Mayan Long Count Calendar

After over 5,126 years, the Mayan long count calendar is coming to an end.  The long count was not the only calendar used by the Mayans.  They had two yearly calendars: the solar and the religious.  They also had a 52-year span called a calendar round.  My goal here is to give you a firm grasp of the Mayan system for calendars and help you further understand the significance of the long count.

The solar calendar lasted 365 days and was comprised of 18 20-day months with an additional 5 days at the end.  This calendar was known as the Haab and was based on astrology.

The religious calendar was 260 days long and consisted on 20 13-day months.  This calendar was known as the Tzolk’in.  The Mayans believed that every day was a new god whose behavior could be predicted by using the two yearly calendars.

These two calendars went together like meshed gears so that every day could be found using either calendar.  The days did not repeat for 52 years.  The first day of the first Haab (solar) calendar was the first day of the first Tzolk’in (religious) calendar; however, the first day of the second Haab calendar (the 366th day) was the 106th day of the second Tzolk’in calendar, because the Tzolk’in calendar had started year two on only the 261st day of the Haab calendar (our September).  Every 52 years this cycle would repeat and that 52-year span was referred to as the calendar round.

There are people who will say that the ending of the Mayan Long Count calendar is just like the end of one of our yearly calendars… that its ending means nothing except that you need to purchase another calendar.  These people are either fools, uneducated, or intentionally over-simplifying the truth.  The Mayans had yearly calendars – hell, they had two!  The long count signifies an age.  According to their legends, each age ended dramatically (one of which many believe was Noah’s flood).  There are a few websites that say one age ended in fire, another in wind, and another in water – one website even suggests that this age could end in earthquakes.  (However, it must be noted that I can find no documentation for this beyond a few un-sourced websites.)  Regardless, these are merely legends.  Also, the earth survived every time!

So, if anyone says something foolish to you like “It just means you need to buy another calendar” or “They probably ran out of rock to carve on,” you will know to pity their little minds.  The long count calendar is nothing like your yearly wall calendar at home, it is entirely different.  The Mayan Long Count is widely considered the most accurate time keeping system known to man.

The premise of the long count put simply is to add a number after every day of an age until you get to the last day.  In their counting system, the last day would look like this: 13,0,0,0,0.  They add another number for every day and this goes on for over 5000 years!  Imagine getting up in the morning and saying, “It’s day 153,783 and the weather is great!”

Now, after all these individual days being counted one-by-one, we are reaching the final day of the Mayan long count.  You can tell your great-great grandchildren that you were alive during the dawning of a new age!  It will be over 250 generations before the next Mayan long count ends.

You may also be interested in these articles:

• Who Predicted the End of the World in 2012, Nostradamus or the Mayans?
• Five Frightening Signs the World Will End in 2012

Mayan Calendar Predictions

Do you think the world will be coming to a complete stop? That in December 2012 there will be cataclysmic and maybe even transformative events taking place? Let’s take a quick look through the calendar that has been used by the Mayans dating all the way back to the 6th century BC.

The Mayan calendar is made up of two calendars combined. The Tzolkin has 260 days and the Haab has 365 days, these two combined form synchronized cycles of 52 Haabs, known as the Calendar Rounds. The Haab and Tzolkin are usually run for short term cycles of 13 to 20 days. There is another form of calendar used to count longer cycles, this calendar is called the Long Round calendar. Between these two Mayan calendars there have been many predictions derived from their complex system.

There are also nine writings, which contribute to the predictions made of the Mayan calendar. These nine writings by the Mayans show the most astounding predictions of the calendar, and what will happen in the world on 2012. hese nine writings are combined into a book – it is the Chilam Balam. According to the Mayan calendar, on December 21, 2012 the world will witness a coincidence of multiple heavenly bodies in the same celestial longitude, meaning that the winter solstice, the galactic equator and the elliptical equator should become aligned.

The Mayan calendar suggests that astronomical occurrences are predicted to take place on December 21, 2012, such as the sun being aligned directly with the center of the Milky Way, if this were to happen whatever type of energy channels from the Milky Way to earth will definitely be disrupted on December 21, 2012 due to the alignment. If the alignment of the sun with the center of the Milky Way happens, as the Mayan’s calendar predicts, this will be an event that will happen for the first time in 26,000 years. Astronomers’ have said that the Mayans are correct in the prediction of astronomical events maybe taking place on such date.

One other interpretation derived from a prediction of the Mayan calendar is that, there have been four past sun cycles which have vanished at the end of their cycle, causing great destruction to the world. According to the calendar we are at the moment within the fifth sun cycle, which started 5,106 years ago, this sun is predicted to come to an end on December 21, 2012, in which case it is believed that it shall cause destruction just like the previous four sun cycles ends have.

However, some scientists believe that the destruction caused might not be the end of the world as we know it, but perhaps a form of destruction that will cause catastrophes within the world. Therefore, what will happen on December 21, 2012, no one can really say, these are mere predictions being derived from ancient calendars, although this being said, the Mayan calendar has in fact surprisingly correctly asserted on many events happening right to the exact date! What do you think will happen in 2012?