What did the Maya think would happen when the calendar cycle ended?
Many Mayan scholars say it wasn’t a much bigger deal than when the odometer on your car goes to all zeros. Others say there are interesting prophesies found in the Mayan record about events at the end of the cycle – stories as relevant to us as Norse tales of Ragnarok. And then there are those – the folks selling the books and attending the conferences – who say that the Maya were on to something profound. Like what? Depends on which 2012-er you talk to. Here’s a mash-up: The people who created the Mayan calendar were extraterrestrials who wanted to let us Earthers know exactly when there would be a particular lineup of the Solar System and a beam emanating from the Galactic Center. That beam will affect human consciousness in either terrible or amazing ways. Maybe it will also have physical effects on the planet. And maybe how people respond will have something to do with whether we experience a catastrophe or a positive transformation. Maybe, the 2012-ers say, we can all help midwife
