The 2012 Story

generally or to conditions within humanity, including spiritual awareness.

Astro-theological. A worldview espoused in many ancient cultures, including the Greek and Maya civilizations, founded on an intimate relation between the human world, spiritual teachings, and astronomical cycles. It often resulted in the alignment of temples with meaningful astronomical horizons. See, for example, The Earth, The Temple, and the Gods by Vincent Scully, Jr.

Baktunian movement. A term used by Maya scholar Victor Montejo in reference to the modern renaissance of Maya culture heralded by a renewal at the end of the Baktun (in 2012).

Bloodletting rites. A sacrificial practice of letting blood from the tongue, earlobes, or penis by ancient Maya elite.

Buddhi, buddhi mind. Buddhi is a feminine Sanskrit noun derived from the same root as Buddha (budh—to be awake; to understand; to know). The word signifies a transpersonal faculty of mind higher than the rational discursive mind that is approximately equivalent to “intuitive intelligence” or “higher mind,” but is more properly identified as gnosis (direct inner knowing). It is “that which knows”—that is, able to discern truth from falsehood.*

Calendar Round. A period of 52 haab (18,980 days) representing the synchronization of the 260-day tzolkin and the 365-day haab.

Chac Mool. A reclining deity holding a bowl in its belly to receive sacrificial offerings. Associated with the New Fire ceremony and the movement of the Pleiades. Many large and small stone carvings of Chac Mools have been found.

Classic Period. The period of the Maya florescence and sudden decline, from 200 AD to 900 AD. The beginning of the Classic Period used to be set at 300 AD, but defining characteristics have now been identified for an earlier date.

Correlation. The coordination of the Maya time system with the modern Gregorian calendar. This effort began in the late 1800s, and Joseph T. Goodman published a breakthrough in 1905 that was later confirmed but adjusted slightly by Juan Hernandez Martinez and J. Eric S. Thompson. The issue was settled by 1950, resulting in 13.0.0.0.0 correlating with December 21, 2012.

Creation Myth. Specifically used in this book to refer to the Maya Popol Vuh, also called the Hero Twin Myth.

Cycle-ending date. The date that falls at the end of a cycle; a term used intentionally to avoid confusion caused by the term “end date,” which has often been mistakenly taken to mean a final ending.

Dark rift. A visual feature, caused by the thick accumulation of interstellar dust along our galaxy’s midplane, that lies along the lengthwise body of the Milky Way, beginning within the nuclear bulge of the Galactic Center (between Sagittarius and Scorpio) and extending northward to Cygnus.

Day-count, count of days. Refers to the 260-day cycle (the tzolkin).

Day-keeper. An initiated priest, or spiritual guide, who counts the days of the 260-day tzolkin calendar, says prayers and makes offerings at shrines, and is adept at using the calendar as an oracle.

Desacralized. A term describing something that has been drained or shorn of its sacredness.

Dresden Codex. One of the surviving Maya books.

Eclipse half-year. An ideal period of 173.3 days between eclipses; used in Maya calculations and almanacs.

Ecliptic. The 14-degree-wide band that encircles the earth and along which the planets, moon, and sun travel. It is, astronomically, the plane of our solar system.

18 Rabbit. The approximate English translation of the name of the Copan king who ruled between 695 AD and 738 AD and erected the many carvings in the Grand Plaza. His name in the Mayan language is Waxaklahun Ub’ah K’awil.

End-naming practice. The Maya practice of naming a Long Count period by the day in the 260-day tzolkin that its last day falls on. For example, we are currently in the 4 Ahau Katun because this Katun’s final day falls on 4 Ahau.

Entelechy. According to Aristotle, an entelechy is the condition of something whose essence is fully realized; actualized in its totality. In some modern philosophical systems it is a vital force that motivates and guides an organism toward self-fulfillment. *

Epigrapher/epigraphy. Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved into stone or other durable materials, or cast in metal; the science of classifying them as to cultural context and date, elucidating them, and assessing what conclusions can be deduced from them. A person who does this study is called an epigrapher.*

Epiphenomenon. A consequent or secondary phenomenon derived from a previous existent. For example, mind is thought by some thinkers to be an epiphenomenon of matter.

Equation of Maya time. 13.0.0.0.0 = 4 Ahau = December 21, 2012.

Eschatology. The study of the ultimate ends of the world, or universal process; an ultimate spiritual state of being. Some historical religious traditions, such as the Essenes of Qumran, are thought to have realized their eschatological ambitions, and thus its members lived in a state of awareness of ultimate reality, a “realized eschatology.”

Eschaton. The end state, or ultimate condition or object, that emerges at the end of time. See eschatology. Used by philosopher Henry Corbin and popularized by Terence McKenna.

Fractal. Is generally a rough or fragmented geometric shape that can be split into parts, each of which is (at least approximately) a reduced-size copy of the whole. A property called self- similarity. A mathematical fractal is based on an equation that undergoes iteration, a form of feedback based on recursion.*

Fractal time. The application of fractal geometry to time. The concept was elaborated by Terence McKenna in his Novelty Time Theory. The concept has since been adopted in various forms with varying intervals and periods by other writers.

Galactic alignment. The alignment of the December solstice sun with the dark rift in the Milky Way. This definition highlights astronomical features that are compelling to naked-eye sky-watchers, past and present. For a more technical definition, one can replace “dark rift in the Milky Way” with “galactic equator.” This alignment takes place within the boundaries of the nuclear bulge of the Milky Way, also perceptible to naked-eye observation, known as the Galactic Center.

Galactic Center. The center of a spiral galaxy. Our own galaxy’s center lies between the constellations of Sagittarius and Scorpio. Astronomers tend to conceive of the Galactic Center as a precise point, which is misleading because galaxies have slightly different gravitational, visual, and electromagnetic centers. In addition, some spiral galaxies, such as our own, have two closely connected centers. A more realistic conception, which is congruent with how the central part of the Milky Way is perceived by naked-eye stargazers, is that of a “nuclear bulge,” which is a wider and larger zone of brighter stars as compared to other parts of the Milky Way. For example, the opposite part of the Milky Way in Gemini is very thin and diffuse, as that is the direction looking out of the galactic disk.

Galactic synchronization. A term coined and a concept used by author Jose Arguelles, defined by Brian Swimme in his introduction to The Mayan Factor. It is related to, and perhaps developed from, the Photon Belt concept (see entry). It is astronomically unrelated to the galactic alignment.

GMT. The original Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation, proposed in 1927 by Thompson: JD 584285, making the cycle-ending date fall on December 23, 2012. (JD refers to the Julian Day designation.)

GMT-2. The adjusted Goodman-Martinez-Thompson correlation number, finalized in 1950 by Thompson: JD 584283, making the cycle-ending date fall on December 21, 2012.

Gnomon. A shadow-casting device, often a vertical pole, used to measure the sun’s movements through the day and year.

Gnosis. A knowing conferred by direct inner experience. See buddhi mind, Primordial Tradition.