2012: Myths of Destruction

What is the truth behind all these fears?

Depending on which prophesy, the year 2012 may usher in a day of celebration or a day of
chaos. December 21, 2012 has been marked as a special day ever since the time of the Maya
whose calendar first declared that one fateful day to be the end of a 5,126 year cycle
[ CITATION Van09 \l 13321 ]. Now, just a few years before the day of reckoning, the human
race is forced to consider an approaching apocalyptic nightmare. Only time will tell whether the
year 2012 will be the end, the beginning or a year just like any other. But for now, here are some
myths and ideas that tell what will really happen on the big day.

2012 MYTH #1
The Maya predicted that the world will end in 2012.

The box-office hit movie 2012 may have actually told us that the world will actually end in the
upcoming year of 2012 from the ancient Maya predictions. But some archaeologists say, the
Mayan calendar will not end in 2012 and surprisingly, the Mayans have never viewed 2012 as a
time of the end of the world. But interestingly, the date of December 21, 2012 will be
nonetheless momentous to the Maya. According to Anthony Aveni, a Mayan expert from the
University of Hamilton, it is a time when the largest grand cycle in the Mayan calendar of
1,872,000 days or 5,125.37 years overturns and a new cycle begins.

During their time, the Maya invented the Long Count

which is a lengthy circular calendar that "transplanted
the roots of Maya culture all the way back to creation
itself," Aveni said. The calendar acted as a reference for
historical events in Maya society. Because of the
organization of the Long Count calendar, the dates can
be linked to today’s calendar, allowing historians to
measure the accuracy of the Maya’s method. The Long
Count calendar, according to Aveni, began at August
11, 3114 B.C which the Maya wrote as 13.0.0.0.0.
which is considered as Day Zero and in 2012, it will
reach 13.0.0.0.0. once more, beginning another
enormous cycle. "The idea is that time gets renewed
and that the world gets renewed all over again” Aveni
Figure 1 Long Count Mayan Calendar
said. It is just the same way as time is renewed on New
Year’s Day or even on a Monday morning.

But the big question is, what exactly did the Maya predict for the year of 2012? The Maya did
pass down an undated graphic end-of-the-world scenario text known as the Dresden Codex. The
text describes a world that is destroyed by an apocalyptic flood, much like in the hit movie 2012.
Figures in the text show the Maya goddess Chac Chel, residing in the sky, has water pouring
from its mouth, creating a world covered by water. Also, a number of anthropologists believe
that two phrases in the Codex, meaning “black sky” and “black earth," also imply the end of the
world. But still, anthropologists generally see the images in the Codex as simply part of Maya
cosmology while some believe that the scenario must not be read literally, but should be seen as
a lesson on human behaviour. Simply put that is just like a New Year period, when the closing is
accompanied by too much activities and stress, which is then followed by a rebirth period, when
many people resolve to begin living for the better.

Figure 2: Dresden Codex

2012 MYTH #2
The Pole-Shift Theories

Due to a variety of environmental or man-made factors, the north and south poles of Earth are
not entirely at rest. There are many theories as to why this is so, and what this means. One is the
theory proposed by a psychic Edgar Cayce in 1934. The occurrence
of a pole shift, where the poles would move dramatically, could
cause the Earth's crust to move over the mantle and core, which can
be simply compared to “an orange skin floating around above the
pulpy fruit”[ CITATION Pat09 \l 13321 ]. This could result in major
tsunamis, dramatic earthquakes and volcanoes, and intense climate
change as the continents are pushed halfway across the globe from their current locations.
Another pole-shift theory by a French Mathematician, Joseph Adhemar, in 1842 proposed that a
melting and the sudden collapse of polar ice caps would destabilize the earth’s centre of gravity,
which will then cause a great tsunami[ CITATION Pat09 \l 13321 ]. Another interesting theory
by the electrical engineer, Auchinloss Brown, in 1948 proposed that the increasing mass of the
Antarctic ice-cap would suddenly and catastrophically tip the earth over like an unbalance
spinning top which then causes global destruction[ CITATION Pat09 \l 13321 ]. Finally, another
pole-shift theory was proposed by the History professor Charles Hapgood. In his book, The
Earth’s Shifting Crust, published in the late 1950s which even featured a foreword written by
Albert Einstein, basically says that the destabilizing build-up of the polar ice-caps could cause
earth’s crust to slip over its molten core, resulting to climate change as the equatorial regions of
the Earth shift toward the poles[ CITATION Ein09 \l 13321 ]. What is surprisingly common with
all these theories is that they all suggest that the so-called pole-shift will start happening in the
early 21st century and many already believe that this will happen in the upcoming year of 2012.

2012 MYTH #3
The sun will savage the earth.

Our friendly neighbourhood star, the sun will soon produce lethal
eruptions of solar flares in 2012. For every 11 years approximately,
the number of sunspots on the sun peaks at what is called the solar
maximum and these sunspots, giant magnetic storms, appearing as
dark patches on the sun’s surface, release solar flares that vary in
intensity [ CITATION Ann09 \l 13321 ]. Experts say that the next
solar maximum is due in 2012 and if the powerful solar flares manage to penetrate the Earth’s
weakening magnetic shield, damaging radiation greatly threatens the humankind. But according
to David Morrison, the senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute, these solar flares
may not peak in at 2012 but more likely in a year or two later.

2012 MYTH #4
The Planet X is on a collision with the Earth.

Figure 3 Image of dwarf planet Eris

[Source: NASA]
Some say it's out there, a mysterious Planet X, aka Nibiru, is on a collision course with Earth or
at least it is a disruptive flyby. Author Zecharia Sitchin who published a 5,000-year-old tale of
planet Nibiru, which orbits the sun beyond Pluto and also a home to a race of beings called the
Annunaki [ CITATION Van09 \l 13321 ]. Although it was dismissed by many as a myth, some
believe that because of an unusual orbit, Nibiru is set to disrupt Earth in 2012. Recent science
has indeed discovered a planetary body that is slightly larger than Pluto and three times farther
from the sun, named Eris. Despite assurances from the NASA that Eris is not headed anywhere
near Earth, followers of Sitchin’s text fear that Eris is indeed Nibiru and will follow an
unpredictable orbit, coming close enough to the solar system that its gravitational pull could
dramatically alter the face of the Earth, causing great destruction on our gravity and
electromagnetic fields.

2012 MYTH #5
Terrence McKenna’s Timewave Zero

In the early 1970s, Terence McKenna utilized the I Ching, the ancient Chinese book of
divination, to determine a mathematical formula he called "timewave zero" and created a
computer program that produces “time wave” which maps something called “novelty” across the
scale of time[ CITATION Ter06 \l 13321 ]. According to his research, this formula predicts that
time will form into tighter and tighter spirals until the “final time” is reached. When this
happens, the laws of physics as everyone currently experiences will no longer apply, and the
world will suddenly enter a new era with new, unknown laws[ CITATION Bri09 \l 13321 ]. And
guess what? The mapping of this scale of time also mysteriously ends in December 21, 2012.

After reading all these, do you really believe that something big will happen in the year 2012? Is
it an end, a beginning or just another year? Think about it. What are your thoughts? Share it with
your friends or anyone you know! 
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Image of Eris. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington.

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