Mayan Calendar Prophecies: The Complete Collection of 2012 Predictions and Prophecies (4 page)

It should also be remembered that
two
cycles come to an end on December 21, 2012. Not only does the smaller
Katun 4 Ahau
cycle end but also the 13
th
baktun
of the larger 5,126-year "Great Cycle" which began on August 11, 3114 BC.
 
Does this fact somehow amplify the events associated with the smaller
katun
cycle?

It seems that the creation of genetically modified plants, the creation of the World Wide Web and the election of a black man to the position of leader of the most powerful nation on the planet are significant turning points in the history of civilization. Looking back over the past 5,126 years one will find nothing comparable. Thus it does seem that the two cycles ending together have somehow amplified the events of the smaller cycle.

In physics it is possible for two interacting waves or cycles to either cancel each other out or to add together and create an amplified wave. This is referred to as interference. Constructive interference is the name applied to the phenomenon of two waves (or cycles) creating an amplified wave/cycle. Thus it is quite possible that the underlying sources of energy behind these two Mayan cycles, solar and galactic, are interacting in such a way as to create an amplified cycle in the final years of the 13
th
baktun
that coincides with
Katun 4 Ahau
.

There is one final "prophecy" or prediction for
Katun 4 Ahau
that we have yet to discuss which states, “
The quetzal shall come, the green bird shall come.”
The quetzal refers to a bird known today as the Resplendent Quetzal. It has brilliant green and red feathers and excessively long green tail feathers. In fact, the term
 
quetzalli
 
was used by the Aztecs to refer specifically to these long green tail feathers which they used in their headdresses.

The Aztecs also combined the term
 
quetzal
 
with their word for snake,
 
coatl
, to name their deity Quetzalcoatl, also known as the Feathered Serpent or Plumed Serpent. Astronomers Napier & Clube in the groundbreaking book
 
The Cosmic Serpent
 
noted that stories surrounding this and other mythological sky serpents and dragons were likely representations of comets and meteors.

The choice of the
Quetzal
bird fits quite well with this theory with its long comet-like tail. The Chinese, in fact, referred to comets as "long-tailed pheasant stars" since they reminded them of the long tail feathers of pheasants. The choice of a bird combined with a snake helps to symbolically represent a snake-like entity located in the sky, which is a perfect description of a comet.

The color green seems to be another important part of this symbolism.
Quetzalcoatl
is usually represented as being green. In fact, the Aztec day sign "coatl" is a green rattle snake. Could this prophecy be a prediction of the appearance of a green comet between 1993-2012?

In fact, there have been three green comets between 1993-2012. The latest was in June 2010 when Comet McNaught became naked eye visible. The next previous was in February 2009 and was named Comet Lulin. Both of these were only barely visible to the naked eye for a few days thus they are not likely candidates to be included in such a momentous book of prophecy.

Yet four years prior in January 2005 another green comet, Comet Machholz, became naked eye visible just a week after the Indonesian megaquake and tsunami. This event killed over 230,000 people in 14 countries making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in recorded history. This was the third largest earthquake ever recorded and produced a tsunami wave over 100 feet tall.

Comet Machholz was discovered on August 27, 2004. The comet's orbit was calculated to be about 12,500 years thus its last appearance was around 10,500 BC. At that time the Earth was in the midst of a global warming which brought about the end of the last Ice Age. Yet something catastrophic occurred that plunged the Earth back into Ice Age conditions for another thousand years. The great megafauna of that age, including mastadons, mammoths, saber toothed tigers and more, all became extinct. Richard Firestone in his book
 
Cycles of Cosmic Catastrophes
 
theorized that a comet slammed into the Earth bringing about much of these changes.

Equally interesting as its green color is the fact that Comet Machholz passed near the Pleiades. The Pleiades were known as "
tzab
," the rattlesnake rattles, to the ancient Maya. The rattlesnake uses its rattles as a warning before it strikes. Thus could the use of the green, long-tailed Quetzal bird combined with a rattlesnake in the
Quetzalcoatl
symbol have been created purposefully to encode the passing of a green comet near the Pleiades as a type of "early warning" system to warn future generations that this sequence of events signaled the beginning of a new age of catastrophes that happen once every 10,500 years?

“Comet Machholz meets the Pleiades.” © Stefan Seip, Astromeeting.de

In fact, since the discovery of Comet Machholz in August 2004, Earth has experienced some of its worst natural disasters in recorded history from the Indonesian and Japanese megaquakes and tsunamis to Hurricane Katrina. We are also in the midst of another global warming comparable in scale to that which ended the last Ice Age. We are also in the midst of one of the greatest extinction events since the last Ice Age.
 
Are all of these things happening by chance or is there a natural cycle of cataclysms every 10,500 years that the orbit of Comet Machholz just happens to coincide with thus making a perfect early warning system? (This will be discussed more in-depth in
Part 2, chapter 7, “Comet Machholz and the Return of Kukulkan
.”)

This concludes my interpretation for a few of the prophecies for
Katun 4 Ahau
, the time period that ends on December 21, 2012. Yet this does not end the
katun
prophecies. What
did
 
the Maya predict for the cycle named
Katun 2 Ahau
that begins on December 21, 2012 and continues for another twenty years until 2032? That will be the subject of the next chapter: "
Predictions for
Katun 2 Ahau
(2012-2032)
."

As discussed in the previous chapter, "
Predictions for
Katun 4 Ahau
(1993-2012)
," the Maya made predictions in their prophetic books known as the
 
Chilam Balam
 
that seem to correspond with real events over the past 800 years. Yet these predictions do not end on December 21, 2012 thus clearly the Maya did not believe the world would end on this date. So what did the Maya believe would happen beyond 2012?

The Maya believed a new cycle known as
Katun 2 Ahau
began on December 21, 2012 and ended in 2032. According to Bruce Scofield in his book
 
Signs of
 
T
ime: An Introduction to Mesoamerican Astrology
, the predictions for this twenty year period are as follows:

For half of the katun there will be food, for half some misfortunes. This katun brings the end of "the word of God." It is a time of uniting for a cause.

The Mayan
Katun
cycles repeat every 256 years thus, as in our previous article, it is instructive to do as a Mayan calendar priest would have done and look back at previous
Katun 2 Ahau
time periods and see what happened then to get a better idea of what to expect in the future.
 
The previous
Katun 2 Ahau
began in 1756 and ended in 1776. For Americans, this period represents the birth of ideas that led to their Revolution and the founding of their country. Thus it was certainly "a time of uniting for a cause."

Interestingly, this new country was founded on the principles of reason and not religious ideology. It was perhaps one of the first empires in history based on the idea that men could rule themselves without the need for god-kings. In fact, this new nation was the first in history to purposefully keep separate the religious sphere from the political sphere. Thus the founding of America did, indeed, see "the end of 'the word of God,'" in the political sphere. Laws were not based on the interpretation of ancient religious texts but instead on debate between reasonable men. A man-made Constitution interpreted by secular judges was the ultimate authority on the validity of a law and not the opinions of religious leaders (as is the case in Iran and other theocracies.) This truly represented a new model for humanity and these ideas would spread around the globe bringing profound changes over the next 250 years.

The next previous
Katun 2 Ahau
cycle corresponded to the years 1500-1520. This time period was the Age of Exploration and the first explorations of
the New World
. Again, this was certainly a "time of uniting for a cause." It was also a time that saw "the end of 'the word of God'" but this time it was the religions of the New World that came to an end. Religions throughout North and South America, which had been practiced for thousands of years, were replaced by Christianity and it all began in 1520 when the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in modern Mexico City was conquered.

Yet Christianity also underwent a major crisis during this time period as well. Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation in 1517. This revolution would eventually see the Catholic Church lose much of its power in world affairs. The Pope, in particular, once seen as God's sole representative on Earth, was completely cast out of the Protestant faith. The hierarchical structure of the priesthood and the view that priests were the sole mediators between the individual and God were both
 
abandoned in favor of a direct relationship between the individual and God.

These were revolutionary ideas in the history of civilization and represented profound changes in religious practice. In fact, without the Protestant Reformation in the prior
Katun 2 Ahau
cycle could the American Revolution have happened at all? It seems the Protestant Reformation with its focus on the individual was the foundation upon which the American Revolution was built in the next
Katun 2 Ahau
cycle.

Thus the two prior occurrences of the
Katun 2 Ahau
cycle saw profound changes in the role of religion within society. What, then, can we expect for the next
Katun 2 Ahau
cycle that begins on December 21, 2012 and ends in 2032?

Already there have been very serious crises in the Catholic Church with the pedophile priest scandals. Will the next twenty years see the priesthood lose even more respect and power over their parishioners as a result? The American Catholic Church has already been separating itself from Rome over the past few decades. Will this separation grow stronger?

Islam has seen its own crisis recently with the rise of fundamentalist groups espousing a violent and repressive ideology. Will a "protestant reformation" happen within Islam that will lead to a loss of power for its religious leaders and a rise in the role of the individual and secular voices in the political sphere? Recent events in North Africa and the Middle East, the so-called Arab Spring, suggest such changes are already underway. If events of the last two
Katun 2 Ahau
cycles are any indication, these revolutions in the Muslim world should lead to long-term positive changes.

The first part of the Mayan predictions for
Katun 2 Ahau
is, by far, the most troubling: "for half the katun their will be food, for half misfortune." Previous occurrences of this cycle have, indeed, coincided with severe famines. Between 1756-1776 there was famine in Spain, Italy, India, Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden.
 
Over ten million died in India alone. Between 1500-1520 there was famine in Spain and Italy. Between 1244-1263 there was famine in Portugal, Germany and Italy.