Fear-Driven 2012 Doomsday Rant 'Scaring People'
Mesoamerican Scholar Says Media Hype Promotes Unfounded Claims That Are Not Supported by Authentic Mayan Prophecy
/EINPresswire.com/ March 14, 2012: Inhabitants of planet Earth may be in for a bumpy ride in the weeks and months ahead but extinction of the species is not in the cards -- or stars.
Astrological historian and Mesoamerican scholar Bruce Scofield, PhD, says legions of self-appointed, non-native Maya prophets have been promoting the idea that the Mayan Calendar from ancient Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica points to the Christian year 2012 as a time of reckoning.
"The doomsday rant of these published prophets has gotten some media attention and the message is scaring people," he said.
Scofield teaches at Kepler College and the University of Massachusetts. He is the author of several books, including Day-Signs: Native American Astrology from Ancient Mexico, Signs of Time, An Introduction to Mesoamerican Astrology and How to Practice Mayan Astrology with co-author Barry C. Orr.
According to Scofield, a search of Amazon.com pulls up more than 500 books dealing with 2012, most of them appearing to predict a transformation of consciousness, earth changes and the arrival of space brothers and the start of a New Age.
"Some compare our time to the last days of Atlantis," he said.
"Talk show hosts on radio and television have assisted in the transmission of doomsday messages, allowing distorted, incomplete and uninformed ideas to percolate through our culture.
On the cusp of December 21, 2012 (the ending date) what we've got is an undisciplined, wishful-thinking, fear-driven rant that may be fueling the declining book business and may even be good for the economy.
" But the truth is, the Mayan Calendar 2012 subject matter is complicated and few have the patience to wade through it," he said.
Scofield says the Mayan Calendar is a symbolic time-count developed and employed by the ancient Maya of Mesoamerica (Mexico and parts of Central America). Archeologists call this 5,125-year block of time the Long Count and it can be seen as one component of an astrological system created by the Maya 2,000 years ago or earlier.
One end of the Long Count is anchored in 3114 B.C. and the other in 2012 B.C. Scofield says certain remnants of Mesoamerican cosmology suggest there were five creations. The present creation appears to be the fifth or last section of a full cycle - five Long Count time blocks total 25,620 years (5,125 years times five).
The Long Count has some important subdivisions but the larger cycle is remarkably close to the roughly 25,800-year cycle western astronomers call the precession of the equinoxes.
"The end of the Mayan Calendar at the Winter solstice in 2012 can be seen as both the end point for the current Long Count cycle and the terminal point of the entire precession cycle itself. Which is where the cultural psychosis called millennialism and the earth-shaking prophecies come in," he points out.
"What's incredible is that there are not really any Maya prophecies for the end of the Long Count on December 21. There are Maya prophecies for a section of the Long Count that is called the Short Count, but these don't point to the year 2012 and appear to be unknown to nearly all the published non-Mayan prophets," he said.
Scofield points out that a badly weathered inscription at an obscure Maya archaeological site turned up a few years ago and appears to link the end of the current Long Count with the descent of an obscure Maya deity called Bolton Yokte.
"But not much more is clear, not even who Bolton Yokte is in the Maya pantheon.
"We don't have an authentic Mayan prophecy to interpret so we are left with the creative imaginations of people who are dissatisfied with society and looking outside of themselves for answers and justice. Not all writers on 2012 are in this category, but most of them are," he said.
More information on the subject is provided in an article by Scofield published on the www.astrologynewsservice.com website. Additional articles can be found at www.onereed.com.
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/EINPresswire.com/ March 14, 2012: Inhabitants of planet Earth may be in for a bumpy ride in the weeks and months ahead but extinction of the species is not in the cards -- or stars.
Astrological historian and Mesoamerican scholar Bruce Scofield, PhD, says legions of self-appointed, non-native Maya prophets have been promoting the idea that the Mayan Calendar from ancient Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica points to the Christian year 2012 as a time of reckoning.
"The doomsday rant of these published prophets has gotten some media attention and the message is scaring people," he said.
Scofield teaches at Kepler College and the University of Massachusetts. He is the author of several books, including Day-Signs: Native American Astrology from Ancient Mexico, Signs of Time, An Introduction to Mesoamerican Astrology and How to Practice Mayan Astrology with co-author Barry C. Orr.
According to Scofield, a search of Amazon.com pulls up more than 500 books dealing with 2012, most of them appearing to predict a transformation of consciousness, earth changes and the arrival of space brothers and the start of a New Age.
"Some compare our time to the last days of Atlantis," he said.
"Talk show hosts on radio and television have assisted in the transmission of doomsday messages, allowing distorted, incomplete and uninformed ideas to percolate through our culture.
On the cusp of December 21, 2012 (the ending date) what we've got is an undisciplined, wishful-thinking, fear-driven rant that may be fueling the declining book business and may even be good for the economy.
" But the truth is, the Mayan Calendar 2012 subject matter is complicated and few have the patience to wade through it," he said.
Scofield says the Mayan Calendar is a symbolic time-count developed and employed by the ancient Maya of Mesoamerica (Mexico and parts of Central America). Archeologists call this 5,125-year block of time the Long Count and it can be seen as one component of an astrological system created by the Maya 2,000 years ago or earlier.
One end of the Long Count is anchored in 3114 B.C. and the other in 2012 B.C. Scofield says certain remnants of Mesoamerican cosmology suggest there were five creations. The present creation appears to be the fifth or last section of a full cycle - five Long Count time blocks total 25,620 years (5,125 years times five).
The Long Count has some important subdivisions but the larger cycle is remarkably close to the roughly 25,800-year cycle western astronomers call the precession of the equinoxes.
"The end of the Mayan Calendar at the Winter solstice in 2012 can be seen as both the end point for the current Long Count cycle and the terminal point of the entire precession cycle itself. Which is where the cultural psychosis called millennialism and the earth-shaking prophecies come in," he points out.
"What's incredible is that there are not really any Maya prophecies for the end of the Long Count on December 21. There are Maya prophecies for a section of the Long Count that is called the Short Count, but these don't point to the year 2012 and appear to be unknown to nearly all the published non-Mayan prophets," he said.
Scofield points out that a badly weathered inscription at an obscure Maya archaeological site turned up a few years ago and appears to link the end of the current Long Count with the descent of an obscure Maya deity called Bolton Yokte.
"But not much more is clear, not even who Bolton Yokte is in the Maya pantheon.
"We don't have an authentic Mayan prophecy to interpret so we are left with the creative imaginations of people who are dissatisfied with society and looking outside of themselves for answers and justice. Not all writers on 2012 are in this category, but most of them are," he said.
More information on the subject is provided in an article by Scofield published on the www.astrologynewsservice.com website. Additional articles can be found at www.onereed.com.
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