2012: It’s the end of the world… Again.

This summer, while on the Chi O EBoard retreat with some of the girls (a sorority thing for those of you who are confused), I remember talking about the end of the world and 2012, which is supposedly when the world is going to end according to the Mayan calendar and I promised my Little Sis Lauren, who was a little concerned (hehe), that I would find out the real story for her when I got down here.

Well, good news Lauren! The world probably isn't going to end in 2012. This time.

If you haven't heard, the circular Mayan calendar is supposed to end sometime in December in the year 2012. If you don’t know anything about the Maya, one of the reasons they are so historically significant is because of their extraordinary achievements in astronomy, mathematics (they were the first ancient civilization to come up with the concept of zero, which is apparently a big deal), and their extremely accurate calendar and time system. All of this transferred into their religion and religious architecture. For example at Uxmal, the main pyramid is perfectly aligned so that on the summer and fall equinoxes the sun is perfectly aligned in the doorway at the top. Or probably the most famous example, at Chitzen Itza, on the solstice at sunrise and sunset, the layers of the pyramid are aligned just right so that it the light reflecting on the stairs gives the illusion of a snake ascending or descending the pyramid as the sun rises or sets.

Anyways (can you tell I've been paying attention in my history class?), the Mayan calendar is so accurate, that some people believe that because the calendar ends, the world does too. Really, it’s a fun myth to think about, but then it just seems silly after you learn a little bit about the Maya and their religious culture.

The Maya, or at least some of the religious sects of the Maya (they all had different gods depending on the location or group of people- they weren't a big cohesive culture, but actually a bunch of different city-states), believed that the world existed in stages, and that it had been through four stages of destruction and rebirth. They believed that they lived in the fifth and final age, and that their destruction was eminent. They also believed that the only way they could prolong their time was through the intervention of the Gods, who they tried to please and worship by human sacrifice.

So, every 52 years, which was the Mayan century or something like it, they thought the world was going to come to an end unless they could convince their gods otherwise. In order to keep the Gods from ending their world, they would have the New Fire ceremony where they would have ritual sacrifices, dances, music, break all of their dishes (to signify the destruction of the works of man or something like that) and put all of the fires out in the cities. Then, if they were lucky, the sun would rise the next day signifying that the Gods gave them another 52 years, or it wouldn't and the world would end and they were all screwed.

Obviously, the world didn't end, and odds are, its not going to end this time either. Although, there have been a lot of crazy natural disasters the past few years. Maybe we should through a party, find someone to sacrifice and break all of our dishes too. I volunteer my parent's house for the New Fire party (sorry Mom, looks like you're going to have to find some new plates).

But if the world does end, Kevin Gorey (one of the guys on the trip) and I already have our houses picked out of the ruins at Tulum- we figure they've stayed in tact for this long, odds are they'll still be there then too. Plus they have a great view.