.  Recalling that this artifact was discovered at the headwaters of the Nile, it is interesting to consider that according to Egyptian cosmology "an intricate logic links the moon with the Nile through the number 28." [8]

We have seen one aspect of this "intricate logic" in the eclipse of Osiris by Set, and, through profound synchronicity, its connection to 2012 and the reckoning of the Maya.  There is yet more.  The Egyptian calendar of Plutarch's time -- the Alexandrian, or Coptic calendar -- is still maintained by traditional groups in Egypt to this day, as is a structurally identical calendar in Ethiopia.  These calendars usually observe New Year's Day on September 11, as they did in 2012.  Recalling that the Dreamspell discrepancies highlight an interval of 47 days related to July 26 and 7 Cauac, notice that the Coptic New Year of September 11 occurs exactly 47 days after July 26, and September 11, 2012 was 7 Cauac in the traditional Mayan calendar.

What is the agency behind these incredible synchronizations?  Is it all just a case of apophenia, or does there exist some common thread of intention or attunement?  I will leave it to the reader to decide, but can't suppress my amazement at the outlandish degree of correspondence.  The numbers, the cycles, the timing; I hope I have done them some justice.  There is currently a popular strain of scholarly backlash against myths of "peaceful stargazers" and the "noble savage", such that promoting the wisdom of indigenous traditions, or suggesting that ancient people attained levels of achievement that we cannot appreciate today, is liable to elicit accusations of naivety, prejudice, or even racism.  It is not my intention to romanticize ancient or indigenous people, but there exists a potential for harm in this backlash; it can be invoked by those who really are prejudiced, who do have ulterior motives, who, for whatever reason, are threatened by the idea of ancient wisdom.

For 5 baktuns indigenous cultures have been under threat.  For 5 centuries they have faced extinction.  The shift of the 13-baktun cycle is not just another date on just another calendar.  It marks a singular opportunity for people of good faith to recognize, and reflect on our collective connection to the ancient world and the cycles of nature.  Far more than a simple tally of days, the Long Count represents a truly remarkable intellectual and spiritual legacy.  And it's not over yet.

One cycle gives way to the next.  The thirteenth baktun ends, Baktun Thirteen begins; and we ride the wave of a new 13-moon cycle.  The November 13 eclipse occurs on the Dreamspell equivalent of 13 Muluc, interpreted "13 Moon".  As anyone remotely familiar with the Dreamspell knows, the "13 Moon" calendar is its principal touchstone.  This 13 Moon calendar is essentially the same as the 13 x 28 almanac of the Paris Codex, the chief difference being the day of the New Year.

The base of the Paris almanac is believed to correspond to that of the Eclipse Table, and marks the beginning of five 364-day years (364 x 5 = 260 x 7).  Over these 5 years the 364-day cycle shifts with respect to the tropical year by 6 or 7 days, a discrepancy addressed by the almanac's green correction numbers.  Within this 6 or 7-day interval is November 8, which is 260 days -- one cycle of the ritual calendar -- before July 26.

From the "13 Moon" full solar eclipse of November 13, 2012, if we add the 260-day discrepancy, and then apply the 5-year Paris almanac to the Dreamspell, we arrive at the first day of a 13 Moon year, beginning on the day "13 Moon".  A full lunar eclipse occurs on the following day.  Welcome to the New Time!

Endnotes

[1] Bricker, Harvey M. and Bricker, Victoria R., Zodiacal References in the Maya Codices,       from The Sky in Mayan Literature, ed. Anthony F. Aveni, 148-183, Oxford University Press, 1992: 153-154

[2] Grofe, Michael John. 2007. The Serpent Series: Precession in the Maya Dresden Codex. PhD dissertation, Davis: University of California, 2007: 142-143

[3] Grofe pp.154-157

[4] Sir Fred Hoyle suggested a method of calculation involving 4 markers around the circle. Two of these markers, corresponding to the lunar nodes, would be moved on a yearly basis. Of the other two, one would be moved two holes every day, completing a full circuit in 28 days, while the other would be moved every 13 days.  (Gregg, DP, The Stonehenge Codes: A New Light on Ancient Knowledge?, 2010: 212-213.)

[5] For his discussion these matters, see Plutarch, "Isis and Osiris", translated from The Moralia by Frank Cole Babbitt, vol. 5 Loeb Classical Library 1936: 103-109, 75
Penelope.uchicago.edu <Retrieved 9/24/2012>

[6] Although July 26, 41 AD was 7 Cauac, the first day of the Classic haab occurred 2 days earlier on July 24.  This reflects different traditions of "year bearer" observation, which shifted over time.  Edzna played a crucial role in recording these shifts, and according to the Chilam Balam tradition, the first day of the haab in 41 AD would indeed have fallen with 7 Cauac on July 26.  Note the relation of the 2-day year-bearer shift to the 2-day "warning station" discrepancy of the Eclipse Table.  My discussion of Edzna is based on the work of Vincent Malmstrom, and it should be noted that while invaluable, Malmstrom's chronological analysis is based exclusively on the non-traditional (GMT+2) correlation, and is not 100% consistent.

[7] Grofe p.108

[8] Quote from Krupp, E. C., Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Astronomy of Lost Civilizations, Courier Dover Publications 2003: 18.  See Plutarch p.105.  I discuss this more in-depth in my article "Planetary Culture of 13 Moons Part I: The Ancient Artifacts".

 

December 21, 2012: The Operetta

From NBC Southern CAlifornia:  December 21, 2012: The Operetta

While all of us can name a few dozen very important, very specific dates from the past, and why those dates mean what they mean, there are far fewer future, still-to-come dates that possess the same gravitas or garner our interest.

Of course, right? Because the future hasn't yet happened (spoiler alert).

Then there's Dec. 21, 2012, or, as many people know it, the end of the Mayan Long Count Calendar.

The date has assumed a tremendous amount of mystique over the years, both via sober historical study and razzmatazz action films (two areas that don't bump up against each other enough, in our book). Is Dec. 21 simply another day, or is it an ending, a beginning, a transformation, or something we can't predict?

The legend that precedes it can make it difficult to remember that this date is a real square, with a number in the corner, on our calendars.

"The Edge of Forever," a chamber operetta "inspired by the ending of the Mayan Long Count Calendar," is scheduled for, you guessed it, Friday, Dec. 21. As would make sense. Also, it's a one-night-only performance, which again fits the theme of being on the edge of forever.

Elizabeth Cline is the writer and director while Lewis Pesacov of Afro-pop band Fool's Gold created the music. The show will include traditional strings and percussion as well as eight-sine oscillators, conch shell trumpets, and other offbeat instruments that will change up the tonal and emotional character of a traditional operetta.

And the show's themes? There are a few, as suits the epic topic, but look for references to Mayan beliefs and culture as well as "the moment of transition" that the calendar predicts.

Tickets are $12. The operetta will take place in Los Feliz at the Philosophical Research Society.

Where will you be on Friday, Dec. 21?

 

When Is The Apocalypse? December 21 Mayan Prediction Explained

From International Science Times:  When Is The Apocalypse? December 21 Mayan Prediction Explained

When is the Mayan apocalypse? We've heard for years that the world will end in 2012, according to ancient calendars and predictions, but now that doomsday is just over a month away the question is: what will the apocalypse entail and when exactly will it happen?
The ancient Mayan calendar was unlike any modern calendar. The Mayans considered the concepts of 'time' and 'date' as intermingling spiritual cycles. Their calendar itself was a sacred object, with each day getting its own spirit.
So why are talking about the Mayan calendar? Because it ends on December 21, 2012 CE. It is believed by many, including a number of living tribes in America and around the world, that Dec. 21 will bring the end of our world and the "regeneration" of a new earth. Apocalypse.
If you're asking, "What did the Mayans know?" the answer is "a lot." Their civilization perfected a form of astrology based on the cycle referred to as the Precession of the Equinoxes. This 26,000 year cycle detailed the Earth's passing through all 12 zodiac signs, each one lasting 2,000 to 2,150 years and representing a single cosmic year.
In addition, the Mayan developed methods of architecture, art, math and science based along the same principles, and built stone pyramids and monuments based on specific computations. The reason for this heroic effort, many believe, was to leave behind a warning that the Apocalypse would come in 2012.
The Mayan's predicted that the end of the current cosmic year will bring with it new age and creation in the form of a worldwide apocalypse. The prophecy was also allegedly confirmed by Mayan King Pacal Voltan, who believed that the end of the world would occur on our December 21, 2012, the Winter Solstice.
If you're having trouble believing the predictions of long-extinct Mayans and their King, then get ready for a bombshell: modern science confirms the Apocalyptic prophecy, and even tells us exactly what time it will happen.
On December 21, 2012 at exactly 11.11 PM Universal Time (AKA Greenwich Mean Time) the sun will be positioned exactly in between earth and the center of the Milky Way. According to American Academic Lawrence Joseph, when this happens "whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted."
What exactly will occur when this happens on Decmeber 21 is unclear, but some believe that gravitional, magnetic and solar energies could be dramatically altered, causing worldwide national disasters while weakening the earth's magnetic field to allow solar radiation to penetrate the atmosphere.
In "The Mayan Prophecies," authors Adrian Gilbert and Maurice Cotterell argue that "long-term sunspot cycles" could actually flip the planet's magnetic field.
The end of 2012 also marks the transition from the current zodiac age of Pisces to the age of Aquarius. While Pisces (fish) has come to represent Christianity, religion and order, Aquarius could bring the end of the civilization of the beginning of something new, possibly through violent change.
However, others believe that the age of Aquarius will bring a "Golden Age," through a radical change in civilization and a departure from Pisces society. The word apocalypse can also signify a transition between ages (possibly a violent one), rather than simple the end of everything.
Of course, not everyone believes the world will end on December 21. Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone has even argued that "there is nothing in the Maya or Aztec or ancient Mesoamerican prophecy to suggest that they prophesied a sudden or major change of any sort in 2012," adding that the concept of a Mayan apocalypse is a completely modern invention.
Susan Milbrath, curator of Latin American Art and Archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History told USA Today,"We have no record or knowledge that [the Maya] would think the world would come to an end."
Executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies Sandra Noble takes the perspective even further, telling USA Today, "For the ancient Maya, it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle."

Mayans on '2012 Doomsday': Not happening at all

From Ground Report:  Mayans on '2012 Doomsday': Not happening at all 

 As December 21, 2012 soon approaches, the Mayans have weighed in on the talks of "doomsday." To the Mayans, this is not true and that the talks of the world coming to the end are misinterpretations.

 

As December approaches, one should be weary of the date December 21, 2012 or 12/21/12. So far, this has significance as it is the alleged date of “doomsday” according to the Mayan calendar. In short, we're supposed to be expecting the world to come to an end on that date. However, the thought of the world ending, let alone on that date, has been met with skepticism and rejection. Apparently, the Mayans themselves don't believe that the world is coming to an end on that date. The Mayans of Guatemala weighed in on the use of the Mayan calendar and had their views on things.

 

The Mayans do not seem at all that pleased with how the Mayan Calendar and the “Mayan doomsday” were interpreted. In fact, the Mayans have started speaking out against it. They claim that the doomsday theory is just an effort to profit off of inaccurate interpretations. 

 

 Felipe Gomez recently spoke with the French news outlet Agence France-Presse (AFP). He is the leader of a group of Mayans called the Oxlaljuj. According to the group, the doomsday talk is just an excuse to use misinterpretations as a means to drive up tourism. In short, they called up for an end of the myth of doomsday. According to them, the talk of doomsday was very disrespectful to the Mayan culture.

 

Instead of having anger directed to the westerners, the Mayans are directing anger at their own country's government.

 

Gomez isn't the only Mayan speaking out against the misinterpretation of the calendar. Christina Coc of Belize, who is of Mayan blood, dismisses the thought of the world ending on December 21. Coc explained that this “doomsday” is actually an end of a 5,000 year cycle.

 

In short, Mayans have given their two cents on the so called “end of the world.” The answer is “not happening” which seems to be unanimous.

 

Perhaps the Mayans could link up with some other people and exhibits to help them further debunk the myth. One example would be with the curators at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The museum is launching an exhibit to dispel the doomsday myth. Another example would be the students studying at Rutgers-Camden who have to study for their course in “The End of the World.”

 

According to one religion professor at the school, regardless of the possible apocalypse, they still have to study for their final exams. The professor explains that interest in thinking about the apocalypse has been within American pop culture for a long time.

 

Perhaps December 21, 2012 isn't the end of the world. The Mayans have certainly weighed in on the subject and strongly disagree that the world's going to end, let alone on that date. For the students at Rutgers-Camden, they still have to study for finals.

Tomb of Influential Early Mayan Ruler Discovered in Guatemala

From Indian Country Tomb of Influential Early Mayan Ruler Discovered in Guatemala

Tak'alik Ab'aj Archaeological Project/Associated Press

A jade pendant of a vulture discovered at the Maya site of Tak'alik Ab'aj.

   

Archaeologists in Guatemala have discovered the tomb of an influential early Mayan ruler. The tomb of King K’utz Chman was found by researchers in June but not announced until October 25 because it took them that long to verify the grave belonged to him.
K’utz Chman, a priest, is said to have ruled around 700 B.C. in Retalhuleu in southwestern Guatemala. In his tomb archaeologists found ceramic pots and dolls and jade jewels including one jade necklace carved in the shape of a vulture’s head, which is a symbol that represented power and wealth in the Mayan culture. It was given to respected elder men.
“The richness of the artifacts tells us he was an important and powerful religious leader,” archaeologist Christa Schieber, coordinator of the project at the Tak’alik Ab’aj dig site, told Reuters. “He was very likely the person who began to make the changes in the system and transition into the Mayan world.”
Archaeologist Miguel Orrego of the Guatemalan Instituto de Antropologia e Historia told Reuters that Chman was “the ruler who bridged the gap between Olmec and Maya cultures and initiated the slow transition to Maya rule.”
The Maya empire began to thrive around 400 B.C. when the Olmec empire was declining.
Some of the cultural changes Chman was responsible for included switching the building style from square structures to pyramids and commissioning the carving of royal family sculptures, things that came to define Mayan culture.
Though archaeologists did not find any human remains in the tomb, carbon dating of artifacts and other organic materials conclude that it was built between 770 B.C. and 510 B.C., reported the Los Angeles Times.