Mythic & Scientific Investigations into the Nature of Reality & its Recurrent Themes

Origins of the 2012 Mythos

On the 16th and 17th of August 1987 an unprecedented event took place around the world. For the first time in humanity’s history a ritual event of global proportions occurred. Thousands around the world gathered at places of reverence to usher in the “dawning of a new era” on planet Earth.

The event, known as the “Harmonic Convergence”, was organized by the man responsible for introducing the world to the arcane knowledge of Maya calendrics (Mayan Calendar) and the year 2012–Dr. José  Argüelles [1]

In 1987 Argüelles burst onto the world scene with the simultaneous release of his groundbreaking book The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology and his call to recognize the “Harmonic Convergence.”

But almost as quickly as he emerged, Argüelles receded into virtual obscurity. He wrapped his interpretation of Maya calendrics and 2012 in a kind of language and context that would bring him mainstream rejection and widespread misunderstanding. Three years until Dec. 21, 2012 and his presentation of Maya calendrics languishes on the fringes of society and is derided by traditionalist schools of Mesoamerican calendrics. [1]

Nevertheless, it was Argüelles who kick-started the popular imagination surrounding 2012 with proclamations of a fast approaching “golden age.”

His interpretation of 2012 created a cottage industry of writers, websites and now film makers who have run wild with “prophecies” of cataclysmic scenarios and the birth of utopian societies in the blink of an eye.

Argüelles himself did not speak of physical catastrophes and the only “prophecy” mentioned by Arguelles pertains to a two-line phrase attributed to the Zapotec nation of pre-colonial Mexico known as the “Prophecy Cycle of the 13 Heavens and 9 Hells.” [1]

The “prophecy” itself does not refer to 2012, but rather to a time period spanning 1144 years. Argüelles pegs the ending of the prophecy cycle to the “Harmonic Convergence” event.

The idea of prophecy is a controversial, mystical and largely unfounded concept.  I do not accept the commonly held notion of prophecy as the prediction of future events. The original meaning of prophecy has been corrupted and there is a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding it. [2]

My study of Maya calendrics (MC) has enabled me to understand why MC is regarded by the Maya as some sort of divinatory or forecasting device.

For now I will say that Maya calendrics is indeed capable of functioning as such, but we must substitute the “prediction of specific events” with the “prediction of thematic content.” More on this further down.

Every assertion made by Argüelles in The Mayan Factor regarding 2012 is his interpretation of a two-line “prophecy” phrase and his assessment of the human and planetary condition.

Argüelles is certain that the meaning of 2012 is the demise of a world governed by subjugation and the birth of a new world based on sincere cooperation towards the common good. [1]

How much of what is said about Maya calendrics and 2012 is valid, and if so, what are the claims based upon?

At the present moment and in the English speaking world Argüelles is the most enigmatic among the more popular Maya calendrical and 2012 phenomena researchers. His supra-mystical presentation of Maya calendrics and his many failed predictions has led to his loss of credibility as a reputable researcher.

But his failure as prophet does not mean he is wrong about his interpretation of Maya calendrics or his assessment of the likeliest meaning behind Dec. 21, 2012, the day the Maya Long Count cycle of 5125.26 years ends and restarts.

Three other well known researchers on the subject of Maya Calendrics and 2012 come to mind. They are John Major Jenkins, Carl Johann Calleman, and Daniel Pinchbeck.

I regard Jenkins as the leading authority on the archeological and astronomical correlations of 2012.[3]

On the matter of Maya calendrics and its astronomical correlations, Jenkins does add significant substance and volume to the subject of Mesoamerican calendrics in general.[4]

With regard to the core of Maya calendrics, the 260 day Tzolkin cycle, Jenkin’s has yet to add significantly to the conversation of just what the Tzolkin is. That is beyond the Tzolkin cycle’s correlations with planetary orbits, ellipse cycles, the human gestation cycle and alike.[5]

Calleman’s focus has been to explain evolution in terms of large-scale time periods as defined by his understanding of Maya calendrics. Calleman does seem to be on to something with his interpretation of present moment time periods he describes as the “nights and days of the underworld”.[6]

On the matter of the Tzolkin, Calleman has less to say than Jenkins. Calleman does throw a wrench in the 2012 works by asserting that the Long Count cycle ends one year earlier than the more widely accepted Dec. 21, 2012.[7]

Pinchbeck differs from the other researchers in that his focus has been the exploration of the mythosophical and psycho-spiritual implications of Maya calendrics and 2012. The four researchers concur that the likeliest meaning of 2012 is a global humanity at the apex of some potentially transformative psycho-socio-cultural process.

With regard to the many catastrophic claims espoused by other self-styled researchers, there is simply no evidence to substantiate impending magnetic reversals, killer solar flares, crustal displacements, super volcano eruptions or Planet X/Niburu intrusions into our solar system.

What more catastrophe do we need?

As I see it, the catastrophe is upon us and it’s called Western civilization gasping for air as it strives to maintain the status quo at all costs.

If 2012 is meaningful, it is because a global humanity stands at a crossroads of unprecedented magnitude. Clearly we are in a global predicament of sorts and we don’t need a calendrical system to tell us that. But is it mere happenstance that the end of the Maya Long Count cycle coincides with humanity’s precarious situation? After all, the Maya left not a single inscription anywhere indicating any of the conditions that could accompany 2012. That’s right, not a single Maya “prophecy” exists. [2]

The only ancient description we have of Dec. 21, 2012 is a Maya mural depicting in symbolic terms the astronomical significance of the Sun’s conjunction with the approximate galactic center. [2]

According to John Major Jenkins, the conjunction is unequivocally depicted as a “birthing event”: The birth of a new Maya precessional age of 25,626.28 years, or 5 Long Count cycles of 5125.26 years. And that’s it. There are no other inscriptions or murals that we might interpret as the foretelling of events to accompany the arrival of 2012.[2]

Mythic Illiteracy

The situation of a prophecy circus without the existence of a single “Mayan prophecy” reveals the monumental ignorance confounding Western culture to the point of lunacy and complicating all manner of social and ideological coherence. We have become mythic illiterates.

We no longer speak the language our species has spoken for over 99 percent of its history as a communicator of symbols and imagery to convey meaning and knowledge. Therein lies the mystery of the West’s mass confusion over the meaning of its own mythic heritage as defined by Judeo-Christian lore and symbolism.

In order to know if the coincidence of Long Count cycle closure with humanity’s predicament is more than happenstance,  we must then investigate the claims that Maya calendrics is some sort of a predictive device. And in order to do that we must first decode the hidden meaning locked away in the symbols, numbers and features composing the heart of Maya calendrics–the Tzolkin.[13]

The Argüellen Factor

Argüelles is the only researcher thus far to attempt a multi-layered decoding and investigation of the Tzolkin. He assigned specific attributes or characteristics to each symbol and feature of the Tzolkin. He also discovered numerical and color coded relationships between the symbols and thus created a system’s architecture for what I call Tzolkin Dynamics.

My own interest in Maya calendrics and the possible meaning of 2012 started with the publication of The Mayan Factor. What Argüelles was saying about Maya calendrics at the time was unintelligible to my 21 year old mind.

My own assessment of the human and planetary condition had led me to conclude that humanity’s socio-economic operations were unsustainable, unmerciful and that a global crisis point was inevitable. Our economic system is built upon unlimited growth precepts and with no regard for their socio-ecological impact.

Unlimited and unjust growth precepts will ultimately have to confront the reality of a finite planet and a disgruntled population.

My question at the time was, Are we that close to the crisis point (2012)?

I made it a point to stay atop Argüelles’ work while continuing my own investigations into how the human and planetary condition came to be what it is.

I reasoned that if we could understand the source of Western civilization’s dysfunctions we could then begin to address the root source of humanity’s problems versus the symptoms.

Random Development or Systematic Evolution?

One of the most vexing questions of my life had been, Is human social reality a haphazard process driven by chance, or was the unfoldment of humanity an organized and systematic process exhibiting the properties of some superorganism?

During the ’70s, scientists James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis put forth the theory of planet Earth as a self-regulating super organism.[8]

If the planet is a superorganism, then what role does humanity play as a sub-system of the super system we call Earth?

It is now glaringly clear that humanity has a big part to play in the future of our planet’s evolution. Unlike other species, humanity seems to be out of synch with the ecology of the planet.

The human species seems to have become an infection that is about to overwhelm its host, yet clearly we have the ability to course correct from our perilous path because we can see first hand the short- and long-term consequences of our actions.

But all indications point to a stubborn leadership establishment that is indifferent to the plight of the Earth and its inhabitants great and small. A self-absorbed establishment with a vision for the planet all their own.[12]

Red Crystal Earth?

It was mid-1999 and I had come to the conclusion that some answers to my questions about humanity as a self-organizing super organism might be answered by the Argüellen interpretation of Maya calendrics. Up until that time I had been reluctant to study his newer work on the Tzolkin because it sounded too cultish and new agey for my tastes.

I have never been one to accept unsubstantiated claims and the New Age community is full of self-proclaimed prophets making every claim without any solid evidence or compelling argument. Argüelles’ assertions about 2012 and Maya calendrics followed the same New Age formula, but there was something egging me on to investigate. And so I did. I began by learning the Tzolkin according the Argüellen interpretation.

Another New Age Astrology System or Something Deeper?

The key claim made by traditional and newer schools of thought on Maya calendrics is that each day possesses unique qualities that repeat every 20 days. In all the Tzolkin is a 260 day cycle composed of 3 sub-cycles.

Without getting into technicalities, the 20 days are assigned symbols representing themes. The theme-symbols exemplify the predominant characteristics and qualities to be expected on a given day.

The 20-day theme-cycle is factored by what I call the 13 day frequency-intensity cycle to yield 260 variations on the 20 themes.

The implication of natural phenomena governed by cycles inherent in nature is nothing less than one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time and then consider that the Tzolkin cycles were discovered over 3000 years ago!

On the Trail of the Super Organism

Testing the Tzolkin meant tracking it day by day to see if I could correlate the assigned attributes of the day with the events and overall quality of the day. To complicate matters, we all know that the day’s events are varied and can sometimes run across several themes.

Tzolkin Dynamics factors for that in that the central theme of the day is accompanied by 5 cofactors, designated as either synergistic, frictional, quasi, guiding and frequency-intensity.

In all there are 6 primary theme-elements and at least 3 secondary theme-elements involved in the constitution of the day’s events and overall quality.

Multiply the 9 theme-elements by the 3 primary attributes assigned to each one and you have 27 attributes assigned to the day’s events and overall “vibe”. As such there are at least 7020 unique combinations of attributes over the length of the 260 day cycle.

I had my work cut out for me and it was not like Argüelles provided any useful instructions to go with his theory. He simply puts forth his work as a decree and without any evidence to support his many claims.

Fast forward to the present and I have tracked over 3600 days and employed other methodologies atop other related research to confidently assert that the Tzolkin Code is a mapping of cycles and properties inherent in the very fabric of space-time itself.

How can that be?

Once I was convinced of the Tzolkin’s ability to predict the thematic content of a given day and that it could also accurately describe personalities and the quality of relationships between personalities, it then occurred to me that any system capable of predicting such things must by logical necessity be reflected at every scale of the energy-matter continuum (EMC).

I reasoned that the numbers and features comprising the Tzolkin must be evident at every scale of the EMC. And indeed that is what I found. Please see the Table of Nested Numerical Equivalences Across the Entire Energy-Matter Continuum for details.[9]

The implication of nested numerical equivalences across the entire EMC means that one should be able to find correlations of Tzolkin features in chemistry, the genetic code and in the various physics theories.

Parts 2 and 5 of The Science of Synchronicity (SOS) is a documentation of my most recent work toward the correlation of Tzolkin Dynamics with the aforementioned scientific disciplines.

My work will also prove the veracity of the Argüellen Tzolkin’s dating. Presently there are various non-corresponding Tzolkin counts in use and there can only be one correct Tzolkin count. The persistence of various counts is a detriment to the integrity and respectability of Mesoamerican calendrics. [Update: I have published my first batch of emipircal evidence showing a strong and consistent correlation between certain days of the Tzolkin cycle and spikes in the frequency and intensity of earthquakes worldwide. For more details please see Volcanism, Earthquakes & Now Solar Activity linked to Tzolkin Cycle

There are simpler and faster ways of proving the Tzolkin that do not involve years of tracking to confirm validity. I will share those methods over the course of my treatise on Tzolkin Dynamics. [10]

The methodologies for proving the Tzolkin are not a substitute for direct experience, but they do provide the necessary evidence to compel further investigation by those interested in discovering the marvel of an orderly and magical universe.

There are untold benefits to be reaped by knowing in advance the thematic and qualitative content of a given day or other time period and its effects upon us. There are benefits for the individual and the collective. Some of those benefits are listed at the bottom of this article. I am also developing a user friendly and intelligible way of learning the Tzolkin Code– something that does not yet exist.

The Science of Synchronicity: A New Way to See and Experience the World

It is astounding to witness how every aspect of the day is synchronized according to the Tzolkin Code. The smallest details are not random.  It is due to the reasons just mentioned that I am developing my treatise on the Tzolkin as The Science of Synchronicity (SOS).

The Tzolkin Code is a scientific discovery and thus must be articulated in the most universal way possible. And I also believe that the original discoverers be given credit. At this point the archeological record is not certain about which proto-mesoamerican nation was the first to discover it.

We do know that it was the Maya who developed Mesoamerican calendrics to its highest degree. Therefore I have proposed the name Maya-Meso-American Calendrics (MMAC) to label the body of knowledge pertaining to all aspects of Mesoamerican calendrics.

Introducing Einsteins’s Piper

In order to convey a greater sense of what the Tzolkin means and stands for, I have included the following excerpt from part 5 of SOS entitled: Introducing Einstein’s Piper: The Tzolkin Code Unveiled and How Every Event is a Synchronicity.

“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for insects as well as for the stars, human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper”. ~ Albert Einstein

The “invisible piper” is what religions and spiritualists call God or one of the many other names meaning more or less the same.

It is what the Greek philosophers meant by the word cosmos meaning order and/or Universe.

In this sense God is an acronym for Galactic Ordering Dynamic.

My study of the Tzolkin Code compels me to claim that the image (Tzolkin Code chart) to your left is the musical score played by “Einstein’s piper.”

Theme 2012: Back to the Future

How may we extract the meaning of 2012 from our knowledge of the Tzolkin?

MMAC calendrics tracks natural cycles that in essence guide the evolution and movement of all things. As discussed, the cycles have themes associated with them.

The themes repeat and they happen at every scale of the energy-matter continuum. For example, cell division is the thematic equivalence of a woman giving birth, a couple separating or a business opening another branch.

Those examples are of acute transitional stages in the process of life’s unfolding and they are characterized by hyper-activity, volatility and distress. There are many other themes, but the theme particular to the present time is crisis.

Crisis implies the search for resolution and relief. Transformation, birth, rebirth, emergence (emergency) intervention, and transition are themes closely related to crisis.

But what is the Planetary Crisis about?

A new culture is struggling to be born. A culture based on values that will carry us forward into a world fraught with increasing challenges. There is however, a great obstacle in the way of this new culture.

That obstacle is the inertia of history, habit, tradition and the leadership agencies who presently direct the future of their respective societies.

The consequences of that inertia are staring us square in the eyes at this very moment as our scientists and awakened citizens sound the alarms of impending natural and social catastrophes if we don’t change our ways.

The Emergence of a New Culture?

In its present state I refer to this “new culture”, as a Planetary Culture in its emergent stage.

Those of us who can identify with socio-economic justice, human rights, peace, ecology, gender balance, non-violence, anti-exploitation, egalitarianism or any cause espousing fairness are to be identified as the leading edge of the emergent culture.

The 6000 year old world of prevailing culture (Western civ.) was built upon the values of a merciless, predatory and patrist ideology.

The only way out from the perennial nightmare of Western culture is a Planetary Culture in accord with the ecological principles that have created and sustained our magnificent home—the Earth–for billions of years.

The essential tension and struggle felt on planet Earth is between the inertia of a decaying world order and a desiring to emerge new world order founded on ecological and egalitarian principles.

We can’t have both. It’s either more of the former or growth of the latter. One grows at the expense of the other. The only difference is that we all win if ecology and egalitarianism prevail.

The Galactic Birth Cycle

The first day of the Tzolkin cycle is assigned the attribute of birth. Dec. 22, 2012, hails the day a new Maya precessional cycle begins. The theme of beginnings implies birth or emergence from one stage of being to another. Correspondingly the close of a cycle implies symbolic death.

The theme implied by cycle renewal is birth or rebirth. Rebirth may be understood as the fractal expansion of a system as it grows and develops over time.

According to the MAC system the most notable junctures occur at increments of 260 days or its fractal equivalents—multiples of 260 days.

According the Maya our Sun conjuncts with the galactic center every 26,000 tun. A tun is a 360 day period. 26,000 tun equals approximately 25,626.28 years.

Western astronomy offers no consensus on the precessional cycle and one will find a range of 24,000 to 26,000 years for what is commonly known as a Platonic year or the Equinoctial cycle. Wikipedia pegs the precessional cycle at 25,765years.

We do know for a fact that the sun is traversing the galactic equator at this very moment. Dec. 21, 2012 marks the date on which the sun enters the last 4 years of its 36 year journey across the galactic equator.

The galactic equator is assigned a one degree width and it takes the sun 36 years to enter and exit the one degree wide galactic equator. The Maya depicted Dec. 21, 2012 as the culmination of a “birthing event”. [11]

It is a mytho-symbolic way of describing the astronomical event that would take place at the conclusion of what is known as the Long Count cycle or the cycle of the 5th Sun. It takes 5 Long Count cycles of 5125.26 years or 5200 tun to complete a Maya precessional cycle of 26,000 tun.

260 days is the number of days in a Tzolkin cycle. 260 days is a fractal of 26,000 tun. Much like cell division is a fractal of a woman giving birth. “Coincidentally” the human gestation period is 266 days.

By my optimistic estimation, birth or the emergence of a Planetary Culture is the theme implied by the convergence of a renewing 26,000 tun cycle with humanity poised on such a critical and hyper-dynamic stage. Conversely the closing of a cycle implies the demise of the current world order as exemplified by Western culture.

Cell division and human birth are critical and hyper-dynamic states respectively of micro-systems and macro-systems. Humanity as a whole is a mega-system in the grips of some potentially transformative state.

In other words, humanity stands at a crossroads of unprecedented magnitude. We are poised to contend with planetary scaled breakthroughs and breakdowns.

Either we will breakthrough and establish a true global village of increasing universal cooperation or we continue business as usual and continue to see increasing examples of breakdown in the form of social degeneration, widespread warfare and collapsing ecosystems.

I am not saying that we will transition entirely from one state to another during the next three years. It is a question of turning the tide from one of increasing destruction to one of restoration and real problem solving. The choice is up to us.

References

[1] Harmonic Deconvergence: Origins of Mayan Calendar Confusion and 2012 Mania–Separating Fact from Fantasy

[2] Prophecy Demystified: The Non-Existent “Mayan Prophecies” and the Real Meaning of “Prophecy”

[3] Galactic Alignment 2012

[4] The Archaeological Origins of 2012

[5] John Major Jenkins describes the Tzolkin

[6] The Days and Nights of the Underworlds according to John Calleman

[7] Calleman posits another date for Maya Long Count Cycle closure

[8] Gaia Hypothesis

[9] Table of Nested Numerical Equivalences Across the Entire Energy-Matter Continuum for details

[10] Introducing Einstein’s Piper: The Tzolkin Code Unveiled and how every Event is a Synchronicity SOS pt. 5

[11] John Major Jenkins interprets Tortuguero Monument 6 and Bolon Yokte K’u for it meaning related to Dec. 21, 2012

[12] Who and what is Prevailing Culture

[13] The Tzolkin according to Wikipedia

Universalizing the Tzolkin Code

MMAC is the fundamental structure underpinning what we call synchronicities. It is the underlying pattern and framework that Jung spoke of to necessarily exist if synchronicities were to be more than chance coincidence events obeying the “law of large numbers”.

This information is relevant to everyone for the Tzolkin Code reveals the order to the flow and quality of events surrounding the evolution and development of our individual and social lives and of the greater body known as humanity. It would be to everybody’s advantage to be aware of naturally occurring bio-rhythms and cycles having a direct bearing on our experience and appreciation of life.

Understanding, learning and tracking the Tzolkin Code/Cosmocycle will enable the following.

• A Coherent Worldview (CRC).
  
• Develop your intuitive sense.
• Enhance your appreciation of life.
• Assess prospective relationships.
• Understand relationship dynamics.
• Understand your place in the universe.
• Understand your fundamental character.
• Enhance your understanding of how life unfolds.
• Increase you ability to adapt to changing situations.
• Increase your awareness of how and when situations develop.
• Plan events and occasions at the most advantageous and propitious times.
• Know in advance the thematic and qualitative content of a given period of time.
• Understand the science of relationships and why some us of get along and other not in the purely “energetic” sense.

Note: By relationships I mean all relationships inclusive of lovers, spouses, friendships, parents, children, siblings, associates, colleagues and coworkers etc.

Related Posts:

• 74 percent of the Strongest Earthquakes in the last 11 months concurred with Tzolkin Cycle Hyper-Days
• Introducing Tzolkin Dynamics pt 1: The Building Blocks of Synchronicity, the Cosmos, life and Human Society
• Introducing the Cosmocycle: God as a Universal Cyclical Process
• Tzolkin Cycle HYPER-DAYS, The Haiti Earthquake and Critical Junctures Update # 3
• Thematics and Energetics: A Cosmology of Color, Form, Movement and Recurrence: TD pt 2
• Exploring Tipping Points and “Hyper-Days” in Human Systems: Critical Junctures Update #2
• Introducing Einstein’s Piper: The Tzolkin Code Unveiled and how every Event is a Synchronicity ARTSOS pt. 5
• Beyond Jung: The Building Blocks of Synchronicity, the Cosmos, Life & Human Social Reality
• Contrasting the Western Worldview of Objects with the Native American Worldview of Relationships: ARTSOS pt. 4
• Origins of Mayan Calendar Confusion and 2012 Mania–Separating Fact from Fantasy