The Complete Idiot's Guide to 2012 - Dr. Synthia Andrews Nd [38]
Connecting the Calendars
Correlating the Mayan system to our own has been a daunting feat! We know the Long Count calendar beginning date was 13.0.0.0.0. We know the Tzolk’in date was 4 Ahau and the Haab date was 8 Cumku. Knowing this, can we find the Gregorian correlation?
We can’t rely on information from the Spanish, because the Long Count calendar was no longer in use when they arrived. Any records that may have helped were destroyed. On top of that, the European calendar system was in its own state of disarray. The Julian calendar was inaccurate, and remember, the Gregorian calendar only came into use in 1582. The dates we’re correlating are about a thousand years older than that.
Finding a Link
There was no easy way to find relationships between Mayan dates and European dates. Researchers looked for clues in steles and monuments. In the sixteenth century, the Maya were using a shortened version of the Long Count calendar called the “U Kahlay katunob,” or the count of the katuns.
Researchers eventually discovered a stele inscribing a Mayan event that was also written about in Spanish records. The event on the stele was dated in the katun count as 13 Ahau 8 Xul and related to the Long Count date of 11.16.0.0.0. The event was known to have happened in the year 1539. Finding the day and month in 1539 was just a matter of counting the days on the Long Count and matching day-signs to the Katun. The Gregorian date for 11.16.0.0.0 13 Ahau 8 Xul was determined to be the 12 or 14 of November, 1539.
The accepted relationship between the Gregorian and Mayan calendars is called the GMT (Goodman-Martinez-Thompson) correlation, based on the work of three men, Joseph T. Goodman, Juan Martinez-Hernandez, and J. Eric S. Thompson. The problem is that each person came up with a slightly different day. You can see how easily this could happen, and it was still a major breakthrough. It allowed the beginning and end dates of the Long Count to be determined within a fairly tight range.
Back-Tracking Dates
What does the beginning date of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku in the Long Count calendar equal in the Gregorian calendar? Scholars determined that the Long Count started on August 11, 3114 B.C.E. (or August 12, or August 13).
The Long Count end date is written the same as the beginning date: 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 8 Cumku, only it’s 5,126 years later. Assuming the start day of August 11, 3114 B.C.E., the end date is December 21, 2012 C.E. On this date, the Long Count calendar and the 5,126 year age it records will end.
Celestial Connection
The present Kali Yuga cycle of the Hindus began just 11 years later in 3102 B.C.E. This is supposedly when Lord Krishna disincarnated and then the Kali Yuga began. Kali Yuga is the final and darkest age. For the Maya, this age began at 3114 B.C.E. The first dynasty of Egypt was established circa 3100 B.C.E. The first city in history, Uruk, was founded circa 3100 B.C.E. Uruk was founded by seven wise men at the beginning of history in Mesopotamia. If you look at the history books, you will see that virtually everything we think of as the history of civilization began at that point.
Date Debate
Many researchers agree with the GMT correlation and the end date of December 21, 2012. It has been promoted extensively with new age luminaries such as José Argüelles in his book The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology (see Resources appendix). It’s also promoted by notable alternative archeoastronomists such as John Major Jenkins in his book Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 (see Resources appendix). This version seems to be supported by inscriptions at Palenque and other ancient sites.
However, not everyone agrees. The most notable dissenter is Swedish microbiologist and Mayan researcher Carl Johan Calleman. He believes the end date of the Long Count is actually October 28, 2011. He bases this in part on an adjustment made to the Long Count by Mayan priests in Palenque in 600 C.E. The adjustment was made to correct a 420-day error in the