The Mayans, 2012, and Us

     I love sales, don't you?  I received an email a few weeks ago from Sounds True about a slew of products that were on sale (killer prices!) and a few items piqued my interest.  One was Unlocking the Secrets of 2012 by John Major Jenkins.  I've been listening to it on my otherwise dreary drive to work (it keeps me from screaming at other drivers -- yeah, I'm spiritual), and found it fascinating!

     Here's a little of what I've learned.  First, the December 21, 2012 "end date" is not really an end date in the Mayan world view because their concept of time is circular. To the Mayans, time has no beginning or end, just variations or changes in a cycle.  Think of how the sun starts every day in the east, waxes toward noon, sits high overhead for a bit, wanes toward the afternoon, and sets in the west.  Or think of how the seasons run in a continuing cycle -- winter wanes as spring takes hold in all its splendor, then summer rolls around with its full-throated heat and growth season, then fall draws us inward as we descend into winter again.  Or, considering my special interest, think of Twin Souls.  We begin as one, make the decision to split into two separate but connected souls, experience two different life lines (sometimes for centuries), find each other, blow apart, grow, and then come back together.  Or think of our breath -- we breathe in, release the air, rest, and repeat. This view of time better reflects life on Earth than the concept of a 'time line' that we all learned in elementary school.

     For this reason, the Mayans who still live and follow their calendar in the highlands of Guatemala are not getting all hot and bothered by the 12/21/12 date.  They don't see this date as a time of apocalypse, but of a new beginning, a new birth.  More on that next time.

     I love sales, don't you?