The Everything Guide to 2012

Transcription

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2 The Everything Guide to 2012 Dear Reader, You may have heard about the significance of 2012 from any one of a number of sources: books, films, friends, or websites. The closer we get to this year, the more intense the speculation about what may or may not happen becomes. You may have heard about prophecies that foretell doom. Alternately, you may have heard that this date signifies a fundamental change in human consciousness and a planetary shift into a new age. I am happy to share with you the research I have gathered over the last decade. The search for the meaning behind 2012 has been an incredible adventure that has taken me from conversations with indigenous elders at sacred sites to discussions with researchers on the cutting edge of new science. I will leave you to make your own conclusions from the evidence presented here, but my personal belief is that 2012 represents an extraordinary opportunity for positive change for both humanity and our planet. The road to 2012 may not be the best paved or straightest route, and there may well be a few large bumps along the way, but it certainly is heading somewhere interesting. I hope you enjoy this book and find in it the same inspiration I did in writing it. 2

3 Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series! These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten. You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too. We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wideranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When you re done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything! PUBLISHER Karen Cooper DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION Paula Munier MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing ASSOCIATE DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Elizabeth Kassab EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hillary Thompson EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander LAYOUT DESIGNERS Colleen Cunningham, Elisabeth Lariviere, Ashley Vierra, Denise Wallace 3

4 Visit the entire Everything series at 4

5 THE GUIDE TO 2012 All you need to know about the theories, beliefs, and history surrounding the ancient Mayan prophecies Mark Heley 5

6 I would like to dedicate this book to the memory of Oliver L. Reiser, the cosmic synergist who saw all of this coming. 6

7 Copyright 2009 by F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. An Everything Series Book. Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc. Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc. 57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA U.S.A. ISBN 10: ISBN 13: Printed in the United States of America. J I H G F E D C B A Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the publisher. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases. For information, please call

8 Contents The Top Ten Interesting Ideas about What Might Happen in 2012 Introduction 01 Who Are the Maya? The Rise of a Civilization The Center of Mayan Life Contrasting the Mayan Sense of Time with Our Own Cycles Within Cycles The Cult of Time The Disappearance of the Maya 02 The Mayan Calendar The Mayan System of Numbers The Twenty Day Signs The Tzolkin The Haab The Calendar Round 03 Prophecies of the Maya The Origins of the Long Count The Venus Round The Short Count and the Books of Chilam Balam The Fall of Mayapan The Tortuguero Prophecy 04 The Maya Today It Takes a Village Honoring the Directions The Fifth and Sixth Worlds of Creation Don Alejandro Cirillo Hunbatz Men Carlos Barrios 8

9 05 Harmonic Convergence and the Mayan Factor The Feathered Serpent The Harmonic Convergence The Mayan Factor Accelerating Times The Mathemagic of the Calendar 06 Dreamspell and the Thirteen-Moon Calendar Dreamspell, the Journey of Timeship Earth Time as Art Replaces Time as Money The Thirteen Tones of Creation The Calendar Controversy The Thirteen-Moon Calendar Change Movement The Planet Art Network 07 The Pyramids of Time The Wave of History The World Tree The Nine-Level Pyramid of the Underworld The Debate about the Mayan Calendar End Date Venus Transits Speculations and Interpretations 08 Mayan Calendar Almanac An Introduction to Using the Calendar The Traditional Count New Age Interpretation of the Tzolkin Finding Your Day Sign The Twenty Day Signs The Thirteen Tones of Creation Following the Wavespell The Thirteen Numbers and Their Powers 09 The Galactic Alignment 9

10 Precession of the Equinoxes The Winter Solstice Galactic Alignment Galactic Cycles The Discoveries at Izapa The Mayan Creation Event The Possible Effects of the Galactic Alignment 10 The Fractal at the End of Time Psychedelics and 2012 The I Ching as a Lunar Calendar Novelty Theory The Timewave Predictions for 2012 Critique of the Timewave 11 Surfing the Galactic Superwave Galactic Superwave Theory The Great Flood and Ice Melt Superluminal Gravitational Waves and the Asian Tsunami Geocosmic Cycles and Magnetic Pole Reversal Precession, 2012, and Superwaves 12 Plasma Changes in the Solar System The Role of Plasma in Recent Solar System Changes Changes to the Sun The Maunder Minimum Solar Shutdown Cosmic Rays and Climate Change 13 Earth Changes and the Pole Shift Earth Changes The Magnetic Pole Shift The Impact of Technological Civilization on the Biosphere Changes in the Magnetic Field Affecting Nature Responding to the Electromagnetic Crisis Electromagnetic Disruption 10

11 Magnetic Versus Physical Pole Shift 14 Atmospheric Plasma and UFOs Self-Luminous Formations Plasmic Weather Phenomena Large-Scale Natural Self-Luminous Formations Project Condign and UFOs Are Plasmas Alive? Plasmic Effects Expected to Increase Toward Crop Circles and Orbs Orbs in Folklore Orbs in Digital Photography Orbs and Meditation Plasma Vortex Theory of Crop Circle Creation 16 The Symbolic Language of Crop Circles The Evolution of Crop Circle Formations Fractal Crop Formations Message Crop Formations Messages from Aliens? Crop Formations and the Mayan Calendar The 2012 Crop Formation 17 Planet X and Nemesis The Search for Planet X The Outer Planets Nibiru and the Destroyer The Secrets of the Oort Cloud The Search for Nemesis the Death Star WISE: The Telescope That Could Solve the Mystery 18 The Binary Star Theory The Change from a Geocentric to Heliocentric Worldview The Change from a Heliocentric to a Galactocentric Worldview 11

12 Walter Cruttenden and the Binary Research Institute Does Nemesis Cause Precession? Are You Sirius? Myths of Precession The Yuga Cycle Binary Stars and EM Fields Critiques of the Binary Star Theory 19 The Chaos Point and the Noosphere The Global Tipping Point Chaos Theory The Civilization of Holos The Biosphere The Gaia Hypothesis The Noosphere The Omega Point The Telepathic Human 20 The Global Brain and the Singularity The Global Brain The Technological Singularity Transhumanism Which Theory to Choose? Cosmic Synergism 21 What Can We Do? What Will Happen in 2012? Low Probability Catastrophic Events Higher Probability Global Crisis Events Peak Oil and the Deindustrial Revolution Life in the Noosphere Coherence Preparing for 2012 Planetization Versus Globalization Appendix A: A Glossary of Mayan Words 12

13 Appendix B: A Glossary of Scientific Terms Appendix C: Online Resources Appendix D: Text Resources Index 13

14 Praise for The Everything Guide to 2012: Mark Heley s The Everything Guide to 2012 is a brilliant, well-written, and exciting summary of why we should be considering the possibility of great changes in the very near future. Even those of us who think we know all about 2012 will learn a lot from this book. What an amazing piece of work! Geoff Stray, Mayan calendar expert and author of Beyond 2012: Catastrophe or Ecstasy? Fasten your seatbelts and join Heley on this wild ride through the physical and psychic prospects just ahead of us. Daniel Pinchbeck, author of the bestselling book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl and Toward 2012: Perspectives on the Next Age Read this one book and you will know everything there is to know that matters about Gripping, thought-provoking, surprising, and informative from beginning to end. Graham Hancock, author Fingerprints of the Gods 14

15 Acknowledgments I would like to thank all of the amazing and inspiring teachers and sharers of knowledge I have met on the road to I have been lucky enough to spend time with many of the people whose ideas are written about in this book and I am deeply grateful to all of them. Special thanks go to Jose Argüellés, John Major Jenkins, Terence McKenna, Daniel Pinchbeck, and Hunbatz Men. An extra-big thank you to Geoff Stray for the generous loan of rare books, frequent conversations, and selfless sharing of knowledge. You are definitely the most cosmic bus driver. I would also like to thank Daphne Lorian, Tammy Newcomer, Chris Mitchell, Louis Standen, Finn O Brien, and all my friends and family for their love, support, and encouragement. I would also like to thank Lisa Laing and Adams Media for their trust and patience. 15

16 The Top Ten Interesting Ideas about What Might Happen in December 21, 2012, is the end of a 5,125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar. This is the very last day this ancient calendar counts up to. 2. In 2012, the winter solstice sun will rise in conjunction with the center of the galaxy. This alignment only happens once every 26,000 years. 3. A prediction based on the ancient Chinese oracle of the I Ching claims that time itself may end in is the peak of the next sunspot cycle, when the sun s magnetic poles are due to reverse. NASA scientists are predicting the possibility of a large solar flare that could affect worldwide communication. 5. The magnetic field of our planet is weakening and the magnetic poles are shifting at an accelerating pace. Some researchers think that this means a pole shift is possible in The amount of cosmic radiation entering our solar system has doubled in the last decade. By 2012, these changes may be producing significant effects on our climate, increasing extreme weather events and even the development of human ESP and telepathy. 7. By 2012, there may be proof our sun is part of a binary star system. Our companion star may have played a role in a cycle of catastrophes that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. 8. Crop circle formations found in the English countryside seem to encode a series of astronomical messages relating to Global oil production will be going into decline by 2012 and more than half of the world s oil reserves will have been used up. 10. Some analysts are predicting that in 2012, society will reach a global tipping point where stark choices will have to be made about the future of human civilization. 16

17 Introduction ON DECEMBER 21, 2012, one of the most important cycles in the Mayan calendar ends. This is the 5,125-year cycle that is also known as the thirteen baktuns. What is striking about this date is that it is the last date the Maya counted up to. Why is this important? The Maya were sophisticated astronomers and mathematicians. Their calculations of the cycles of eclipses and the motions of Venus are very nearly as accurate as those made by modern astronomy, even though they were made with the naked eye many hundreds of years ago. Their calendar system is one of the most refined and ingenious ever known, far surpassing even the modern-day Gregorian calendar in many ways. Did the Maya know that something was going to happen around December 21, 2012? They certainly believed that the world had been destroyed several times previously. In each case humanity was remade in some way so that life could once again continue. Some of the few remaining authentic Mayan prophecies also speak about the destruction of this world at the end of this cycle. The first part of this book is dedicated to an overview of the Maya and their calendar system. There will be an explanation of how the calendar works, what it is used for, and how to use it. The author, John Major Jenkins, has put forward a theory that the end of the Mayan calendar marks a thirty-year period that only happens once every 26,000 years, when the winter solstice sun rises in conjunction with the center of the galaxy. Jenkins believes this galactic alignment tells us the Maya understood an important astronomical cycle called the precession of the equinoxes. This describes the way the stellar background relates to the rising sun on a fixed day of the year changes over time. Every 26,000 years, that background will move through every sign of the zodiac and come back to where it started. Does the mythology of the zodiac warn us that this cycle marks the rise and fall of human civilizations? On the great celestial clock of the zodiac, the galactic alignment of 2012 seems to mark the midnight hour. This is the point at which the old cycle ends and a new world age begins. According to the astrophysicist Dr. Paul LaViolette, the zodiac and the cycle of precession may also encode the key to understanding a cycle of huge outbursts of energy that seem to emanate from the center of our galaxy. LaViolette has named these galactic superwaves, massive ripples in gravity that are powerful enough to ignite supernovas in their paths. LaViolette believes we may be due for a superwave event in the near future, and the ending of the Mayan calendar in 2012 may even mark this. These ideas and many others will be covered in depth in the following chapters. Different theories suggest that the precession of the equinoxes could 17

18 affect climate change, cycles of catastrophe on Earth, and even the process of evolution itself. That our world is currently going through a significant crisis is no longer a controversial opinion. Financial instability, depletion of resources, the extinction of species, and booming population growth are all forcing us to review humanity s relationship to the planet. Many of these factors seem to be coming to a point of convergence in the near future. At this critical juncture, the fundamental values of our global culture may have to change in order for humanity to survive. A number of writers, including Professor Ervin Laszlo, the author of The Chaos Point, are suggesting that this could coincide with Is it possible that despite all the technology, transport systems, and communication networks of our global industrial society we are subject to the same influences that caused the collapse of the great Mayan culture? To answer that, first we must meet the Maya. 18

19 CHAPTER 1 Who Are the Maya? The Maya are a group of tribal peoples who live in an area of Central America stretching from the Chiapas region of Mexico down through Guatemala and modern day Honduras. The indigenous Maya still follow the traditions of their ancestors, and though they have been subjected to severe persecution over the centuries that has not abated fully even today, they have kept their traditions and culture alive. The Rise of a Civilization The Mayan people gave rise to a remarkable civilization that flourished for about 600 years, from around A.D. 300 to A.D This period is usually called the classic period. The period leading up to it is referred to as the preclassic or formative. The period after the classic period is the postclassic or Mexican. The beginning date of the classic period roughly corresponds to the first date that an inscription of the Mayan calendar appears and the ending date to the last point at which distinctively Mayan architecture was being built. This was a rich period for culture in Central America, and the Maya were surrounded by several other strong civilizations, including the Zapotec, centered around Monte Alban in Oaxaca; the Teotihuacán near present-day Mexico City; the Olmec of southern Veracruz; and the Totonac of northern Veracruz. During this period the Maya built a whole series of city-states typified by elaborate ceremonial complexes with remarkable step pyramids, ceremonial ball courts, and other buildings sometimes called monasteries or palaces, though they may have been neither. The centers of the cities were almost exclusively ceremonial structures on a grand scale. The pyramids and other buildings were often very ornately decorated with features such as stylistic heads of jaguar or rain gods; elaborate murals featuring scenes of battle, the taking of prisoners, and human sacrifice; complex date inscriptions rendered in hieroglyphs; and statuary of kings and gods. A Ceremonial Elite The centers were inhabited by the aristocratic and priestly elite who were responsible for the ceremonies and divinations the rest of the Maya relied 19

20 upon. The majority of the Maya lived in small buildings that clustered around these centers and worked in small fields and gardens that radiated out into the rainforests and mountainsides. They would come into the centers to hear the oracles spoken by the priests and to participate in the frequent ceremonies that made up the round of Mayan life. They understood these practices were necessary to fulfill needs of their gods so the harvests would be good and plagues and famines could be avoided. This aristocratic class of shamanic intermediaries practiced bloodletting, astrological divination, and sometimes human sacrifice on behalf of the gods. They wore elaborate headdresses and ornamental costumes, made complex pottery, and carved statues in stucco and stone. They also developed one of the most sophisticated calendrical systems ever devised and took every opportunity to record in extraordinary detail every possible cycle of time they could find. For Mayan priests, bloodletting was related to divinatory practices and ceremonial preparation. In order to cleanse themselves for a ceremony, they would offer a blood sacrifice every day for a specified number of days leading up to an event. Techniques included piercing the ears, passing a cord of thorns through the tongue, and even drawing blood from the penis using a stingray spine! For the classic-era Mayan civilization, the measurement of different cycles of time was an all-consuming passion at the very center of their culture. It is necessary to understand just how important it was in order to fully comprehend their unique and extremely evolved world view. In fact, the whole development of the Mayan form of writing, a system using symbolic pictures called hieroglyphs, was based on a desire to record different moments in time as accurately as possible. The Center of Mayan Life The way the Maya viewed time is radically different from the way most people living in the industrialized world see it today. Time wasn t something to be spent or whiled away or even passed. For the Maya, time was the essential center of their culture, an allimportant singular focus that pervaded every aspect of their way of life. The question, What time is it? was a monumental search for meaning that was conducted daily throughout the civilization. Its answers were given on 20