If you are worried the world will end next year based on the Mayan calendar, relax: the end of time is still far off.

So say Mayan experts who want to dispel any belief that the ancient Mayans predicted a world apocalypse next year.

The Mayan calendar marks the end of a 5,126 year old cycle around December 12, 2012 [sic] which should bring the return of Bolon Yokte, a Mayan god associated with war and creation.

Author Jose Arguelles called the date “the ending of time as we know it” in a 1987 book that spawned an army of Mayan theorists, whose speculations on a cataclysmic end abound online. But specialists meeting at this ancient Mayan city in southern Mexico say it merely marks the termination of one period of creation and the beginning of another.

“We have to be clear about this. There is no prophecy for 2012,” said Erik Velasquez, an etchings specialist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). “It’s a marketing fallacy.”

The National Institute of Anthropological History in Mexico has been trying to quell the barrage of forecasters predicting the apocalypse. “The West’s messianic thinking has distorted the world view of ancient civilizations like the Mayans,” the institute said in a statement.

In the Mayan calendar, the long calendar count begins in 3,114 BC and is divided into roughly 394-year periods called Baktuns. Mayans held the number 13 sacred and the 13th Baktun ends next year.

Sven Gronemeyer, a researcher of Mayan codes from La Trobe University in Australia, who has been trying to decode the calendar, said the so-called end day reflects a transition from one era to the next in which Bolon Yokte returns.

“Because Bolon Yokte was already present at the day of creation … it just seemed natural for the Mayan that Bolon Yokte will again be present,” he said.

Of the approximately 15,000 registered glyphic texts found in different parts of what was then the Mayan empire, only two mention 2012, the Institute said.

“The Maya did not think about humanity, global warming or predict the poles would fuse together,” said Alfonso Ladena, a professor from the Complutense University of Madrid. “We project our worries on them.”

Source: Reuters

On December 21, 2012 the world is supposed to end. Well, that is what some people would have you believe.  The idea that something is going to happen in the year 2012 can be traced back to the Mayans. When they devised their calendar they made it with an end date.

The Mayan calendar is divided in to time periods like our calendar.  Our calendar is divided into weeks, months and years. In the Mayan calendar there is a division called b’ak’tun.  December 21, 2012 just happens to mark the end of the last b’ak’tun on the calendar.

Doomsday Theories

The media is heavy with apocalyptic visions of 2012. Plain and simple, there is money to be made every time someone tunes into an “End of the World” thriller on the History Channel or surfs onto a “Run for Your Lives” website.

Of the various scenarios predicted to accompany the end of the world some of the most popular are:

Geomagnetic Reversal

The idea here is that something will cause the magnetic poles of Earth to switch polarity. Perhaps this will be the result of huge solar flares. I don’t really understand why this would be such a catastrophy. I guess it would be very difficult to read a compass if the needle was pointed south.

Planetary Collision

According to this theory, there is a mystery planet known as Nibiru or Planet X. Supposedly it will collide with Earth in 2012.  We don’t really have to be afraid of a planetary collision in 2012.  If an object the size of a planet was destined to hit Earth in 2012, we would already be able to see it in the night sky with the naked eye.

Alignment of Celestial Bodies

This theory purports an alignment of celestial bodies such as Earth, our Sun, black holes and the center of our galaxy. First of all there is no evidence that any type of special alignment is on the horizon.

How to Survive

So, my best advice on how to survive 2012 would be:

Keep doing whatever it is you do on a day to day basis to survive. But BEWARE, there are going to be more and more scammers out there fighting for your money as the fears increase as we get closer to the magic date.

Check out the NASA 2012 Faq page.

Watch as a NASA scientist shoots holes in 2012 theories.

2012 Hoax Site