2012

Thursday, July 30, 2009 9:58 - 7 Comments

Origins of Mayan Calendar Confusion and 2012 Mania–Separating Fact from Fantasy

The Argüellen Factor

In 1987 Dr. Jose Argüelles  burst onto the world scene with the simultaneous release of his groundbreaking book The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology and his call for world wide gatherings to recognize what he called the Harmonic Convergence.

According to Argüelles the Harmonic Convergence signified the culmination of a Meso-American “prophecy cycle” known as the Thirteen Heavens and Nine Hells. (Mayan Factor pg 218) 22 periods of 52 years for a total span of 1144 years.

Argüelles does not say where the prophecy is to be found nor by whom it was written. I did find that the “prophecy” in question is attributed to the Zapotec nation of ancient Meso-America. Though, I could only find a single source on the internet with no further reference. The source reads as follows.

“After Thirteen Heavens of Decreasing Choice, and Nine Hells of Increasing Doom, the Tree of Life shall blossom with a fruit never before known in the creation, and that fruit shall be the New Spirit of Men.” [1]

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 events. The original meaning of prophecy has been corrupted and there is great deal of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding it.

Those wanting a deconstruction on the notion of prophecy are invited to review my report entitled “Prophecy Demystified: The Non-Existent Mayan Prophecies and the Real meaning of Prophecy.” [1A]

The year the Spanish imperialist Hernan Cortez landed in Mexico is widely accepted as the beginning of the nine 52 year hell cycles, which when taken from the perspective of the Native American is understandable.[2]

Tens of millions of Native Americans spanning two continents would fall victim to the European invasion or the New World equivalent of the Jewish holocaust multiplied several times.[3]

What is in question is the precise dating as to which day during the year 1519 is exact start of the first hell period.

It is not the purpose of this report to argue for one date or another.  52 times 9  equals 468 years.  Add 468 years to 1519 and you get the year 1987.

Argüelles selects the 16th and 17th of August, 1987 as the days on which to signify the end of the 13 Heavens and 9 Hells prophecy cycle and to initiate the last 25 years of the Mayan Calendar Long Count cycle which ends according to most calendrical accounts on Dec. 21, 2012.

The Argüellen understanding of Maya-Meso-American Calendrics (MAC)[8] and the convergence of several streams of prophectic lore at such a unique time in human history is interpreted by Argüelles to mean the ending of human history as defined by the one sided and suffocating worldview of Western civilization (Mayan Factor pgs 218 -224) or more precisely the Judeo-Christian-culture complex.

Argüelles foresees a new book on human history which will be defined from a multi-cultural perspective (pg 218 -224 Mayan Factor).  A perspective derived from what I call a Planetary Culture.

A Planetary Culture is one which has broken free from the mental cage of entho-centrism to embrace the ecological perspective of humanity as a singular and intrinsically cooperative self-organizing super organism.[9]

A condition which has yet to be fully actualized, but believed by many to be emerging vigorously right before our very eyes.[4] Continue…