The Mayan "Not-pocolypse" and Other Prophetic Duds

 In which the author interviews a local expert on Mayan culture…

     Since time began it seems people have been predicting its end.  The final days are usually described in remarkably similar ways: floods, fires and explosions (no CGI this time!) The sameness of these predictions paradoxically gives them more validity rather than less.  If Rasputin and the Hopis say the same thing, it must mean something.

     In 1954 a friend of mine was born into a religious sect, a group of whom believed the world would definitely, positively end in 1975 for everyone except 144,000 people, some of whom might have already died. Even though he believed little else of the religion he was pretty sure he was not going to make it past age 21 and behaved accordingly. Wine, women and song were the prevailing themes of his life, to state it somewhat euphemistically.  When the appointed year came and went he was left wondering, “What do I do now?”  He eventually went to college and had a productive life but was years behind everyone else.

     We all remember the hysteria in late 1999 when some folks thought that the computers would fail or go berserk and we wouldn’t have electricity or running water.  Thousands flocked to Jerusalem waiting for Jesus to return. (He didn’t.) I especially remember a sign posted at a farm stand reading: “Y2K compliant cabbage.”  My son was stationed in Okinawa at the time and called at 12:02 am to announce that everything was okay in technology-crazy Japan leading me to believe we would be okay too.

     The sad story of Harold Camping and Family Radio played out in 2012 when Harold announced, yet again, the world was ending, this time on May 21st.  He revised that to October 21st and then gave up the prophesy business altogether saying it was wrong and “sinful” to make such a prediction.  I listened to him quite a bit in the months leading up to the big non-event and he berated anyone who did not believe him as being a heretic.  People stopped working and paying bills since they thought they would not be around any longer. I wonder what happened to them.

     The History Channel and other cable TV stations went nutty for alleged Mayan  predictions for a couple of years leading up to December 21st, 2012. Nothing happened of course but I decided to get some insight on this by interviewing a local expert, known as Miriam.

     How local are you?

     I am your next door neighbor.

     Do you have any particular background that helps your understanding of Mayan culture?

     I am from Guatemala and a descendant of the Mayans.  We were required in school, by law, to learn everything about our culture, especially everything that happened before the Spanish invasion.  We studied about the 23 tribes and all the different languages.  The Mayans had written languages long before the Europeans.

     How do you think the whole “end of the world thing” got started?

     People misunderstood the Tzolkin (calendar); it goes through very long cycles. Each week has 20 days and every year has 260 days.  It is based on the move- ments of the sun, moon and Venus.  One cycle was ending and people, including some Guatemalans, thought it meant the end of the world.  Most of us knew it was just the calendar cycle that was changing.

     I looked at schematics of Tzolkin and it looks like a cross between a VW engine and the double helix.  Can anyone figure that sucker out?

     There are archeologists and anthropologists that are working on it now.  Something very exciting happened recently; a “developing” company, (foreigners) was digging up the ground and accidentally uncovered an entire ancient city! They should be able to find out even more now.

     Have you been back to Guatemala recently?

     I went there with my son a few years ago and we went to the Archeological Park in Tikal.  We climbed thousands of steps and at the top we could see two other temples in alignment, it just makes your imagination travel!  We also climbed the Grand Jaguar pyramid.  It was the most amazing experience of my life.

     What endures from Mayan culture now?

    Some uneducated people still practice animal sacrifice. Several Mayan languages are spoken and the cooking , art, weaving and clothing styles still go on.  Even professionals like doctors and lawyers like to wear something that signifies their tribe because they are proud of being Mayan.

     Well, that concludes our interview, thank you Miriam.

     As we get older and the world changes so much from when we were children it is natural to think it can’t keep on like this.  My cousin Jimmy from Staten Island fears that our financial and economic systems are very vulnerable and technology is driving a wedge between the haves and have nots, which could be destabilizing. He further states that “there is no god, and we worked hard to develop the capabilities to do our own selves in.”  Hey Jimmy, put down the Sartre, step slowly away and nobody gets hurt!

     Although it may seem trite or overly simplistic, I like this quote from Carl Sandburg: “A baby is God’s opinion the world should go on.” I know lots of babies and take hope in them and believe that no matter how badly we treat each other and our planet we will both continue to live and breathe.

Dedicated with gratitude to our neighbor, Miriam.