December 2012

[helen]

Depending on the sources either December 21 or December 23, 2012 is when the Mayan Calendar ends or resets itself after 5,000+ years of keeping track of dates. What happens on or after those dates, well different people have different views of what might happen.

If you want express your views about this event then this thread is the place for it. If you want to talk about the movie 2012 which opens November 13 please go to the thread titled 2012 in The Big Picture subforum.

[Kaonohi]

One thing for sure, there will be a lot of people out there just itching to make money out of our fears.
Another thing: If it is the end of the world, there's not much we can do about it.

Just in case it's not, don't throw your money away.

I've heard just about everything from a pole shift, a magnetic shift, the return of the twelfth planet 'Niburu,' comets, asteroids and so on.

The Mayan 5,200-year cycle has passed by approximately six or seven times since homo-sapiens-sapiens evolved upon this Earth. Perhaps the ruins we have uncovered older than 5,000 years ago are destroyed civilizations from previous disasters, but we survived.

Catastrophic changes can come at any time, without warning. I'm not going to lose any sleep over this one.

K.

[matapule]

Archaeologists have interpreted the Mayan Calendar and it does, in fact end in December, 2012. But here is the rest of the story. The Mayan Calendar starts anew after that date. It is like your desk calendar, when the year ends, you throw it out and put a new one in its place for the new year. The difference is that the our Gregorian Calendar is based on the annual solar cycle. The Mayan Calendar is based on some other cycle composed of generations. (I'll try to find the link)

The idea that the world is going to end in December, 2012 based on a Mayan Calendar is nothing but tu'u mama'o.

[Leo Lakio]

Does the Dec. 2012 Mayan prediction take into account the adjustments made when shifting from the Julian to Gregorian calendar?

[Sharilyn]

December 23 is right before Christmas. I wonder how that will influence holiday shoppers and travellers?

[surlygirly]

I worked at Bank of America during the change from 1999-2000. That was total chaos. People were coming in to buy all denominations of money (even $2 bills and .50 coins), people buried money in their yards. The worst part was, the city workers got paid on Fridays, but they decided to pay them on Thursday, 12-30 instead without informing any of the banks. We were a small branch and we hadn't ordered enough money from the Fed Reserve, so we ran out of money since tons of people were cashing checks a day earlier than normal. People started FREAKING OUT and one guy started praying outside in the parking lot. Nightmare!

As for 2012- well, the Bible says God will come back like a thief in the night, when no one is suspecting it. I would venture a guess that a lot of people will be suspecting it all that year. So maybe not the best choice, huh? But I really wish the History channel would quit Doomsdaying us. It's quite annoying and, I'll admit it, just a little scary.

[Walkoff Balk]

Y2K12 is near.

[SusieMisajon]

That date is just a few days after my last mortgage payment. Could be the biggest joke on me, ever.

[Vanguard]

Everyone has made out December 2012 to be a bad thing, but maybe it can be a good thing! Perhaps it's going to the next stage in human development -- we'll all get special abilities like on Heroes, surely!

Archaeologists have interpreted the Mayan Calendar and it does, in fact end in December, 2012. But here is the rest of the story. The Mayan Calendar starts anew after that date. It is like your desk calendar, when the year ends, you throw it out and put a new one in its place for the new year. The difference is that the our Gregorian Calendar is based on the annual solar cycle. The Mayan Calendar is based on some other cycle composed of generations. (I'll try to find the link)

The idea that the world is going to end in December, 2012 based on a Mayan Calendar is nothing but tu'u mama'o.

I like this explanation best.

[Nords]

It is like your desk calendar, when the year ends, you throw it out and put a new one in its place for the new year.

Is the Mayan calendar the one carved out of a huge rock that weighs tons?

I can see why they made it go as far as possible before they had to start on a new edition. Not like buying another Dilbert or Far Side model...

[Peshkwe]

The only thing scientifically guaranteed to happen for 2011-2012 is more sunspot activity and solar storms.

Y'all might even get to see the northern lights:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...larcycle24.htm

[Barry]

The only thing scientifically guaranteed to happen for 2011-2012 is more sunspot activity and solar storms.

Y'all might even get to see the northern lights:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...larcycle24.htm

An hour or twos drive from me and I am in Scotland. From there the northern lights come down like wavering coloured curtains. Great when you get a guy to play the bagpipes while this is happening. You feel like you are in a different world.

[Peshkwe]

An hour or twos drive from me and I am in Scotland. From there the northern lights come down like wavering coloured curtains. Great when you get a guy to play the bagpipes while this is happening. You feel like you are in a different world.

Try laying on your back, on a floating platform 'raft' in the middle of a secluded northern Michigan lake and the only lights around are stars and the the sky's party lights.

Major coolness!

[cyleet99]

Check out this website. Very cool pro vs. con presentations.

I love BoingBoing.

[salmoned]

The Mayan 5,200-year cycle has passed by approximately six or seven times since homo-sapiens-sapiens evolved upon this Earth.
K.

Current estimate is around 40 times, not 6 or 7. Oldest found - 195,000 years old.

[craigwatanabe]

Current estimate is around 40 times, not 6 or 7. Oldest found - 195,000 years old.

If this calander is cyclical then it should go back as far as when the Earth was created which would be in the what billions or millions of years?

My sister should get a kick outta this event since her birthday is on December 21st.

[Leo Lakio]

My sister should get a kick outta this event since her birthday is on December 21st.

Make sure you get her one of those "today is the first day of the rest of your life"-type cards.

[buzz1941]

http://www.starbulletin.com/features...ay_denied.html

[craigwatanabe]

Make sure you get her one of those "today is the first day of the rest of your life"-type cards.

I would but she's a Jehova's Witness. I'll bet if the end of the world happens on 12/21/12, the JW's would have never seen it coming since the JW that comes to my house every Saturday hasn't mentioned anything about it.

[Kaonohi]

Current estimate is around 40 times, not 6 or 7. Oldest found - 195,000 years old.

Amazing! Thanks for the correction - I was unaware of the latest fossil data from the 2005 study.

K

[HawaiiMama]

Surlygirly said this:

"As for 2012- well, the Bible says God will come back like a thief in the night, when no one is suspecting it. I would venture a guess that a lot of people will be suspecting it all that year. So maybe not the best choice, huh?"

And that is how I feel, too. My husband's kinda into it and reading all about it, etc., but since I firmly believe in the word of God, I'm not buying the Mayan stuff. I suspect God knows more than the Mayans--or anyone else--ever did!

[Kaonohi]

And that is how I feel, too. My husband's kinda into it and reading all about it, etc., but since I firmly believe in the word of God, I'm not buying the Mayan stuff. I suspect God knows more than the Mayans--or anyone else--ever did!

Certainly the Supreme Being knows more than we mere mortals, but how can we tell what is from God and what is from man (and possibly influenced by fallen angels)?

According to the Mormon Word of God, Jesus also came to the Americas; perhaps he gave the Mayan Indians the calendar? What is the "right" religion? The Catholic Church of Rome, founded by Peter? "Thy name is now Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." Or the Protester churches founded by Martin Luther? Or is it someone else???? Maybe me? Maybe YOU!

As far as he KJV of the Jewish/Christian Bible goes, the apostle Paul said many things that contradicted the Words of Jesus, and Jesus said, "All these things will happen before this generation passeth away."

If you depend on faith, blind faith, for your security and guidance, that is your decision. But let us not judge others (I'm not saying you are) if they want to research and compare various revelations from other cultures to help find the truth.

Speak your truth to those who listen, and listen to others in case they may find a truth from God that the pagan emperor Constantine decided shouldn't be included in the "official" Bible as dictated by a pagan Roman emperor.

Perhaps there is "one truth" - no, I'm certain there is "one truth." However, I am also certain that mankind does not yet know it, because of negative (satanic?) influences upon our efforts. I think it is incumbent upon us all to "seek" so we shall find. "Ye that have ears, let ye hear!"

We know the basics; start there. Ask your spiritual connection (Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, whomever) for guidance. Follow your path and if you are revealed to be a prophet, share your prophesies.

As for me, I am certain that there is a higher power in the Universe, and as intelligent, evolved parts of that creation we enjoy a special place in the creation.

This does not mean we don't have to strive, to work, to LEARN....
That's our job:
We can know the creator by:
1. studying the creation,
2. examining critically those texts(works) that came before us,
3. examining the teachings in light of personal experience,
4. putting our conclusions into actions,
and seeing whether it makes a better world.

Mine do.
I will not pretend to know everything - I do not.

I study. I strive to understand. More, I strive to not be misled.

Do good works, even though that will not save you, it is right.
Love ye one another - the most important directive in all of time.

K

[surlygirly]

I didn't mean to turn this into a religious debate. Truthfully- the fact that this could be ending so soon scares me very much. I know I could die tomorrow or next week. But thinking about all the horrible, awful things the History Channel shows and all the supposed fires and plagues and wars, along with the fact that I don't feel as though I've fulfuilled whatever purpose I've been put here for yet- having it all end in 2 years just scares me. Like COMPLETELY freaks me out. And what I said above about God coming back when no one expects it is really the only little bit of "proof" I have that it won't happen. Other things in the Bible contradict that, sure. And, yes, it's easy to delude myself into holding onto one little line from a Bible when I don't even go to Church anymore. But the mind is a powerful thing, and if that's what keeps me calm, I'm gonna hang onto that.

[Leo Lakio]

... and if that's what keeps me calm, I'm gonna hang onto that.

That, and stop watching the History Channel for a couple of years.

[cyleet99]

Hear, hear Leo. I cannot watch that stuff for long without fears seeping into my consciousness.

Another idea from the Bible I like to remember is that your eyes are the window to your heart. What you put in front of the eyes can imbed itself in your heart, so "be careful little eyes what you see" is not only for children.

My DH loves to watch post-Armageddon movies, and there are quite a few out there; not just Dr. Strangelove. He was watching a particular one entitled Threads, and I had to leave the room. Too much for me. It took me a week to get the stuff out of my head.

I'm just a wuss when it comes to some things. Well, really, a lot of things.