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.
Where will famine strike in the next Katun 2 Ahau cycle between 2012 and 2032? Worrying signs are already appearing in news headlines around the globe. Colony Collapse Disorder has seen the bee population reduced by as much as 30% which is significant since bees pollinate many of our food crops. There has also been a dramatic increase in the use of genetically modified food crops such as corn and soybeans. Recently, an 80% crop failure was experienced with genetically modified corn in Africa with no known cause to date. If something similar happened to the American corn crop that consists primarily of genetically modified varieties, it would lead to a worldwide food crisis since much of the developing world relies on American surplus corn. It could also lead to drastic increases in the price of other staple foods leading to food riots similar to those seen before the recent financial crisis when commodity prices were soaring.
The continued environmental crisis could also lead to famines. Already important fish and mollusk species in the ocean have been collapsing due to overharvesting and pollution. Coral reefs, important breeding grounds for fish species, have been dying off at alarming rates due to acidification and warmer ocean temperatures. Climate change is also causing more severe droughts in once productive areas and causing more severe floods in others. Both of these situations can easily lead to severe famines in areas of the world that are not prepared to handle them through technologies such as irrigation and flood control. In fact, on September 3, 2012 CNN.com ran a story predicting a food crisis in 2013 due to droughts in the U.S., Australia, and Russia pushing global food costs up.[25]
Thus the cycle beginning on December 21, 2012 and ending in 2032 brings both positive and negative changes for civilization. The current trend of democratization of the world seems likely to continue as it spreads across the Muslim world. Yet the continued environmental crisis and use of genetically modified food crops could lead to severe famines during this time period as well.
6. Predictions for Katun 13 Ahau (2032-2052)
The Maya did not predict the end of the world on December 21, 2012. But they did predict major problems for civilization between the years 2032-2052. As noted in the two previous chapters on Mayan 2012 predictions, the Maya believed civilization operated on a 256-year cycle broken into thirteen 20-year periods known as the ‘Cycle of 13 Katuns.’ For each 20-year katun the Maya had a prophecy or prediction associated with it and as seen in the previous two chapters, these "prophecies" seem to contain accurate predictions for what actually happened during these time periods in the past.
The cycle that begins in 2032 and ends in 2052, named Katun 13 Ahau, is the last of the thirteen katuns in the current 256-year cycle that began in 1796. According to Bruce Scofield in his book Signs of Time: An Introduction to Mesoamerican Astrology, the prophecy recorded in the Mayan books known as the Chilam Balam for Katun 13 Ahau is as follows:
This is a time of total collapse where everything is lost. It is the time of the judgement of God. There will be epidemics and plagues and then famine. Governments will be lost to foreigners and wise men, and prophets will be
