Posts Tagged With: Mayans

Apocalypse Time

Posted on December 20, 2012 by Darrick Dean

Here’s something to read while you are hunkered down in your bunker tonight waiting for the Mayan Apocalypse: 6 Real Threats Facing the US. Note the article doesn’t list the government’s poor responses to disasters or their driving us to a financial collapse…

It’s probably too late now, but The Mayan and Other Ancient Calendars is an informative little book on the ancient world’s time-keeping. Or for a more detailed examination of their skywatching, try Stairways to the Stars. This book is far more fascinating than those by people who pretend to know something about the Mayans.

There’s still time to go buy canned chicken. Hey, doesn’t hurt to be prepared. It’s not like the government is going to help you out whether it’s Mayans, snowstorms or whatever may come your way.

Categories: Native Americans, Prehistory | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

Mayans: Engineers of the Ancient America

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Darrick Dean

Whereas many are focusing on the Mayan calendar’s supposed world-ending climax in December, others are using this focus on the Mayans to educate on this lost civilization. Engineer and explorer James A. O’Kon has written The Lost Secrets of Maya Technology, a fascinating look at the technology of these people who were for so long considered Stone Age folk.

From pyramids, to grand cities, irrigation and bridges, the Mayans matched and often surpassed civilizations of the Near East and Asia. They didn’t follow the standard model of emerging along riverways, use of animals and stayed relatively isolated from the rest of the world. Yes, they were preceded by the Olmecs, traded and eventually ruled by the Aztecs, and some suggest had at least some transoceanic contact. Yet, they largely seemed to develop on their own the technology that supposedly the primitives of the New World were too simple to figure out.

Eventually, drought and overuse of the land would lead to their downfall. Their cities already abandoned by 1492. Like many peoples, they couldn’t predict the future and thought time was on their side. In their success they felt invincible and they thought their world would never end. It did, as many before and since.

Will humans ever take seriously the history of those who fell before us?

Categories: Ancient America, Native Americans | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Ancient Mayan Astronomers

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Darrick Dean

I’m sure 2012 fanatics will like this: “Ancient Mayan workshop for astronomers discovered.” The Mayans are well known for their sophisticated calendars which are at the root at 2012 fascination. This particular set of finds may extend their calendar beyond the Big End this December. Like many cultures, their science and religion were strongly linked and time keeping was needed for worship purposes. Yet all their knowledge didn’t keep their civilization from ending.

Perhaps something for our own to ponder.

Categories: Ancient America, Ancient Sites, Native Americans | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

“The Myth of 2012”

Posted on December 8, 2011 by Darrick Dean

The current issue (Winter 2011/2012) of American Archaeology has a great article that all 2012 enthusiasts should read. Find out about the one (and only) vague Mayan 2012 reference. Learn that most believe this is simply an end of their calendar cycle, not the end of the world. Also see how 2012 has been made into a commercial opportunity, much like Y2K.

It’s going to be a fun year as the 2012 business gears up. I’m already having flashbacks to 2000. Stay tuned for more.

P.S. I fully expect the return of End Times Hysteria surrounding creative interpretations of Revelation and other biblical books. To head this off, try End Times Fiction and The Apocalypse Code.

Categories: Ancient America, Native Americans | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

11/11/11

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Darrick Dean

Tomorrow is a Big Day for End of the World Buffs and those into number patterns like “time prompt phenomenon.” 11/11/11 is seen by some as a big kick off to the 2012 — the Year-To-End-All-End-of-Time-Years. I wrote about the coming Big Year nearly a year ago. More on tomorrow’s hubbub can be read here.

Will 2012 be bigger than Y2K? People seem to be less optimistic of the world now: Economic chaos, war and corrupt governments all on the increase since 2000 went bust. They’re tired and fed-up so something like this appeals to many. It seems the logical next step for the world. Those of us who think of 2012 as just another year look at all the 2012-talk as a segway into finding ways to push back the problems of the world.

Instead of worrying about disaster, prepare for it [When All Hell Breaks Loose].

Instead of blindly trusting government and letting them divide us, change them [Broke].

Instead of believing in nothing or everything, how about something tangible [Why the Universe is the Way It Is].

And, of course, tomorrow is Veteran’s Day. An important reason to stop and ponder our history and where we may be headed.

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2012, Just Another Year

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Darrick Dean

It’s like Y2K all over again. People are making a fortune writing and talking about 2012. The movie 2012 was entertaining, if not largely implausible. Really, are you going to escape an exploding supervolcano? Or you can breeze through Apocalypse 2012 which is an amusing book that looks into all of the cataclysms we are overdue for and those who peddle end time theories. In any case, this whole “the world is going to end in 2012” started with the Mayan calendar.

The ancient Mayan calendar resets itself at the end of 2012. Technically it is known as the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar and once it reaches the end of the latest 144,000 day period on December 20, 2012, it will reset to zero.

Then what?

Well, nothing. The Mayans didn’t claim the world was going to end.

Sounds like another Y2K bust. On the other hand, humanity hasn’t faced a civilization-wide disaster in some time. Maybe not in 2012, but we have been living scott-free for quite awhile now. The more we study ancient legends and the geology of the planet the more signs of global catastrophe we find. The last Ice Age and the Neolithic era of humanity may have ended because of an impact event (see Cycles of Cosmic Catastrophes). There’s a lot of debate about that one, but many ancient accounts seem to be referring to some major disaster.

In fact, there seems to have been more than one. The end of the Bronze Age may have been hastened by a similar event that ignited volcanoes around the globe and civil unrest. Perhaps not coincidentally, this is about when the events of the Exodus are dated (see The Miracles of Exodus). A global crisis would explain why the mighty Egyptians half-heartedly pursued the Hebrews and let them go to begin with. There’s also a biblical reference to Sea Peoples showing up about this time doing the invasion thing. Displaced from some destroyed land perhaps?

Maybe instead of worrying about 2012, people should be looking to the past to see how mankind made it through such disasters, how they shaped us and what we can learn.

Afterall, when we have localized disasters like hurricanes, floods and oil spills, we have nothing but chaos and confusion. What would we do if something really big happened?

Categories: Ancient America, Legend, Native Americans, Prehistory | Tags: , | Leave a comment

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