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Mayan Calendar 2012 Phenomena

Introduction

A number of ethnic groups exist in the world, having their own culture and values. One of the Mesoamericans groups is the Mayans who share a number of common characteristics and the language. Before the arrival of Europeans, they were the inhabitants of America. This paper talks about the Mayans characteristic of considering a time an important aspect of life, and thus the phenomenon the Mayans calendar have about the year 2012. The paper is important to readers in a manner that it gives an indication about the desire the Mayans have about the time keeping, and what are their predictions regarding the year 2012. It also specifies some criticism that on the approach on the Mayans phenomenon has been made in recent years.

Mayan Calendar 2012 phenomena

The Mayans exist with a concept of considering the time as something sacred, and thus pay great importance towards it. This mystical concept leads them to keep track of days and consider it as their important responsibility (Ricci). Three different calendars were prepared by them to serve a different purpose. These include:

Tzolkin: It is a calendar prepared to keep a record of the religious ceremonies and other festivals and is categorized as a 260 days calendar.

Haab: It is meant for keeping track of ordinary days and was categorized as a 365-day solar calendar. This calendar resembles the calendar at present we have for use.

Long Count Calendar: It is the most famous one, having an aim to keep track of both the long past and the succeeding events.

Calendar round was the first Mayan calendar that was the combination of first two calendar types a 260-day sacred year and a 365-day secular year, comprised of 18 months, each having 20 days. A single interval in that calendar continues for every 52 years, and the calendar rearrange itself like a clock after each interval.

The issue with the Calendar Round was that it is in the form of an endless loop, it does not facilitate the establishment of the events chronology within a specific time frame. Considering this issue, the rectors devised a new method known as Long Count around 300 B.C. This calendar count forward from a base point grouping the calendar into distinct sets.

For Mayans, the time is a cyclic spectacle; an important characteristic of all the three calendars is that they ...