Maya Demand An End To Doomsday Myth
Source: Earth Heal – News For An Earth In Transition
Maya Demand An End To Doomsday Myth
(Phys.org) – Guatemala’s Mayan people accused the government and tour groups on Wednesday of perpetuating the myth that their calendar foresees the imminent end of the world for monetary gain.
“We are speaking out against deceit, lies and twisting of the truth, and turning us into folklore-for-profit. They are not telling the truth about time cycles,” charged Felipe Gomez, leader of the Maya alliance Oxlaljuj Ajpop.
Several films and documentaries have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is less than two months away, on December 21, 2012. The Culture Ministry is hosting a massive event in Guatemala City—which as many as 90,000 people are expected to attend—just in case the world actually does end, while tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways.
I posted this somewhere else…
The Mayan Long Count calendar, does not predict the end of the world in 2012.
Mayans have NEVER stated that this is a end of the world scenario. If you see this myth attributed to Mayans, it is fabricated, usual from ignorance or parroting.
This thing about looking for end-times is NOT something that comes from Mayan culture.
“This is thinking that, in truth, has nothing to do with Mayan culture,”
Alexander Voss, anthropologist
Even the Mayans think the idea is absurd. For them, they will simply begin a new cycle of their calendar.
According to Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, when Judeo-Christians began to decipher Mayan writings, their preconceived notions of apocalypse and the end of the world led them to link Mayan calendar cycles with doomsday.
“A lot of the end-of-the-world mythologies are the result of Christian eschatology introduced by Franciscan missionaries.”
Ignorance seems to rule here.
When I lived for a time in Flores, Guatemala, I saw an American woman asking a middle-aged man (local) the question…”Where did the Mayans go?”
The man smiled while looking slightly puzzled, maybe a bit annoyed, and said…”And who do you think you are talking to?”